My experience with the Meopta 12 x 50 HD (and other bins)
Thanks for your review, David. I've purchased the same binoculars 3 months ago, and I'd like to show my view, using citations from your text for my comments. (I just discovered your review some days ago, so my experiences are not influenced by it.)
Meopta is a name that may be well known on the forum, but seems to be relatively unknown in birding circles generally. That deserves to change in my opinion. I hope this review will illustrate why.
The binoculars I use nowadays are two Meostar B1 from Meopta: a 7 x 42 (purchased last spring) and a 12 x 50 HD, purchased last autumn. I've seen a lot of bins the last months, but for me the Meostars are the best from the sub-premium class: nearly the performance than the premium bins (and sometimes better!), but for 30 to 40 percent of the price of theme (at least in Switzerland). Unfortunately, there is no dealer to present them in a shop, there is only an online shop in Switzerland who orders them through the official representative. And that is the reason, only few persons know and appreciate the Meopta binoculars. They would be better known, if one could take them in the hands and test them with one own's eyes. (Regarding to me, I would not hesitate to order another Meostar online without having tested it before - but not a pair of Meo Pro HD binoculars, which Meopta does not produce itself, but buy at another factory - these are more conventional bins with some faults.)
Once upon a time, the Meostar had a reputation for not having the best colour rendition on offer. Those days are long gone, and in my opinion the current range really does merit the attention of those looking for top quality birding optics in my opinion.
The colour rendition of the 12 x 50 is a bit on the warm side, but less than that of the 7 x 42. But I like it more this way than that of my Zeiss Conquest HD 10 x 42, which are a bit cold. (Meopta's colour bias is similar to that of Leica binoculars.)
The 12x50HD has the mid-green armour with the raised texture pattern near the eyepieces and the bullet-like shape that is common to all the B1 range. I rather like its distinctive look. The thumb indents on the back are generous and well positioned for a conventional grip.
The grip: perfect for me. The look: I don't think of military green or hunting green, but of the good old green of the Swiss (and German and Austrian) Federal Railways 30 years ago... Advantage: green doesn't get heated by the sun so fast as black!
The Meostars B1 are bigger than other bins, but fit perfectly my hands.
They fit my hands as well. (The 7 x 42 are even better!)
The rain guard is a very nice snug fit ...
The rain guard for the eyepieces are very good. Its material does not bother me when it touches my hand. Most users will use them threaded only at the strap on the right side. The rain cover will not be damaged like that on my Zeiss Conquest HD which has a sharp strap and a soft rain guard.
There is no disguising that this is a fairly big binocular ...
Yes, but the alternatives are similar.
They are OK to hang round the neck for a an hour or so ...
Well, I carry them for several hours, often combined with my 7 x 42 Meostar, which weighs an additional 860 g.
There is also a bit of a knack to holding a 12x steady. Supporting the binocular more on the palms of the hands with a slightly front and back arrangement worked best for me. I know some suggest the increased shake at high magnification neutralises any advantage. That just isn’t so for me at least.
I agree, the plus in viewing details compensates for the shake - but not if you have just climbed a hill and are out of breath!
This was a brand new sample ... and the focus was sluggish to start with. Not exactly stiff, just very well damped and didn’t want to be hurried. ... I’ve found the damping somewhat assists fine focus and there is no hint of any backlash.
The focusing unit is the best I've seen - much more better than the ones of the Swarovision EL, the Zeiss SF and the Zeiss Conquest HD. It is on a par with the one from the new Noctivid from Leica! Compared with that of the Meostar, the focuser of the 12 x 50 from Svaro EL is mediocre - I never could focus with one movement of my finger, there is a resistance that suddenly broke down and resulted in a defocused view. This effect is not big, but in consideration of the very limited depth of field of 12 x, it is annoying.
The eye relief is listed at 15 mm. It’s perfectly fine for my glasses with a millimetre or so to spare. To me, it feels more comparable to some models listed at 16 or 17mm. Clearly it will still be insufficient for some spectacle wearers.
That is the one and only drawback of these binoculars for me: being far-sighted, my glasses need an eye relief of at least 16 mm. But I can live with this incovenience, because I use 12 x 50 binoculars only to identify details, for overviewing a flock of birds I use my 7 x42.
Apologies for the level of enthusiasm in this report.
No problem, I share your enthusiasm...
Sure enough, it comfortably outgunned my usual 10x42. In pure detail I was getting exactly the 20% advantage you would expect, but in terms of how the birds looked, it felt like the magnification was much higher.
Compared with binoculars that magnify 7 or 8 times, a pair with a magnifying factor of 12 outperforms clearly a 10 x 42. In my experience, a combination 7 or 8 + 10 times does not make any sense, but a combination 7 or 8 + 12 does.
Firstly the headline. I think this Meopta is possibly the sharpest binocular I’ve ever used.
I agree, but I would say that this is not only an effect of sharpness, but also of brillance and the nearly complete absence of chromatic aberration.
There is a rather shallow field curvature, but unless you are an astronomer, it’s going to seem like a flat field with excellent definition right to the edge of the view.
I wouldn't say that they are flat field (as far as I know, there is no lens at this purpose), but the borders aren't really bad. Again, I use the 12x50 mostly for details in the center of the image.
There is a bit more pincushion ..., so those who are susceptible to the rolling ball effect shouldn’t be concerned.
That's is very important for me: I get uneasy when there is a remarkable rolling ball effect (as in the 8x42 SF from Zeiss).
I’d been using the binocular for a couple of days when I realised I hadn’t noticed any CA ... So I went looking for it. Yes it is there as very narrow fringing in the outer third of the view, but well within my own tolerance limits and it’s not troubled me once in the field.
As I said before, the chromatic aberration is very well corrected - true HD.
I’ve been unable to spot any glare at all which is also pretty remarkable. There are a couple of false pupils around 3mm or so from the exit pupil but they haven’t troubled the view at all.
Glare and false pupils are indeed no problem, in contrast to my Zeiss Conquest HD 10 x 42 which break down when I am viewing against the light (for example reflections of the sun in a pond). (The 7 x 42 are even better - nearly perfect in this regard!)
I’ve mentioned a couple of times that I get the impression that the magnification is higher than 12x.
I could compare my binoculars with the 12 x 50 Swarovision EL from Swarovski, and I had also the impression that the Meostar magnify more than those pair. By the way: The image quality of the Meostar was at least as good as that of the Swarovision (which cost at least double the price of the Meopta). The eye relief of the Swaro is better (about 18 mm), but the focussing unit is worse, and that is a major disadvantage.
I hope I’ve gone some way towards explaining why the Meostar HD 12x50 gave me that little buzz of excitement when I tried it for the first time at BirdFair. It still gives me that little buzz each time I use it. It’s not a cheap binocular, but I think it can be fairly called a bargain. I’m going to miss it.
All the Meostars B1 of Meopta are bargains - in my opinion. I think they are a much better choice than the Zeiss Conquest HD, for example. They resemble the Swarovision SLC, which are very good, but also not flat-field - but these cost more than the Meostars and there are not all models available (especially no 12 times magnifying bin).
I don’t imagine many birders would choose a 12x50 as their only binocular, but most regulars here own several. I have a variety of models that I think are best suited to different situations, but 7x and 10x are my most used. The 7x for the woods and hedgerows and the 10x for the open spaces. No question, this Meopta does a much better job in those open spaces. Would I choose it for an all day outing? With a suitable harness, definitely.
As I said before, I often use a combination 7 x 42 and 12 x 50 - that's heavy, but I have only a tiny Lumix super-zoom digicam with me and thankfully a healthy neck!
Best regards,
Mark