Carl Zeiss stops scope and binoc production 2026

[steve white]

Hard to believe it was not profitable given the PRICES...

 

[Safari Dave]

I have 2 Zeiss scopes and my favorite binoculars.

Hopefully, I will have no need to replace them anytime soon.



I use one Zeiss scope in competition long range shooting. No other scope in my collection, responded as precisely to adjustments, as did Zeiss.

 

[FlyGuy]

Hard to believe it was not profitable given the PRICES...

Keep in mind that basically every person that touches the scope or binocular in Wetzlar has a university degree. It's not some high school dropout, or a mass production line in a country with cheap labor.
You can literally eat off the floor anywhere in that facility. From the machine shop, right through to the clean rooms where the optics are assembled. It was really something to see. The attention to detail in every step of production is insane.
E.g... Between every step in production before the final lens coatings are applied, the lenses are coated with a special coating to prevent atmospheric corrosion of the glass. Those extra steps cost money.

The Carl Zeiss Foundation which owns Zeiss, Schott and many other optics related companies demands that 10% of global turnover is ploughed straight back into optical research. So, if Zeiss do decide to end production of "manual" scopes and bino's, the entire sport optics industry will be poorer for it.

You like the glass in your Swaro, Leica, S&B, Razor, ATAC-R, VX6 etc?
Zeiss used that glass 10 - 30 years ago.
The concept of lens coatings to improve glass quality? Zeiss.
Those amazing Abbe Konig prisms in your top end binocular? Zeiss.
Your centered reticle with windage and elevation adjustment? Zeiss.
Your illuminated reticle? Zeiss.
Adjustable diopter or magnification? Same
The lenses for the periscope in your Virginia class submarines? Same

 

[Jaybuck99]

Zeiss has great glass. Biggest thing they’re fighting is the “lower” end scopes like Vortex,Athlon,Hawke aren’t really lower end anymore. They drastically improved their quality and offer the same lifetime warranty for a fraction of the cost. Hard to justify the extra 1000’s when you can get a lifetime warranty no questions asked and pretty decent glass for way less.

 

[FlyGuy]

Zeiss has great glass. Biggest thing they’re fighting is the “lower” end scopes like Vortex,Athlon,Hawke aren’t really lower end anymore. They drastically improved their quality and offer the same lifetime warranty for a fraction of the cost. Hard to justify the extra 1000’s when you can get a lifetime warranty no questions asked and pretty decent glass for way less.

True.
But as someone that comes from an optics manufacturing background, Lifetime No Questions Asked Warranty to me means “We build them so cheap, we can afford to give you another one without hurting the bottom line.”

 

[ZG47]

True.
But as someone that comes from an optics manufacturing background, Lifetime No Questions Asked Warranty to me means “We build them so cheap, we can afford to give you another one without hurting the bottom line.”

Plus … how useful is that warranty when you are hunting and your optic(s) die?

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Keep in mind that basically every person that touches the scope or binocular in Wetzlar has a university degree. It's not some high school dropout, or a mass production line in a country with cheap labor.
You can literally eat off the floor anywhere in that facility. From the machine shop, right through to the clean rooms where the optics are assembled. It was really something to see. The attention to detail in every step of production is insane.
E.g... Between every step in production before the final lens coatings are applied, the lenses are coated with a special coating to prevent atmospheric corrosion of the glass. Those extra steps cost money.

The Carl Zeiss Foundation which owns Zeiss, Schott and many other optics related companies demands that 10% of global turnover is ploughed straight back into optical research. So, if Zeiss do decide to end production of "manual" scopes and bino's, the entire sport optics industry will be poorer for it.

You like the glass in your Swaro, Leica, S&B, Razor, ATAC-R, VX6 etc?
Zeiss used that glass 10 - 30 years ago.
The concept of lens coatings to improve glass quality? Zeiss.
Those amazing Abbe Konig prisms in your top end binocular? Zeiss.
Your centered reticle with windage and elevation adjustment? Zeiss.
Your illuminated reticle? Zeiss.
Adjustable diopter or magnification? Same
The lenses for the periscope in your Virginia class submarines? Same

This is sad news. I own several Zeiss scopes and they are THE BEST hands down for hunting in low light. Maybe MAYBE the S&B Polar T96 is right there with them but Zeiss makes incredible scopes.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

True.
But as someone that comes from an optics manufacturing background, Lifetime No Questions Asked Warranty to me means “We build them so cheap, we can afford to give you another one without hurting the bottom line.”

And thats why I will never buy one because that use to happen with me. I don't want a new scope, I want a scope that's not going to malfunction in the first place.

 

[FlyGuy]

This is sad news. I own several Zeiss scopes and they are THE BEST hands down for hunting in low light. Maybe MAYBE the S&B Polar T96 is right there with them but Zeiss makes incredible scopes.

I rate the Zeiss Victory HT 2.5-10x50, as the best hunting scope ever made.
Followed by the S&B T96 and the Swaro Z6.