Hmm, didn't know the Meostar HD was out yet.:eat:
I have Cabela's Euro HD which should be exactly the same (except for the armor) as the Meostar HD.
Pros:
Very, very, very, little chromatic aberration. I've used this bin during the winter under bleak skies and looking at large trees and crows flying around -basically worst case scenarios. But there wasn't any CA near center at all.
I think the control of CA is at least as good as the 8x42 FL or ZenRay 7x36 ED, and that's pretty good...
Another thing I like is the center field sharpness. It was definitely sharper than the Swarovision 10x50 or Steiner 10x44 Peregrine XP that I tried & my family noticed the same thing & we never agree...
Cons:
It isn't sharp to the edge. I'd say 70 percent of the image is sharp, then it falls off. But nonetheless I kept this bin over all others because the center field is out of this world sharp.
It also has about as much distortion as the Zeiss FL, meaning straight lines (like fence pickets, etc) will start to look curved not very far off center. For me, I'd rather take the curves and ditch the CA any day. :smoke:
Another thing about the Meostar HD/Cabela's Euro HD versus the older model is probably whiteness rendering. Most people said the non HD one had some yellow tint to the image, although not always a massive amount. Well it's just not there in the HD version & colors look just like they should.
Also, eye relief. If you wear glasses, you might want more than 15 mm. I think the Pentex is 17 and the Vortex 16.5, although who knows how much the eye cup design cuts off and shortens the useable amount. Both the Viper and the Pentax are normally quite well regarded, although their FOV might be a little narrower.
