The Zulus is £600 and the alpex is £850 plus the cost of an IR torch and its mount and scope rings.
The Zulus includes a mount for the actual scope.
Quite a different price bracket.
Apples and oranges, see below.
I don't get the point of a digital scope being made to look like a traditional scope. The fact digital can be any shape, more compact, lighter, bits not sticking out unnecessarily etc is great.
Other than wanting to be able to use existing scope rings it seems an odd reason to choose a digital scope based on the fact it looks like an old scope.
A tubed design isn’t necessarily about vanity, it offers several advantages and features over the compact alternative.
Zulus vs Alpex for example.
First off there’s no denying the zoom on the Zulus is really naff, tiny notched wheel that looks like a design afterthought, fiddly and difficult to operate in gloves, likewise the menu buttons are tricky to navigate whereas the Alpex top turret does the lot, zoom and operates the menu and scrolling.
Alpex battery perpendicular to the tube so no chance of the unit glitching/shutting down under recoil that is a common issue with the Zulus, experienced this myself.
Regular scope mounts mean the Alpex can benefit from its larger objective lens but still be mounted closer to the bore giving a normal cheekweld, something you really appreciate when you have to “reach” for the perfect sight picture of the Zulus that does suffer from “fish eye”.
The other advantage of regular mounting is you can use the full length of the picatinny rail to spread the load of the mounts, far more robust than the Zulus relying on its mount clasping 3 inches and all of the scope hanging off the back of the rifle.
Not having a built in IR isn’t necessarily a disadvantage, all of the three Zulus i’ve owned the built in IR hasn’t been perfectly aligned, either too low causing white out of the foreground or slightly off in the windage. A scope mounted IR is more versatile, LED for closer work or VCSEL for range and you can set them where they need to be with most of the beam above the center of the cross hairs to give maximum throw, doesn’t drain the battery of the scope meaning you never have to change batteries out in the field.
Then factor in the Alpex’s better display, awsome low light performance, better reticle options etc.
A lot is made of the weight difference but i use a thermal spotter with LRF so the only time my rifle comes off my back is to gear up for a shot so isn’t a factor for me.
Like i’ve said i own 2 of each and for foxing/stalking the Alpex wins hands down.
been torn between both scopes but at that price with the IR and mounts it's tipped me to the alpex
