Zeiss Scope

[MM]

Can someone help explain the difference between a Victory Varipoint and a Victory Diavari? Is one better than the other? Which model would be older?
Thanks for any help.

[secondtry]

Can someone help explain the difference between a Victory Varipoint and a Victory Diavari? Is one better than the other? Which model would be older?
Thanks for any help.

A Varipoint is basically a Diavari Victory with a dot, and IIRC not much else in the way of a reticle. Not the same as an illuminated reticle. I remember the Varipoint in 1/4, but it may have also been available i n 1.5/6. Pitched at driven hunt use, I think. There have been many generations labelled Diavari, and some would definitely predate the Varipoint, but I think that there have also been Diavari labelled scopes manufactured after the demise of the Varipoint.

If looking at concurrent manufacturing dates for both, I would expect quality to be the same.

If you are looking at anything specific, and have the serial number, Zeiss Germany should be able to help, but don't expect a lightning fast reply to an email.

[canalrifle]

From the Carl Zeiss Riflescopes and Binoculars catalog I have, the Victory Varipoint had an illuminated dot reticle in the 2nd image plane that automatically adjusted the light intensity during the day. Available reticles were 0, 54 and 56. The Victory Varipoint scopes came in 1.1-4 x24, 1.5-5 x 24, 2.5-10 x 42 and 3-12 x 56.
The Victory Diavari scopes did not have an illuminated reticle, They came in 1.5-6 x 42, 2.5-10 x 42, 2.5-10 x 50, 3-12 x 56. 6-24 x 56 and 6-24 x 72.
Both Victory Varipoint and Viictory Davari scopes could be had with or without rail mounts,
The Victory Varipoint and Victory Diavari scopes are the same age,

[SauerNZ]

The Victory Varipoint also came in 2.5-10 x 50 with the 60 reticle as I still have one.

[secondtry]

Catalogs are very helpful, but some of canalrifle's conclusions may be a little misleading.

The Varipoint was offered in Victory scopes, but was not available throughout the production life of the Victory. There were Victorys made prior to the availability of the VariPoint and now, long after the demise of the Varipoint, Victorys are still made.

Therefore a Victory and a Victory Varipoint are not necessarily the same age, although depending on date of manufacture, examples of each may be the same age.

Victorys are still produced, now as the HT, and as we have discussed elsewhere, the Diavari tag is also not conclusive as to model or age.

At some point the Lotutec hydrophobic lens coating was introduced, which would be nice to have. Zeiss put a sticker on scopes with Lotutec for a while, but then stopped the sticker, but rolling a little water across the lens should show whether or not it has Lotutec.

All good scopes, but it can be a real can of worms trying to identify what is being looked at. Zeiss didn't make it easy for us with a huge range of reticle options and many changes.

The original carton and a catalog (hang onto that canalrifle ) can be a great start, but S/N and Zeiss are the only way to be certain of age.

As for Victory glass quality and lens coatings over the years, good luck trying to work that out. The T* designation for coatings showed no change up until the advent of the Victory HT, but who knows what running changes may be made by Zeiss to coatings over the many years prior to the HT ? Obviously if changes have been made, a more recent model should be an improvement but how to know ?

[canalrifle]

Thanks for the additional information. No question, there was a Victory before a Victory Varipoint. My catalog is undated, but I believe it was the first year for Lotutec.