A good 10x32 for around $500 or less? (1 Viewer)

Thanks I'll hang onto that. My main problem was at the website they didn't give an Angular FOV but just stated that the FOV was 384 ft. So I didn't really have much to go in until a poster hear told me what the Angular FOV actually was. 357 ft is actually very decent and more realistic for a 10x32 but one can dream I guess. Thanks again for your help.

Let us know what you think of the Meopro. Ive been considering downsizing to the 8x32.

Well they could be different due to the differing power but I will. Don't expect anything extensive. I don't have the skills for that. I'm a true amature.

I had my 8x32 Sightron bins out on a hike just now and I don't think I've ever enjoyed the views in any of my binoculars much more than these. They are very easy to see through for my eyes and super sharp IMO. They are very easy to hold steady. I like everything about them. This is at less than half the cost of this Meopro. If the Meopro is even a little better I'll be very satisfied.

dries1 said:

I would go with the Meopta, build quality, optics and warranty. The only potential problem is that both the 8X32 and the 10X32 had eye cups that were too small in diameter for my eye-sockets, for you they may work.
The eye cups in the 42mm formats are larger in the original B1 series and fit my eyes perfectly.

A.W.

Click to expand...

I have the older Cabela Meopta EuroHD 10x32 and it is a very good binocular ,
I think $650 new but used should in your price range.


edj

dries1 said:

I would go with the Meopta, build quality, optics and warranty. The only potential problem is that both the 8X32 and the 10X32 had eye cups that were too small in diameter for my eye-sockets, for you they may work.
The eye cups in the 42mm formats are larger in the original B1 series and fit my eyes perfectly.

A.W.

Click to expand...

I agree with you on the Meopta eye cups. They were also too small for my eye-sockets also. Something to be aware of. I also had some quality issues on my sample but that was just one sample.

black crow,
In the official documents printed by Meopta I found the following values for the FOV etc. for the Meopro's:
8X32 Meopro: 8,4 degrees, 148m/1000m and close focus 2 m
10x32 Meopro: 6,70 degrees, 117m/1000m, and close focus 2 m
Gijs van Ginkel

Yes those are correct. The Website is confusing both US and Overseas and so the sellers also have confusing info. They didn't post an Angular FOV. but just stated 383ft fov. But I got it now thanks to helpful folk here and they are on their way to me.

black crow,

Like you I have been trying to get the hang of it all. At first I was obsessed with 'wide angle' but on the whole that meant 7x or 8x, which did not provide an adequate sized image of the individual bird. I think that led to the hunt changing to 10x which was, at first, harder to hold still.

For me, that has got better with practice and the concern about size of field has evapourated in the search for detail but perhaps "Field of View (°) 6,70 and Field of View at (m/1000m) 117" is at the upper end for 10x magnification.

Meopta may not be the lightest but in any case it is said that greater weight helps with steadiness and in my experience the grip helps too. Currently, for me, sharpness and colour have become most important but Good Luck with them and will be looking in to see how you got on.

I've come to enjoy the 10x also. I find I can hold it steady enough even in older age. With declining eyes it helps with detail. I still enjoy 8x and even 7x on occasion but with 351 fov in 10x I think if these are Meopro are satisfactory they will get the most use. I use a harness so a few extra ounces is not a big issue either.

I'll give a short report on them. More of a nod yes or no. I'm not skilled at technical evaluations.

I'm hoping you love your new Meoptas, Mr Crow, and you should, considering how you like the 8x BSII Sightrons-me too! I have the Cabelas Euro Instinct closeout from last year in 10x32, before they changed over to the ugly armor, and they are great. I haven't tried the HD Pros you are getting, but they should be similar, and a better price too.

One of my favorite views with the Sightrons is brown field grasses that turn golden in the right light, and that sharp colorful view is what sold me on them, a while ago, comparing them to others I had. I'm not a technical person by any means either, but I am finding out more about these things as I go, which is good too.

Yes, the eyecups on the Euro model (B1) that I have are smaller than I would like, but I make them work, and to have the view I can compensate, unlike some who can't or don't want to. Your HD Pros should be better in that regard, as they appear larger, like the 6.5x32 Meopta I used to have.

Good luck with your choice, and have a blast, BC!

PS I didn't encourage you to buy them, so I don't owe you any part of that $400! ; )

Thanks for that bit of news. It's encouraging. I still haven't gifted that Celestron 10x32 and I also have my Legend 10x25 which I think are outstanding to test the Meopro against. They are going to have to beat them by a small margin at least. From what several people have told me I'm pretty confident and I've never had issues with eyecups. I make them all work. Looking at your Great Grey avatar I am reminded I've only seen one of them and it was right inside the city limits of Seattle's University district. It had wandered in and I was out right at dawn one morning walking and it flew in front of me and landed in a tree where I had a nice view of that huge bird. I've never seen another. When I was in Michigan as a young guy I once saw a Snowy owl fly across a big field in the middle of the day to grab a mouse. I had never seen one because we were right outside of their range but a very cold northern winter had pushed some down south around Grand Rapids. That's the only one of those I've ever seen also. I did have a work study job at the Blandford Nature Conservancy in that area where we rehabbed injured native animals and birds and I took care of a couple of owls but I can't remember which kind they were. They are strange animals when they look at you or swing their heads around. I'd like to be able to do that. Hey I'm not even stoned and my mind is just rolling along. We were talking about binoculars right?

Nice story, black crow! It sounds like you were free-associating about your youthful memories and having a good time again! I'm envious of your owl encounters, but glad you had them even so! ; ) I've only seen a snowy owl in the Philadelphia zoo when I was about 20. Thanks to my 300mm telephoto I had at the time, I took a bunch of pictures of it behind the wire screen, and you wouldn't know I didn't take them in the wild, because the fence just blurred out so you couldn't see it in the picture! I gave some enlargements out as presents one year of that Snowy Owl-they are beautiful in their white dressage. Your sighting must have made an impression on you, for sure!

I've only ever seen one other owl in the wild, and it was fleeting, in pretty thick cover, and near dusk when it swooped across in front of me. Haven't a clue what kind it was, but there's no denying that bomber shape and size, and the woosh from his wings! I doubt I'll ever see a Great Grey now, as they're very rare around here too, unless like you said and the conditions make them come South some years. But they are my favorite owl. Yeah, wouldn't that be great if we could turn our heads like that! Or even close!

I've never had trouble with eyecups either, big or small-I just put them where they need to be and work with them, though I guess that's a personal thing that some have trouble with for various reasons. Your Meoptas should have a little larger ones than mine, so that would be better for most adults, I think.

Let us know how you find them-should be fun testing them! Now comes the hard part-waiting for them! Hope you have some good weather when they get there.

Yeah I miss the good ol daze.

My friend down the street has a house on the creek that runs through town and she has about a half acre with a lot of snags. She's also put up two owl houses. I can't remember which kind but they are pretty small but there is usually always one peeking out of a snag hole or one of the owl houses and sometimes two. She's a birder and has planted a lot of plants that attract birds so it can be pretty busy down there some days. It's a really pretty creek with the occasional very small run of steelhead and salmon. Not many towns in the US like ours anymore. We also have the little pygmy owl here and I sometimes see those little guys when I'm out hiking. They are day hunters so you can come across them where there are a lot of small birds for them to hunt.

Heh, don't we all! ; ) Or at least, the body we had if nothing else!

You're certainly right about that-not many towns left like yours, if you have a creek, and it supports more than minnows, which is what we're lucky to have around here. Though, there are a lot of creeks (cricks here), and streams-that go from decent sized (Perkiomen Cr), down to a lot of tiny ones all around, that eventually lead to the Delaware River. But to have something like steelhead and salmon in town, that is something!

Neat to have a friend like that so close with a bird habitat, the creek, and owls too! With the mountains nearby too, I'm feeling not too sorry for you, my friend, right about now! ; ) Enjoy! My joy today was picking out the soon to bloom trees and bushes, and we even have some green grass coming in here in our town. Favorite today-the light purple buds on a neighbors tree, and on another, some tiny leaves in another tree! I do like the desolation of Winter, but I think it's pretty nice to see the life growing again too.

Tell those people to hurry up with those Meoptas, I'm getting a little crazy waitin' for them!!! ; )

I'm lucky in some ways for sure. It's a really pretty place here and I looked around a long time before I picked my spot to live out my later years. This town was more fun 30 years ago however when it was a smaller sleepy hippy town. It's getting very built up by very wealthy retiring folk mostly from Southern Cal. 20 years ago there were hill tops with the most beautiful wild flowers in spring and summer. Now it's all million dollar homes.

Yep, development has brought this once small and semi-rural community to its knees too, where there is hardly open space around yet, though a little still exists. Of course, it's all in perspective, when I'm not feeling up to going out, a back alley with trees does it for me, and I'm happy to have that many days! ; )

You have a good attitude. This town still has a lot of wildish areas. We're plop down in a valley with true wilderness a 15 minute walk from my back door. There is Medford which is a semi large town and then really nothing much else around us. The Redwoods are a couple hours away and so is the High Desert and the Ocean. As a kid growing up in Michigan I could only dream of being able to see mountainsides and elk off my back deck. This was my dream as a kid so I guess i'm living my dream in some ways.

But a person with the right perspective, much like you have can find something of value wherever they are.

It sounds like a dream to me too! 2 hours to the Redwoods! Always loved them! It seems you did your homework too, before moving there, for sure. I bet you don't miss the no-see-ums of Michigan either! ; )

When I first drifted out west from Mich. in about 75 I ended up in a tiny town of 400 called Gasquet Ca. Right at the forks of the Smith River which IMO and many others is the most beautiful undammed river in the US. Easy to see the bottom at 30-40 ft and holes that get to 100 ft deep. That town was 15 miles from Crescent City and the Redwoods on Hwy 199. It was pure accident I ended up there and for 9 months I just hiked and fished on the river. Then my money ran out and I moved to Seattle to follow a dream of studying Martial Arts with one of Bruce Lee's first students, James DeMile. Seattle was my first big city and I really loved it there for 11 years until I left and ended in my little town here right on the southern border of Oregon. If you ever get out this way you are invited to visit as long as you like dogs. And you must bring some of your favorite optics for me to look through.

I got the Meopro late today after I had already returned from a hike. However it was a nice mostly sunny day so I had them out in the yard with my other bins and I have some first impressions that I may add to later. I'm not much on reviews so this isn't going to be anything in depth at all.

Out of the box they felt a little hefty but are very solid feeling and pretty to look at. I got the feeling of a really well made binocular. I'm comparing them mostly to a Celestron Trailmaster 10x32 but I also put them up against my Sightron 8x32 and Swarovski 8x50. The focusing is very touchy and just a slight movement puts them in and out of focus. I'm not sure how much I like that and I'm not used to it. They are very sharp in the center of the view and I could really see impressive detail on tree bark and small print and right on par IMO with the Swarovski and certainly superior to the Celestron's. They do get soft towards the edge not unlike all my other bins but the Swarovski which is definitely superior in that respect. The FOV is large and I don't know if that had anything to do with my impression but they seemed to be higher power than the Celestron's. Everything seemed closer and thus they seemed a little more difficult to hold steady. That's strange so I'm wondering if that's all in my head but it was a strong impression every time I looked between them. They are very bright. Noticeably brighter than the Celestron's and surprisingly as bright as the Swarovski's or so it seemed to me and I preferred the color of the view to the Swarovski's.

Very impressed by the sharpness at the center and the nice FOV and the brightness. I'm not good at determining the size of the sweet spot but it didn't seem like it was exceptionally large compared to my other bins. Likely about the same and maybe even a tad smaller especially of course the Swarovski's.

They are quite a bit larger than the Celestron's and also heavier and in that respect at this point I think I like the Celestron's more. However in overall viewing they are a clear winner although I think the Celestron's at less than half the price are very good indeed. It's obvious they are very decent optics for the money at the $400 price although I have nothing else in that price range to compare them to. I've looked at my friends $1000 Kowa 8x32 and I think these are every bit as nice in the optics department however I don't remember how good the Kowa's were at the edges. I'm guessing they were a little better but not better at the center of the view. That's it so far. I will try and use them a lot over the next few days and I may have more to say. I'll then decide if I want to keep them.

They sure do seem to make everything look larger than the Celestron's and I don't know what to make of that.