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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Meopta 15x56 HD (2 Viewers)

Alaska4me

Well-known member
United States
After Meopta introduced their 15x56 HD earlier this year I thought well, you got to get yourself one of them. I am glad I did. This binocular is a joy to use.







 
Alaska, this is a very timely post, since I'm looking for good glass in that same configuration. Primarily used for big game hunting out here in the open spaces of W TX. I've always been impressed with Meopta, and My Meopta 10x42's are outstanding.

Please speak a little on the sharpness, ease of getting objects into focus, eye relief, etc if you don't mind. I'm currently messing around with my buddy's 15x56 SLCneu that he was kind enough to let me borrow. Thanks, and BTW, I use that exact setup for glassing from a tripod...that Bog Pod attachment is great!
 
jgraider, the sharpness is outstanding, albeit I find it takes some means of steadying the bino like the tripod I use. This is my first "large magnification" binocular, and what a pleasure it is to be able to use both eyes for glassing. The focusing is solid, not like the peculiar Swaro EL or SLC HD, I have yet to get used to the EL focus wheel.

The Meopta feels "worthy" all around. It would be interesting to compare the Swaro SLC Neu with the Meopta to see what differences there might be, I reckon that Swaro you are using is one of the very best in the Swarovski line-up.

Eye relief is great as far as I am concerned, also the IPD; I get the "full picture", no distorton of any kind.

Also, FWIW, this is where Leica "let me down" with their HD-B with it "saucer sized" oculars, the Meopta ocular outside diameter suits my eyes very well. I know everybody is different in this regard, but when the ocular rests on your forehead vs eye socket, that makes for uncomfortable glassing. The older one gets, the more one seems to demand from these non optical but physical aspects.

And yes, the BOG attachment on a smooth pan head is truly great.
 
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jgraider, the sharpness is outstanding, albeit I find it takes some means of steadying the bino like the tripod I use. This is my first "large magnification" binocular, and what a pleasure it is to be able to use both eyes for glassing. The focusing is solid, not like the peculiar Swaro EL or SLC HD, I have yet to get used to the EL focus wheel.

The Meopta feels "worthy" all around. It would be interesting to compare the Swaro SLC Neu with the Meopta to see what differences there might be, I reckon that Swaro you are using is one of the very best in the Swarovski line-up.

Eye relief is great as far as I am concerned, also the IPD; I get the "full picture", no distorton of any kind.

Also, FWIW, this is where Leica "let me down" with their HD-B with it "saucer sized" oculars, the Meopta ocular outside diameter suits my eyes very well. I know everybody is different in this regard, but when the ocular rests on your forehead vs eye socket, that makes for uncomfortable glassing. The older one gets, the more one seems to demand from these non optical but physical aspects.

And yes, the BOG attachment on a smooth pan head is truly great.



What kind of binocular is a Leica HD-B?

Bob
 
The problem with Meopta is that they always trail behind the others, for instance if you take the Zeiss Conquest HD 15x56, it has 80m/1000m FOV (versus 73m) 18mm ER (versus 15mm), 93% (versus 89%) light transmission, in the same price range.
15mm ER is just not enough for spectacle wearers to see the full FOV, so if you take into account that it is already not as wide as the competition, what's left?
 
The problem with Meopta is that they always trail behind the others, for instance if you take the Zeiss Conquest HD 15x56, it has 80m/1000m FOV (versus 73m) 18mm ER (versus 15mm), 93% (versus 89%) light transmission, in the same price range.
15mm ER is just not enough for spectacle wearers to see the full FOV, so if you take into account that it is already not as wide as the competition, what's left?

But Meopta HD is on top in CA suppression, at least my 10x42HD is best in that aspect from all roof binoculars I own to this date, and equal only to Docter Nobilem.
Regarding Meopta lag, they really need to use dielectric mirror in order to catch transmission of competition.
 
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The problem with Meopta is that they always trail behind the others, for instance if you take the Zeiss Conquest HD 15x56, it has 80m/1000m FOV (versus 73m) 18mm ER (versus 15mm), 93% (versus 89%) light transmission, in the same price range.
15mm ER is just not enough for spectacle wearers to see the full FOV, so if you take into account that it is already not as wide as the competition, what's left?

You need to actually use these binoculars instead of only reading about the specs. I did just that yesterday at Cabelas, going outside with a tripod, and the Meopta HD gives up nothing to the Conquest HD, with no eye relief issues. So don't kid yourself. The meopta HD, whether in 15x56, or 10x42, gives up nothing to the Conquest.
 
You need to actually use these binoculars instead of only reading about the specs. I did just that yesterday at Cabelas, going outside with a tripod, and the Meopta HD gives up nothing to the Conquest HD, with no eye relief issues. So don't kid yourself. The meopta HD, whether in 15x56, or 10x42, gives up nothing to the Conquest.

I have no doubt that these are very good binoculars, albeit not class leading (Meopta never has been).
Do you wear spectacles? Do you feel like being immersed in the scene while looking throught them? The Zeiss gives that.
It would be interesting to compare these two on the nightsky, daylight tests outside a shop only show one side of the story.
 
No, I do not wear glasses, and no, I did not think the view through the conquest hd is any better than the view through the Meopta HD's , whether 15x56 or 10x42. I also don't care about the night sky view, I care about viewing animals in the daytime, from dusk until 30 minutes after dawn.
 
No, I do not wear glasses, and no, I did not think the view through the conquest hd is any better than the view through the Meopta HD's , whether 15x56 or 10x42. I also don't care about the night sky view, I care about viewing animals in the daytime, from dusk until 30 minutes after dawn.
.

Eye relief is a critical feature for people who wear glasses, you may not care because you don't wear any, but loads of binoculars users do and 15mm is just poor by today's standards.
Unlike you, I don't restrict my observations to daytime and I believe that nature is a whole, so I don't understand why the wonders of the night sky should be ignored.
The AFOV of the Meopta is actually 67m/1000m which translates to 57°, nothing to write home about, the Zeiss 15x56 HD on the other hand blows it out of the water with 80m/1000m, a massive 68°!
 
Glad you like the conquest. While you may immerse yourself in reading specs/numbers, I actually use them in the field. I'll stick to the way I do it.

I have a Meopta S2 spotter for the "wonders of the night sky".......best spotter on the planet IMO, and yes, I use them, not read about them.
 
Glad you like the conquest. While you may immerse yourself in reading specs/numbers, I actually use them in the field.

I own a Zeiss Conquest 15x56 HD and a Swarovski EL SV 8x32 for your information, don't assume I only go by the numbers... I know what immersion through binoculars actually means!
 
So in comparing the conquest 15x56 HD, side by side with the Meopta 15x56 HD, which this thread is/was referring to (Meopta), what are the pros and cons of each, according to your actual use?
 
AK4U,

They certainly look very impressive. It does puzzle me why Meopta hasn't upgraded its prisms with dielectrics. 89% vs. 93% is not that big a difference, but with bins that are designed for low light use like these, you'd think they'd want to eek out every photon, and even if the view is as good as the Conquest HD, to keep competitive with the prism coatings. Even some $300 roofs have dielectric coatings these days, so it can't be a cost issue.

One question: Can you see Russia with the HDs? ;)

Brock
 
AK4U,

They certainly look very impressive. It does puzzle me why Meopta hasn't upgraded its prisms with dielectrics. 89% vs. 93% is not that big a difference, but with bins that are designed for low light use like these, you'd think they'd want to eek out every photon, and even if the view is as good as the Conquest HD, to keep competitive with the prism coatings. Even some $300 roofs have dielectric coatings these days, so it can't be a cost issue.

One question: Can you see Russia with the HDs? ;)

Brock

One thing that annoys me about some "almost alpha" users (Pentax ED, Meopta and others) is their claim that these makes (in their high end range) equal the best for less cash.
They should keep in mind that Zeiss and Swarovski design super wide angle (65° or more), very well corrected binoculars, when the others stop at 50 or 55°, and this makes all the difference! Meopta and Pentax CANNOT produce such wide FOV at the moment, or if they did it would cost a lot more.

The viewing experience through a 69°FOV with 18mm ER is not the same as viewing 55° with 15mm ER, period.

About light transmission, the Zeiss has dielectric, abbe koenig prism and low dispersion lenses, so the Meopta does not stand a chance.
 
One thing that annoys me about some "almost alpha" users (Pentax ED, Meopta and others) is their claim that these makes (in their high end range) equal the best for less cash.
They should keep in mind that Zeiss and Swarovski design super wide angle (65° or more), very well corrected binoculars, when the others stop at 50 or 55°, and this makes all the difference! Meopta and Pentax CANNOT produce such wide FOV at the moment, or if they did it would cost a lot more.

The viewing experience through a 69°FOV with 18mm ER is not the same as viewing 55° with 15mm ER, period.

About light transmission, the Zeiss has dielectric, abbe koenig prism and low dispersion lenses, so the Meopta does not stand a chance.


Does a binocular with Abbe Koenig prisms need dielectric coatings? I thought that they did not require coatings.


http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=1374399&postcount=5

Bob
 

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