Meopta Meostar S2 82 HD (1 Viewer)

Houdiny · Jan 20, 2015

Hi there!

I recently bought a Meostar S2 Spotting scope with the 30-60 eyepiece, and I am truly impressed! I've looked through many scopes so far (and it haven't been cheap ones) and subjectively the Meostar bests them all. Well, comparing to the Swarovski ATX 85 a friend of mine owns, it's not necessarily better but at least equally good.
No color fringing, razor sharp, amazingly vivid colors. Star testing the scope produced almost perfect results.
The only thing that annoys me is the fact that Meopta has produced a almost horrible stay-on-case. Well, stay-on is probably exaggerated, because if you want to use it, you have to take off almost the whole case, leaving it flapping in the wind thus producing vibrations.
Any ideas on what other brand cases will fit the Meostar?

Martin

P.S.: I used my iPhone 6+ without any adapters to take this picture of a European Kingfisher. For a first try, quite nice I think.

lmans66 · Jan 20, 2015

Nice shot....no idea on the case but, a nice shot...if I was going to get another big scope, that is the one I would get hands down. Quality all the way thru and I like the central focus wheel....

Houdiny · Jan 21, 2015

As it turns out, Meopta seem to have a stay-on case that suits my needs. I didn't find it on their website, and I don't see a single German dealer having it in stock, so I guess it must have been released quite recently.
Hopefully I'll be getting it somewhere quite soon.

dalat · Jan 21, 2015

Great Kingfisher shot!

The shape of the S2 looks quite similar to the Swarovski ATM/ATS scopes (e.g. placement of focus wheel). So perhaps the Swaro stay on cases or the cheaper Kite Skua cases (http://kiteoptics.com/en/products/detail/509/Skua-for-Swarovski-ATM-or-ATS-80-65-HD) fit...

Kammerdiner · Jan 22, 2015

Excellent photo!!

I think the Swaro case would be too small for the Meopta, but if you try it let us know if it works.

The original Meopta stay-on case is basically unusable. I use it to transport the scope, then off it goes.

The new Meopta stay-on case arrived with last year's MeoPro 80mm scope and I've seen it advertised for the 82mm S2 as well, but I haven't tried it yet. If you get that one please let us know how you like it.

The S2 still takes my breath away every time I use it. It's as good as they get I think.

Mark

Houdiny · Jan 22, 2015

Thank you guys!
I've contacted my local dealer about the new case. He is unsure about when it will be in stock, but I guess waiting a few weeks is not a big problem (the first "hardcore" scoping will be in early May on Mallorca, but I guess it will be available by then).
As soon as I've got the case, I'll post some photos. The Swaro case looks nice, but I'm unsure if it fits and imo t's strange to have a Swaro case on a meopta scope (seems as if I would rather have gone with a Swaro scope but didn't have the money, so I got at least the case &#55357;&#56860

AND it's kinda expensive.
So I'm gonna build myself a phonescoping adapter, take some nice pictures and wait for the new Meopta case. If you want me to, I could post some of my pictures on here.
All the best
Martin

kabsetz · Jan 22, 2015

Houdiny,

I saw the Meopta case on a scope in a store today. It looked like it will work ok., but it was decidedly ugly with green cordura in the bottom half and black neoprene for the top halves and the eyepiece cover. The objective cover flap was a bit tight, and was hard to snap to the side of the objective tube, which I like to do when viewing so that it would not flap in the wind. The eyepiece cover needed to be unsnapped completely to get it off or on, rather than only from one of the two snaps. But it could be snapped out of the way to the side of the scope, where it would form a black rectangle for your idle eye to de-focus on while viewing, whereby it is not necessary to squint.

The Swaro case is considerably classier looking and feeling in my opinion, but it is very possible it would not fit. Checking total scope length figures might give some indication of whether it would be a possible combination, but my sense is that the Swaro 80mm scopes are smaller, and the shape of the prism housing is definitely different.

If you get one or the other, let us know how it works for you.

Kimmo

dalat · Jan 23, 2015

And of course there is the option to use no stay-on case at all... I do that, because its more convenient to use (nothing in the way of the focus wheel, nothing flaps in the wind) and because I feel that the scopes are rugged enough to take minor shocks, while for real accidents, the carry on case won't be of much help either... For transport I use a simple Meopta transport case or just put the objective and ocular cover on and stuff it in the backpack.

Houdiny · Jan 24, 2015

@dalat
Yeah, I've thought about that, too. I'll just see how much I like the case when my dealer has it in stock.

Today was a great birding day for my wife and me! We had our first Great Northern Loon (very rare in our area, first one since Winter 2004/2005). Then we found 4 Bohemian Waxwings! Always lovely to see them.
The photo was taken through the scope in very poor light, but it's worth showing anyhow.

Vespobuteo · Jan 24, 2015

glad to hear you like your S2,
the s2 seems like an excellent scope,
(It might be a scope for me in the future)

interesting to hear about the new case,
found some photos of it here (I think)
looks like it's mounted on the Meopta Meopro 80 HD.
but I guess it fits both models?

http://www.sportoptics.com/meopta-stay-on-case-angled-S2-550610.aspx

Houdiny · Jan 24, 2015

@Vespobuteo
Yeah, that's the one I'm interested in and Kabsetz was talking about.
The S2 is a really awesome scope. Totally on par with my friend's Swaro ATX 85, imo.

lmans66 · Jan 24, 2015

Do scopes really need a case? I know it is nice to have one but these scopes are waterproof, and have rubber on the outside etc... What does the case really do? I had two Swaro's in my life and neither had a case and both held up perfectly thru all sorts of birding adventures.

Vespobuteo · Jan 24, 2015

lmans66 said:
Do scopes really need a case? I know it is nice to have one but these scopes are waterproof, and have rubber on the outside etc... What does the case really do? I had two Swaro's in my life and neither had a case and both held up perfectly thru all sorts of birding adventures.

mostly for avoiding scratch marks I would say,
keeps the second-hand value on a slightly higher level maybe,

I think the new case looks quite practical,
front and EP-cover can be removed completely,
to avoid flap in the wind,

lmans66 · Jan 25, 2015

Martin...after having the scope for awhile...what are you impressions on the eye-piece. Did you get the 20-60 or the 24-72? And more importantly, how much of that eye-piece is really usable at the upper range?

I really like this scope and feel it has a lot to offer in overall quality and I love the center focus wheel. How easy is it to focus on the higher ends? Does it get pretty difficult to focus at 50+ or 65+... Just curious...

Houdiny · Jan 26, 2015

Imans,

I absolutely love the scope and the eyepiece. I got the 30-60 WA version (afaik there is neither a 20-60 nor a 24-72, where did you get those values from?).
The 30-60 is really great. 60x is perfectly usable, when I looked through the scope yesterday (the weather was a bit greyish and it was almost starting to rain) I forgot that I was already in 60x mag, only realizing this when I wanted to zoom in. It has a really nice wide viewing angle that subjectively does not change when zooming.
Using the focus is as easy as it gets, with the big central wheel it's no problem to fine-tune the focus.

Martin

Vespobuteo · Jan 26, 2015

Houdiny said:
Imans,

I absolutely love the scope and the eyepiece. I got the 30-60 WA version (afaik there is neither a 20-60 nor a 24-72, where did you get those values from?).
The 30-60 is really great. 60x is perfectly usable, when I looked through the scope yesterday (the weather was a bit greyish and it was almost starting to rain) I forgot that I was already in 60x mag, only realizing this when I wanted to zoom in. It has a really nice wide viewing angle that subjectively does not change when zooming.
Using the focus is as easy as it gets, with the big central wheel it's no problem to fine-tune the focus.

Martin

did you consider/try the 20-70x eye piece?

Houdiny · Jan 26, 2015

I absolutely wanted the nice wide field of view of the 30-60, so I did not try it. But I'm sure it's worth its money as well.

Vespobuteo · Jan 26, 2015

Houdiny said:
I absolutely wanted the nice wide field of view of the 30-60, so I did not try it. But I'm sure it's worth its money as well.

The 30-60x FOV (and AFOV) is very impressive, indeed.
I guess it's the most common choice for most usage.

Did you get the dark green design or the more distinguished green color variant of the scope?

Houdiny · Jan 26, 2015

Vespobuteo, until now I wasn't aware of the fact that there are two different versions of the scope (apart from straight or angled). I'm not sure which one I got, mine has a white and slightly embossed Meopta sign near the eyepiece part, i.e. behind the black focus wheel.
I've looked for photos of the scope on the Internet, but didn't find any that resemble my version. The body color is a dark green.

Vespobuteo · Jan 26, 2015

Houdiny said:
Vespobuteo, until now I wasn't aware of the fact that there are two different versions of the scope (apart from straight or angled). I'm not sure which one I got, mine has a white and slightly embossed Meopta sign near the eyepiece part, i.e. behind the black focus wheel.
I've looked for photos of the scope on the Internet, but didn't find any that resemble my version. The body color is a dark green.

you got the current/latest design,
(Previous version was lighter green and logo-placement, tripod-foot design have changed)
optically they are all the same (I asked Meopta about that),

Meopta Meostar S2 82 HD (1 Viewer)

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