Meopta Meostar (1 Viewer)

Yep, Looks like throwing the toys out of the pram alright. I'm surprised they didnt add in a pair of these http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...rtTsBA&usg=AFQjCNFBFnftCYFN9eBG6s8xnaKv9geGAw as an alternative to Meopta.:-O

Ger.

Review of 10x32 is put on hold due to technical difficulties.

Right my tecnical difficulties are over as my money is back in my account.

I've been looking for a pair of 10x for a while and eventually settled for a pair of Meopta meostar 10x32. I looked up marchwood who are distributors of meopta's and looked at the various shops that stock meoptas. I came across one called Photo express lakeland in cumbria and found they had a brand new pair of Meostar's for £529 on ebay. I thought this price was very good for a pair of Meoptas but being an official stockist of meoptas plus being a brick and mortar shop I thought they must be genuine.

I emailed the shop in question and asked various questions about the binoculars and was assured they were genuine uk stock that was boxed with gurantee etc. I waited a couple of days and rang the shop. I spoke to one of their sales people and asked some more about the bins. After going to check to see if they did have a pair to sell he came back saying that they had and that they were brand new in a sealed box. I bought them across the phone using a credit card.

I received the bins a couple of days later which was a quick delivery. They were packaged well in a cardboard box. I took the meopta box out of the cardboard box and I noticed that the seals had already been broken on the box. I opened the box and the bins were in a plastic bag inside the cloth case that comes with the binoculars. I took out the bins and immediately noticed that there was no new bin smell from the rubber armouring. Then I took off the eye guards and immediately noticed a glue like substance on the middle of both eyeglasses. I cleaned this off and noticed that there was either mould or coatings coming off the inside of the eyeglass.

I looked throught the bins and noticed a slight haze to the view. I checked the bins again and I noticed that the rings that retain the eyeglass were different. One was perfectly smooth and the other was rough. The neckstrap had an old sort of feel to it with the meopta label peeling off and one of the air pockets was completely flat.

I rang the shop and informed them that these bins were not new. They tried to insist that they were new but I informed them that I collect optics and that these binoculars were not new. I was then told that a demo pair must have been given instead. (how does a demo pair end up in a sealed box with glue and different eyerings). I was told to post them back and was told I would get a refund. I wasnt offered another pair even though there is two brand new pairs of 10x32 available on their website.

I posted them back registered and when they arrived the shop were supposed to ring me to arrange the refund with the cost of postage included.The bins were signed for and I waited a day and no phonecall. I rang them and was told the person I dealt with was out of the shop and would be back later. I told them to ring me back. This went on for a couple of days of me ringing the shop with no call back. I then rang my bank to inform them that there might be a problem and they said to give the shop one more try and then get back to them and they would take over. I rang the shop the following day and they finally asked for my credit card details.

I'm glad to say I received my refund today although the postage wasn't refunded. The whole episode cost me over 35 euro which I can ill afford but I'm just glad its over. I got the impresssion if I had not persisted in getting a refund I would still be looking for it this time next year.

As for the Meoptas if they were brand new then assembly and quality control are seriously lacking at their factory. If they were a pair of demos then that raises so many other questions. Maybe a badly repaired pair of demos I think would be getting closer to the truth imo. If I were Meopta I wouldnt like it if bins like these were being passed off as brand new from official stockists.

Ger.

That sounds bad but I'm confused.

You seem to say that the box seal was broken and then later suggest it was sealed?

Either way thats one of worst experiences I've heard. Luckily I have never had such a problem and I'm far more trusting in ordering than you seem to have been.

I wouldn't order anything from that crowd now.

CliveP said:

That sounds bad but I'm confused.

You seem to say that the box seal was broken and then later suggest it was sealed?

Either way thats one of worst experiences I've heard. Luckily I have never had such a problem and I'm far more trusting in ordering than you seem to have been.

I wouldn't order anything from that crowd now.

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Sorry for the confusion Clive. I was being a bit sarcastic when it was suggested to me that a demo pair were given instead. As in how does a demo pair end up in a 'sealed' box when I was originally told the box was sealed when I asked if they were new. The seals were definately broken before I received them.

Just glad its over now, infact not only has it put me off Meopta but it has put me off buying bins full stop. I've decided to go for a lense for my camera instead.

Cheers,

Ger.

squidge said:

Sorry for the confusion Clive. I was being a bit sarcastic when it was suggested to me that a demo pair were given instead. As in how does a demo pair end up in a 'sealed' box when I was originally told the box was sealed when I asked if they were new. The seals were definately broken before I received them.

Just glad its over now, infact not only has it put me off Meopta but it has put me off buying bins full stop. I've decided to go for a lense for my camera instead.

Cheers,

Ger.

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Hi,

Wow, sorry to hear about your extremely poor shopping experience. From your description I can safely say that the binoculars were definitely not brand new. I do not know why the dealer would pass off something that had been used or abused as a new pair of binoculars.
The sub-600 GBP price point is also a lower than we expect to see them on the market, so that is another cautionary flag for me.
Despite the bad experience with the retailer, I hope that in the future this experience does not put you off completely from considering another set of Meopta binoculars.

Regards and happy Holidays,
Surujh
Meopta-optika, s.r.o.

Hi Surujh, I queried the low price and the sales assistant double checked to see what was the lowest he was "allowed" to sell them by the distributor. He said that he got his meoptas off Marchwood.

The reason I chose Meopta was because of all the good reviews plus the excellent specs so I definitaly do not see this bad experience as a reflection of Meopta only as a reflection of the seller.

It took me a while to get enough money to buy this 'too good to be true priced meoptas'. I saved plus sold some stuff plus my wife and 7 year old son put the rest of the money towards them as it was to be a Christmas present aswell. So when this happened I was just sickened by the whole thing.

Cheers,

Ger.

Hi squidge,

I have just received a Meopta Meostar 8x32. I bought it at Eurooptics. My interest at it, as yours, was because the good reviews, particularly on the 8x32 Meostars. It is not my first buy at EO. Alex is a great guy absolutely correct in the bussiness.
I saw this binocular in the used shelf in their page. Knowing Alex I ask him if the binocular was Ok. I paid U$500 for it. I am using it for the past 4 days. They are very good instruments!! Perfect collimation. The view is excelent! The colours are naturals and the resolution and contrast are also excelent! I own a Zeiss FL 10x42 and a Swarovski Habicht 10x40 WGA. And have had a Swarovski 8x30 W. The Meopta is at the same optical level of these, without any doubt. At least in the units I have! I like also the ocular and objective covers. Nothing fancy but well done. Also the strap is a very clever design with air bubs! The bag, a loden like material, is aimed for hunters I guess. As you can see I am very pleased with my new-used Meopta.
By the way, I also bought at Eurooptic a Meopta Spotting Scope. An Angled 75 APO with a 20 to 60 ocular, plus a 30 Wide Angle one. Really IMPRESSIVE Spotting Scope!!! Much better than a Leica (not APO I must said). Great service at Eurooptic as usual. I have not any interest at Eurooptic!!! But a good service must be put in evidence.

Regards

PHA

squidge said:

Hi Surujh, I queried the low end the sales assistant double checked to see what was the lowest he was "allowed" to sell them by the distributor. He said that he got his meoptas off Marchwood.

The reason I chose Meopta was because of all the good reviews plus the excellent specs so I definitaly do not see this bad experience as a reflection of Meopta only as a reflection of the seller.

It took me a while to get enough money to buy this 'too good to be true priced meoptas'. I saved plus sold some stuff plus my wife and 7 year old son put the rest of the money towards them as it was to be a Christmas present aswell. So when this happened I was just sickened by the whole thing.

Cheers,

Ger.

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Thanks PHA, Its nice to see that you are happy with your shopping experience with eurooptics and that the meoptas are an in excellent condition.

I've bought from south west optics, Sherwoods, Cleyspy and a few other shops and received excellent service with these shops so its just the one bad egg I've dealt with.

I've stopped buying bins for the time being as I've had a rethink on how many bins I need.

Cheers Ger.:t:

I recently bought a 6.5x32 Meopro and it has the worst case of any bino I have used, which is a shame as it looks rather nice. It is EXTREMELY UNDERSIZED, and getting the binos in and out of the case is a lesson in frustration. Believe me, you'll only do it once before you buy a new case. Reminds me of one of those Chinese finger puzzles, where once you get it in, you can't get it out. It looks like Meopta cut down an extra tree to make the box, as its large enough to hold 4 uncased binos, so the severely undersized case is a real puzzler.

Tom

I was gifted a Meopta Meopro 6.5x32 last week,Same problem ,the case was so tight it pulled the objective lens caps off on the way out. I called Meopta on Long Island,(on Thursday) and explained the problem,they said they would send me a new case. It was in my mail box Saturday afternoon.The case works great...Not to loose not to tight..The magnetic flap even works... Good customer service!

Twobits

Tom, Twobits,

I am interested in one of these and would like to know how it compares to for instance a Pentax 6.5x21 or a Vortex Viper 6x32/8x32. I like the Pentax a lot, but would like to have more resolution at longe range and I find it is not very bright. Could you please comment on the Meopro's apparent sharpness at long range and on its brightness? Thanks,

George

George,

Back in the summer I was able to try the Papillo, Meopro 6.5x and the Viper 6x on the same day. I would say the Viper had the 'sharpest' view, but the 0.5x extra magnification made a bigger difference on detail than I would have imagined, and the Meopro would have been my choice of the three. I was able to look at the Viking and Fury 6.5x32 as well. The Viking came top on centre sharpness, but seemed to be behind the others on build quality. Eventually I bought the Opticron 7x36 which suites my requirements better overall.

David

Thanks, David. I agree with you, I compared the Papillo and the Viper 6x32 and found the image scale on the Papillo to be ok, but on the Viper it was just a bit too small. Great bin otherwise.

I am looking for something more compact than the Viking. The Opticron 7x36 looks interesting too. I read your report on these with great interest. If only they had a larger field of view...

Thanks again,


George

MeoptaMan @ when we will see a meopta hd 8x42 ?

Regards,
Ivan

Twobits said:

I was gifted a Meopta Meopro 6.5x32 last week,Same problem ,the case was so tight it pulled the objective lens caps off on the way out. I called Meopta on Long Island,(on Thursday) and explained the problem,they said they would send me a new case. It was in my mail box Saturday afternoon.The case works great...Not to loose not to tight..The magnetic flap even works... Good customer service!

Twobits

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I don't know why I never thought of doing that, and instead just used an extra Vortex case I had laying around. I called Meopta today and they are sending me another larger case as well - one for the 8x32's. Thanx for the heads up.

14Goudvink said:

Tom, Twobits,

I am interested in one of these and would like to know how it compares to for instance a Pentax 6.5x21 or a Vortex Viper 6x32/8x32. I like the Pentax a lot, but would like to have more resolution at longe range and I find it is not very bright. Could you please comment on the Meopro's apparent sharpness at long range and on its brightness? Thanks,

George

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I have both the 6.5x21 Papilio and the 6.5x32 Meopro and there is simply no comparison for an all round bino. The Meopro has an enormous sweetspot, superb edges, vastly superior brightness, is tack sharp, and is simply outstanding in it's handling of glare/ veiling glare. I primarily use the Papilios around the house/garden looking at bugs, spiders and butterflies, and they are my museum bino as well.

I have owned the 6x32 Katmai and Ranger and have compared them to the Vipers. Also spent quite a number of weeks comparing the Meopro to the 6.5x32 Fury's (2 pair) which were so highly touted, and feel the Meopro is the best of this class of bino.

Just my 2 cents.

Tom

Tom, did you ever post a detailed comparison of the 6.5x32 Meopro vs. the Fury's?

Thanks, Tom. My son has the Papillo and I tried the Viper 6x32 HD for a few days. I liked it very much, just wished for a little more magnification. 6.5 is ok for me, while 6x leaves me wanting. The Meopro looks very interesting, maybe I'll just have to try one...

George

Vortex fury 6.5x32 and Meopro 6.5x32 are the same cheap chinese binocular.

The only difference is the coating, i tested both and this time, strange but true, i had a preference for the vortex.

greets