I only saw the V4 briefly, so I do not have enough mileage with it. I was pretty dissappointed with most re-designed Zeiss products I saw in the last 3-4 years so I practically stopped looking at them. If they got their act together again, I should probably re-visit them.
PST Gen 2 is a very respectable scope, but the illumination is not super bright on 1x. Very decent, but not super bright. I am not sure where you found it for $500. That is a good deal.
Generally, if you require super bright illumination on 1x for $500, your best bet is to stay with the 1-4x. For brighter illumination in a 1-6x or 1-8x, you have to pay more. The brightest illumination i have seen to date in this price range is the Steiner that you have on backorder.
A brief web search suggests that there are a few places out there who have it in stock.
Personally, in the sub-$1k market. Hawke Frontier 1-6x24 is rapidly becoming on of my favourite designs. Basically, the way my LPVO recommendaitons have been going lately, seems to go like this in order of increasing price:
Burrist RT-6 1-6x24 SFP
Hawke Frontier 1-6x24 SFP
Burris XTR II 1-8x24 FFP
None of these are nuclear bright at 1x, but work well since the reticles are well designed. For application where people want SFP and really bright dot on 1x, I have had good luck with Steiner P4Xi 1-4x24, Vortex Razor Gen 2(E) 1-6x24 and Meopta Meostar R2 1-6x24.
ILya