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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

MeoStar B1.1 8x56 (1 Viewer)

I am wondering why these are fogging so easily. I mean it’s winter here but I haven’t had them outside yet (I’m stuck inside with a cold that has been acting up poorly when I go outside). I find they do not fog if I hold my eyes slightly off the cups, but when placed comfortably on the cups they are fogging. The fogging is only on the outside of the glass though but still, what can I do to fix this or will I just have to live with it?
I think I've had this problem occasionally with any full-sized bino with good eyecups, because they tend to fit against/into my facial anatomy well, and eyes are moist. It must depend on temperature and humidity, though I've never analyzed how, and may go away once the bino accommodates to the ambient temperature, when that's an issue.
 
Not really keen on becoming a professional reviewer ...
Of course, mine was just a joke.

But my advice was honest and valid, as regards attenuating AC and seeing better in the daytime, with your new twilight binoculars.
If you want more sharpness and depth of field, you can choose to diaphragm the lenses of 2 or 3 stop.

Best wishes for an excellent repair. I will be curious to know the defect.
 
Last edited:
Rico70, post 18,
Chromatic aberration (the walking speed of red photons differs from that of blue photons in optical glass etc.) does not change a bit with light intensity, so your advice does not help at all
Hi Gijs, do you intend to argue that it is useless to diaphragm the lenses?
or that the same amount of AC will be visible both day and night?
 
Rico 70, post 23,
At very low light intensities (night) your eyes are not sensitive to color, so you will not be able to see chromatic aberrration, but the photons of light move still through the optical system each with their specific velocity.
I tried to repeat your suggestion, but chromatic aberration in all binoculars whatever there objective size could be observed (if present) in 8x30 or 8x56 without blending, so your suggestion to decrease the objective size by diaphragms to better observe chromatic aberration does not work for me.
Gijs van Ginkel
 
The binoculars are boxed up and being shipped out to my dealer tomorrow who will send them to meopta. Thankfully I don’t have to front that cost and hassle.

I have been informed they will either be repaired or replaced.

Happy New Years all!
 
I think I've had this problem occasionally with any full-sized bino with good eyecups, because they tend to fit against/into my facial anatomy well, and eyes are moist. It must depend on temperature and humidity, though I've never analyzed how, and may go away once the bino accommodates to the ambient temperature, when that's an issue.

Funny eh! Lol, soooo good that they can fog. Most comfortable binoculars I have ever put to my eyes.
 
The binoculars are boxed up and being shipped out to my dealer tomorrow who will send them to meopta. Thankfully I don’t have to front that cost and hassle.

I have been informed they will either be repaired or replaced.

Happy New Years all!

Good luck, Meopta does have some quality control issues, putting in a damaged lens like that is very poor.
I have experience with a new binocular that arrived easily out of collimation, direct from Meopta USA.
So, ask for a new one, and one that has been checked out fully.
It will be going to back to Czech, no repair in the US, and that is getting
to be common.

I am just confirming your experience, it does happen. Otherwise I really like my 12x50HD. I do hope they step up their game.

Jerry
 
How did that repair work out for you?

Still waiting on word. I live 6500 km from the Canadian distributer and Canada Post was especially slow with getting it to them. And then the distributer is almost literally on the other side of the world from meopta repair centre. So you can imagine the shipping and custom times on it all. With that being said, it’s been two months since I sent them, so I figure they should have been at the repair centre for two weeks now. Starting to get frustrated.
 
Just got word from the distributer that he got word from meopta that the binoculars are being repaired, I asked for what was wrong and They didn’t tell him so he did t know. Hopefully I’ll have them in a month or so.
 
I have two Meostars (8x32 and 10x32) I am trying out now. Other than the 8x being a bit stiff /clunky in focusing, I have worked it out. Both are sharp....good quality....I have no issues with them. I have compared them to other bins I have (Zeiss HT, Zeiss classic 7x42, Zeiss 8x25).... and I am impressed. So not sure these are just bad copies? For me, I am impressed with Meopta.
 
So I got to compare these side by side with two pairs of Fujinon FMT 7x50’s. The fujinons as one would assume had a slightly wider FOV but really not by much. With respect to clarity, they appeared equal, the meoptas were obviously a bit harder to get dialed the fujinons. I found the meoptas were clear to about 90-95% from centre and only slightly losing clarity at the edge, and found the fujinons closer to a solid 95% from centre. With respect to chromatic aberration, I viewed wires from a trawler over water and above the horizon, I can see a slight amount of CA with the fujinons and none Or nearly none with the meoptas. With respect to low light, I oddly found the meoptas slightly better.
 
I have two Meostars (8x32 and 10x32) I am trying out now. Other than the 8x being a bit stiff /clunky in focusing, I have worked it out. Both are sharp....good quality....I have no issues with them. I have compared them to other bins I have (Zeiss HT, Zeiss classic 7x42, Zeiss 8x25).... and I am impressed. So not sure these are just bad copies? For me, I am impressed with Meopta.

Since you have both the 8x power and 10 power, does the 10x Meostar have that 1mm or so more eye relief over the 8x as the specs on paper state.
 
What is your final verdict?

Hello All,

Received a pair of MeoStar B1.1 8x56 Binoculars on Christmas Eve, and I notice there isn’t much said about them on here. So here’s my initial thoughts.

First thing I notice is the case is very well made and I like that the strap can be used on the case or binoculars interchangeably with the clips. The case is a bit snug on the binoculars, but I kind of like it that about it (I just have to check the objective covers after pulling it out to see if they are on or have been pulled off). The strap on the other hand is well pretty minimal, not much to it.

The rubber on the binoculars is nice, I did notice a place on the hinge where there’s a hollow below the rubber and you can feel it flex in (not so sure how I fee about that considering the money I spent on these binoculars). The focus wheel, diopter adjustment and tripod mount plug are all plastic and perform extremely well except the tripod mount plug is recessed in past the rubber of the binocular which makes it hard to unscrew.

The ergonomics of the binocular are exceptional... I love how it feels in the hands or hand. I also love the eye cups and how well they fit. The eye-relief on these binoculars is unreal... absolutely huge and so is the eyebox. The mid stop of the eye cups is nice and holds well. There is also no play in the eye cups.

Now my one gripe so far about these binoculars... an issue I haven’t had on the Kowa bd ii xd’s but am having on a binocular 3x the price.... FOGGING! I am wondering why these are fogging so easily. I mean it’s winter here but I haven’t had them outside yet (I’m stuck inside with a cold that has been acting up poorly when I go outside). I find they do not fog if I hold my eyes slightly off the cups, but when placed comfortably on the cups they are fogging. The fogging is only on the outside of the glass though but still, what can I do to fix this or will I just have to live with it?

Now on to the view. For some reason as seen in the picture below there appears to be a crack in the internal glass or something... I guess I will have to return these for warranty. Other than that, the view is exceptional! Almost completely clear from edge to edge (maybe 90-95% from centre to edge); there is no darkening in the last 5-10% of the field of view from centre, just a slight blur that still allows me to see individual letters 1cm in height at 20 feet. As for field of view... it feels great, not tunneled at all. The depth of field/focus is great... slightly less than my Kowa BD ii 6.5x32’s XD but not much less... the depth of field/focus is significantly more than my old diamondback 10x50’s... Better than I had expected. The close focus is about 3m. There is also absolutely no glare observed.

When I look back through the objective to the ocular, the circle is clean, and unlike my Kowa BD ii 6.5x32 XD’s I cannot see any lines in the prism or anything. Very impressive internal construction. The exit pupil as seen from the ocular side is absolutely clean as well.

I will hopefully be comparing these side by side with the Fujinons at work, my boss’s Bausch and Lomb’s, my Kowa’s and Nikon action ex’s. The side by side comparison should be written up mid January.

I expect these to do extremely well, assuming meopta warranties my sample.

I will do my best to look for CA at that time. Too bad I won’t get a chance to give them the real test til spring, seals on ice give any binocular a run for their money on CA.

I am no professional reviewer, nor do I have a lot of experience with roof prism binoculars. As a navigation officer at sea I do have a lot of experience looking through porros in all kinds of sea, ice and weather conditions. So take my review with a grain of salt, but I will put my best foot forward.


Sir do you think meostar 8x56 vs Swarovski slc 8x56 can come close? Can people tell the difference?
 
Sir do you think meostar 8x56 vs Swarovski slc 8x56 can come close? Can people tell the difference?

I tried both of these at the last UK Birdfair. Both are well built, the Meostar less refined (as you would expect from the price) but also giving the impression of being very robust. The Meostar handles better, it's noticeably more compact (but is still a large binocular). Image wise the Meostar is very good indeed and does everything you expect from an 8x56 (bright, comfortable view etc), but this model of SLC is truly outstanding. It delivers a beauty of image that makes you feel that 8x binoculars in any smaller format are a little lacking. The price you pay for that superlative image quality however is weight and size (and cost).

I'd be surprised if you did not notice a difference between these two binoculars, but the Meostar version is itself a strong performer, and you may well think the difference between them (between £300 and £500+ here in the UK) is not worth paying for.
 

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