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.
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?
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.
.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.
The problem with Meopta is that they always trail behind the others
Glad you like the conquest. While you may immerse yourself in reading specs/numbers, I actually use them in the field.
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,
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.
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