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Meostar 8X32 B1 Vs Kowa 8X32 bd xd (1 Viewer)

Chris223

Well-known member
After receiving my second copy of the 8X32 bdXD i was till a little bit unsatisfied about optical performance (nonetheless it has nothing to compare to the totally defectuous first exemplar).

My complain is that the upper part of the field on the left objective is impossible to put on focus as the left and upper part of the right objective (other part of the field can be put on focus almost to the last extreme edge). So i begin to think that there is no copy without any asymetrical blurr issue.
Center focus is good.

So i have decided to buy the Meopta that seems to be on par with zeiss conquest hd and kowa Genesis to compare my bino with an expensiver one.


On the meopta mechanically i like the overall finish of the meopta, but dislike the hard friction focus wheel. diopter focus wheel is nice ! Front objective lense cover doens't stay in place. Eyecup is nice quality with firm click. Set of IPD has not enough friction for me.

On the Kowa my only complain is the setting of the diopter (eyecup and click stop are also better on the meopta but nothing to worry for me).

Now the optical part :

First on the meopta the field is notably wider, there is less tunel effect like on the kowa, and eye placement is easier an view more relaxing.
Brigthness, i can't see any difference, maybe a bit brighter on the meopta but i think it is due to the color rendition.
Sharpness : i can't see any difference in the center of the field, but on the meoptar the blurr appear way faster than on the kowa ! (but you can put on focus the edge ).
CA : a little bit more at the center of the meopta (i can't see any with the kowa). But for me it is not a problem as i don t see any CA in normal observation.

Color : colder (true ?) on the kowa, warmer on the meopta. i can't tell which is better but on some observation (fishing ship back to the harbor the color rendition of the water was unpleasant for me with the meopta....the sea seemed green and not blue).


Conclusion :

For me the biggest advantage of the meopta is the wider field of view, but i am disapointed by the quick lost of sharpness toward the edge...with the kowa the field is smaller but sharper.
I don't know which one i would choose without looking at the price !
With a perfect copy of the kowa (if it exist) i will probably choose the kowa.
 
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Hi Chris

Owning the Meostars 7x42 and 12x50 HD, which I like both, I looked last autumn during a comparison at an optics store through the Meostar 8x32. For me its sharpness drop was a big disappointment too (there is only very little on the 7x42). I therefore ruled the 8x32 out in my evaluation of lightweight binoculars.

The other 8x30/8x32 bins (Meopro, Conquest HD, old Swarovski CL Companion, Ultravid HD plus) were alike to my eyes, except the Leica Trinovid HD and the Swarovski EL W B Field Pro (aka Swarovision). I chose finally the latter binoculars because it was way better than the Trinovid. Perhaps now I would also consider the new CL companion (I could look through them 3 weeks ago and would judge them as one of the best of the "cheaper" 8x30/32 bins).

Mark
 
Hi Mark ;)

So for you the first batch of bino that you ve mentioned as the same decrease in sharpness than the meopta ?

After 5 days of intensive playing with both bino i can say than the only strong point of the meopta against the kowa is the larger FOV with easier eyes placement. Except that the field in focus is the same that the kowa, and the color rendition is way out (tooo much yellow).
CA control is better on kowa, but the most important is the "light aberations" control.
When you look with the bd xd at a street light you can see eventually a lvery little spike or cross of light....with the b1 you have a cross that is going till the edge of the field !
When you look with the the sun not so far from your point of aim you have a big white glare at the bottom of the filed with the meopta and only a small one with kowa.

So at the price i ve paid the kowa the meopta for me seems very overpriced !
 
So for you the first batch of bino that you ve mentioned as the same decrease in sharpness than the meopta ?

Yes, considering Meopta Meopro HD, Zeiss Conquest HD, old Swarovski CL Companion, Ultravid HD plus. I would include in this list of bins that have (for me) an uneasy blur off centre also the Zeiss FL 8x32 (according to reports in Bird forum / Jülich forum - I've never seen it). The Zeiss Terra's image quality is only average in my opinion.

It seems to be quite a task to offer a good 8x32. (There is for instance no [not yet?] Zeiss 8x32 SF nor a Leica Noctivid 8x32.)

The Meostar 8x42 should be better in regard of image sharpness off centre than the 8x32 (the 7x42 has onlya very acceptable slight drop in sharpness at the edge of the picture).
 
Well, that's an interesting observation! I am looking at a Meostar 8x32, trying it out tomorrow, and having the Kowa 6.5x32 I was wondering about the 8's performance. At the same time I'm wondering about Meostar 8x42 too, though I'm a bit through with the weight (and size) of the 42's... will try to compare tomorrow.
 
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