Minox ZA5 HD 3-15x42 SF Rifle Scope Plex Reticle 66430

Minox ZA5 HD 3-15x42 SF Rifle Scope Review

The Minox ZA5 HD 3-15x42 SF is the smallest and lightest of the Minox ZA5 HD 3-15x triplets, with a few differences from its bigger brothers.  In addition to being the only 3-15x model with a one inch tube (a characteristic shared by only two ZA5 HDs - the ZA5 HD 2-10x40 and ZA5 HD 3-15x42), it also has the smallest objective, making it suitable for rifles where a lower mount is desired.  The 42mm objective is still pretty standard as far as hunting rifle scopes go, and should provide enough light in dawn/dusk conditions for most, although hunters chasing the maximum low light peformance might prefer the 50mm or 56mm options.

Of course, the Minox ZA5 HD 3-15x42 SF is waterproof, fogproof, and all that jazz.  It's a given in this class of rifle scope.  A clean, uncluttered look is comprised of a matte black finish, rubber knurled turret caps, a rubber magnification ring, and rubber eyepiece, all standard on the ZA5 HD line of rifle scopes.  The 1 inch body tube is a little lighter than that of the 50mm model and its 30mm body, weighing 17.1 ounces compared to the 20.3 ounces on the ZA5 3-15x50 SF.  As far as internal windage and elevation travel, this doesn't seem to have limited the ZA5 HD 3-15x42 SF, since it has the same 60 MOA of travel on each axis.  The two are also exactly the same length (about 12.75 inches).  The overall mechanics are basically identical.  Quick focus and magnification are a little tight, but feel is good - no grinding or spots of resistance through their ranges.  Some may find issue with the tightness, however, especially once mounted to a rifle.

The Minox ZA5 HD 3-15x42 also features an updated turret design that bear less resemblance to the old ZA5 scopes, and shares more in common with the successful ZV3 rifle scopes.  The turrets are much shorter, and quite a bit tighter (old ZA5s had knobs that were slightly loose).  The knobs are kept safe from the elements by some very nicely engineered hunting style turret caps with raised rubber ridges for grip in cold weather or when wearing gloves.  The up/down and left/right turret knobs feel quite a bit more positive than the early ZV3 models, with positive tactile feedback, yet little audible click.  Each knob is clearly marked in 1/4 MOA increments, with 15 MOA per revolution (4 revolutions total).  

This model is also the first model in the ZA5 HD family to have a side focus parallax adjustment, and all models increasing in power also have this feature.  The side focus is marked at 25 yards, 50 yards, 100 yards, 200 yards, 400 yards, and infinity.  The resistance on the knob is very smooth and doesn't require much effort, which is surprising when contrasted with the tightness of the focus and manification rings.  Something worth mentioning about the side focus setup is the difference in marking from, well, just about everything else we currently sell with a side focus.  Rather than a painted line to indicate where the side focus setting is, Minox went with a small indentation in the finish - it looks like it was either drilled or punched into the finish.  It's a simple, elegant little touch that may not be your thing, but we like it.  But we do also have to ask, how does that affect the durability of the finish?

Optics.  The glass is excellent, and it feels funny to rehash this everytime we talk about one of the Minox ZA5 HDs.  Very little chromatic aberration at high magnification (virtually none at low magnification), excellent clarity all the way to the edge, nice sharp resolution, a flat field of view, and almost completely true-to-life color.  It's a great improvement over the old ZA5 rifle scopes, and has quite a noticable edge over the popular (and overperforming) ZV3 rifle scopes.  

To give an idea of how the optics compare to something in the same class, we did a side-by-side comparison with the Nikon Monarch 3 3-12x42, which just happened to be the closest scope we had in stock at the time of this review.  Granted, the Monarch 3 is not an HD scope, but it does have a reputation for clarity and consistence, so we kept that in mind.

In terms of paper stats, both scopes have identical eye relief (4 inches).  The Monarch 3 has a slightly wider field of view at low mangification.  At high magnificaiton, the Monarch 3 tops out at 12x and a field of view of 8.4 feet at 100 yards.  The Minox ZA5 HD 3-15x42 has a max magnification of 15x, yet still retains a respectable 6.5 foot field of view at 25% more magnification than the Monarch 3.  At low magnification, both the ZA5 HD and the Monarch 3 exhibit good clarity and edge to edge sharpness, with the ZA5 HD 3-15x42 having a slight lead.  At maximum magnification, chromatic aberration is just a touch more noticable on the Monarch 3, and the ZA5 HD's edge on clarity and sharpness begins to show more.  The two actually compare very well, but the ZA5 HD's glass is a little bump in performance.  A lot of hunters may not be able to see much difference between the two in terms of opitcal performance, but then again, we do this for a living.  

The ZA5 HD 3-15x42 is a very nice update from the previous version, and seems to hold its own.  The performance, features, fit/finish, and price are right where they need to be for this scope, and the warranty (as long as you register your product) can't be beat.  The ZA5 HD 3-15x42 SF includes an owner's manual, allen key, cleaning cloth, and neoprene Scopecoat.