By Neil Schultz 

New to the market from renowned optics manufacturers Zeiss, is a binocular specifically designed for shooters. It’s Conquest HDX LRP 15×56 binocular has all of the hallmark features one would expect from Zeiss. At the heart of its optics is precision-ground German lenses, which are multi coated to eliminate any aberration. In the Conquest HDX, those lenses are mounted into a robust magnesium alloy frame. 

Most unique among the features of this binocular is the etched, milliradian (MRAD) reticle. The reticle has 5 MRAD of windage each side of the centre dot and 5 MRAD vertically. Each hash mark is 0.2 MRAD. This inclusion is aimed squarely at target shooters, both competition participants and those smacking steel at distance recreationally. Having a reticle in the bino’ allows accurate measurement of a steel plate and even more useful, instant gauging of adjustments required when spotting misses. 

Dual locking diopters allow those of us with less than 20/20 vision to focus each eyepiece individually and then lock them in place. The eyepieces can be unscrewed from the body of the unit for cleaning. 

A great inclusion with the LRP binocular is a tripod mount. This is both tripod thread and Arca rail adaptor compatible. Once the adapter is installed, the tripod mount simply clicks into place and is push button release; very useful indeed. 

Retail, sub $4000, price may deter some buyers, but these are comparable to other top-shelf units. One doesn’t expect to get this sort of quality for a budget price. 

In the field 

Picking apart a distant hillside in search of deer is where the 15x magnification shines. Obtaining a stable image while using them handheld is not a problem. 

During the course of several months of use in Australia’s diverse hunting applications, the Conquest HDX were never found wanting for any features. The image is crisp edge to edge and true to colour. Depth of field is incredible, eliminating any need to continually fine tune the focus when scanning for game. I had initially anticipated 15x magnification would be difficult to hold steady, but the large frame of this unit has enough weight to eliminate user wobble. When in the mountains searching for deer, I found the use of these binoculars more comfortable than my usual spotting scope. The ability to keep both eyes open is much less fatiguing than having one eye clenched. For sessions of long duration, the tripod mount was appreciated. Being able to pop the binocular on and off the tripod with the touch of a button is a bonus. Magnification of 15x made it possible to accurately determine if a largely obscured animal on a far hillside was a macropod or deer. The same was true when dark shapes were observed at extremely long range in open paddocks. Pigs or calves, roos or deer, no guesswork needed once the 15x Conquest binoculars were brought to the eyes. 

A nice fallow buck located with the Zeiss Conquest HDX LRP 15×56 binocular. The results speak for themselves.

Most impressive, however, is the image quality. Even in low light conditions, the picture is bright and incredibly sharp. 

In a nutshell, the Conquest 15×56 HDX LRP were found to be very user friendly with a host of useful features.