Interesting thread, good questions 'detective tenex'! Certainly the spec sheets and marketing blurb are confusing and contradictory. Meopta does feel like a company permanently in limbo, unsure of which direction it's going to take. At full (or close to full) retail price, no wonder there is a lack of confidence in what exactly you are purchasing and a reluctance to spend money on this brand. People buy in to 'knowns', not 'unknowns'.
That said, a few of us here in the UK have recently been lucky enough to purchase Meostars in various configurations at very (VERY) attractive prices from one of our retailers (thank you SWOptics!). With the known and readily acknowledged optical quality of these instruments, at the right price 'the small print' on the spec sheets and in the catalogues becomes less important (or in my own case, totally unimportant).
At the price I paid, I really don't care if my 8x56 B1 Plus is built on a magnesium chassis or if they do in fact have HD glass, they are simply wonderful, whatever they are, but I would be intrigued to find out...
That said, a few of us here in the UK have recently been lucky enough to purchase Meostars in various configurations at very (VERY) attractive prices from one of our retailers (thank you SWOptics!). With the known and readily acknowledged optical quality of these instruments, at the right price 'the small print' on the spec sheets and in the catalogues becomes less important (or in my own case, totally unimportant).
At the price I paid, I really don't care if my 8x56 B1 Plus is built on a magnesium chassis or if they do in fact have HD glass, they are simply wonderful, whatever they are, but I would be intrigued to find out...