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What is Meopta doing? (1 Viewer)

tenex

tenex

reality-based
The Meostar line has always seemed interesting, but I really don't understand what Meopta is doing. The 32mm models have FOV that competes with the alphas, but the larger ones don't? $300 China-made binos have dielectric mirror coatings and ED glass, but Meostars don't? (Actually a few models are "HD", but the others aren't, which seems strange.) And this is a company that I read makes scopes for Leica. Are there legal or contractual issues involved here?

(Apologies if this is old hat, please just point me to the appropriate thread I didn't see.)
 
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All I can say with my little experience with the Meopta B1's, is that they don't need dielectric coatings, if they don't have them already (proprietary coatings I believe they say). And often times the 32's have larger field of views than the bigger 42's, it seems.

I think it's just a matter of trying them on for size, and see how they fit you. I have two, a 10x32 and 7x42, and find both to be great bins. You may be more picky, I don't know, but that's where it usually lies, with the beholder.
 
The Meostar model has been around for a while, and while the coatings have been upgraded over the years since 2005? some models have been upgraded. The 8X42 B1 does not have HD or should I say ED glass?, and it functions very well as a 8X42 the FOV is the same as the Noctivid. The 7X42 is a nice glass also.
Some other models such as the 10X42, 12X50, and 15X56 are being sold (older stock with out ED) also. Perhaps something is in the works, I was very impressed with the 12X50 HD model.

I have no Idea about the 7X50, 8X56 or the 10X50 models.

Meopta seems to be in a reorganizing phase.

Andy W.
 
I feel the same way about Minox.....they tweek a few things now and then even a new BL HD model recently.. but their flagship lines [HG] [APO HG] are way overdue for upgrading.....cant figure them out either....
 
The B1 family of binos have been around for a long time, about 14 years I think, +/-, and were originally designed with hunters in mind. The reason why some have low dispersion glass and are marked HD and some don't have this is apparently due to the relationship with Cabela's and their Euro HD versions.

However I hope to be able to throw light on all this and more this autumn/fall following an interview with a senior manager at Meopta. Everything seems set for the interview to take place so keep fingers crossed and touch wood.

Lee
 
When we visited Meopta not long ago there was no sign of any reorganisation and the Meopta binoculars I have investigated had di-electric mirror coatings on the roof prisms. The only matter we spoke about was the possibiliy to set up a new line of binoculars, but that was still under investigation. Meopta does not make a lot of advertising noise, but it is one of the top optical producers in Europe, so the question: what is Meopta doing? can be answered very simple: working hard and making very well made top quality instruments.
Gijs van Ginkel
 
Apparently 'Extra Low Dispersion' glass and 'Dielectric' mirror coatings don't necessarily mean superior brightness e.g. I don't think Pentax DCF ED 8x32 is as bright as (Sightron clone) Kenko Ultraview OP DH II 8x32, for which the specs do not claim either feature. I read somewhere that Silver mirrors were 'high end' vs. Aluminium, and that they tend to give warmer colour balance than Dielectric but maybe that is not always the case either.
 
chris6, post 8,
A silver mirror results in a lower light transmission, yields a not perfect color balance (red preference) and may become oxidized which detiorates the quality of the image. Aluminium mirros are even worse, so be happy with a dielectric coatings.
Gijs van Ginkel
 
Extra low dispersion glass helps control chromatic aberration. Dielectric coatings are considered to be a little brighter than silver but perhaps more importantly be more stable over time. Warmer colours vs cooler colours is another subject entirely and depends on many perceptual factors of the individual observer.

Lee
 
|=)| Right, thanks to both. All I still have to do is to see if the Kenko/Sightrons deteriorate.

Don't know whether they have silver or aluminium mirrors
and so far no one has reported or referred to such deterioration...

Yes I used to be happy with the Pentax ED but the Kenko is sharper too.
 
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I had already tried Meopta's 8x32, which I liked although the colours were more muted, as well as Cabelas 10x32 'HD' which were the same but harder to use. Since the Kenkos arrived I can get the same focus snap and colour as Pentax but can see both the colours and the markings of my pigeons better while they are flying at a good height.

I absolutely adore Meopta HD 12x50 but maybe Meopta has already gone a bit too far in making the colours cooler for some models, at least for my taste.
 
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What I have heard from distributors and dealers here in the US is a lack of marketing or promotion effort from Meopta. They do may great glass, and I will likely obtain a couple more models down the road.

Andy W.
 
Above (at #13) I posted:
Gijs van Ginkel said:
...the Meopta binoculars I have investigated had di-electric mirror coatings on the roof prisms...Gijs van Ginkel
Click to expand...
Gijs,
Which models were those? Thanks.
Adhoc

Sorry if that is not clear. I had thought none of them did. Does this imply that most or all of them do? If not then which models definitely do?
 
Adhoc,

The Meostars definitely have silvered prisms. I strongly suspect the Meopro has dielectric prism coatings, but haven't checked with Meopta.

David
 
Thanks David!
In fact, the MeoStars are what I am more interested in.
(Meopta's website is silent on prism coatings.)

Glowing reports on the HD 12x50, chiefly by you, have had me very interested in it.
But now I read in post #9 above by Gijs: "A silver mirror...may become oxidized
which detiorates the quality of the image...be happy with a dielectric coatings."

Gijs, David, Surujh, do you know, compared with the past,
in the silvered Meoptas is that condition improved or cured?
 
Adhoc,

It's always been necessary to add a protect a silvered mirror from the atmosphere. Modern sealants will be effective for many decades and probably indefinitely in a sealed nitrogen filled chamber.

Pure silver has reduced reflectance in the blue, particularly below 450nm. This is what traditionally gave them a warmer colour balance. Enhanced silver coatings formulas have been around for many years that can give 98% + reflectance from 400nm to 1000nm. I have no information on what particular silver preparation Meopta uses for the Meostars.
http://www.actonoptics.com/products/silver-mirrors

David
 
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I tested a number of Meostars and some Meopros and, according to my notes they would have di-electric mirror coatings and the transmission spectra seem to confirm that. To be sure, that I did not give you wrong information I have approached both the Dutch dealer and Meopta to inform me about the present state of the art (the Meopta flyers do not give any information about it).Silver mirrors nowadays get a fully transparent protective "glas" layer to prevent the silver mirror to become oxidized and that seems to protect well.
In the past the Meostar transmission spectra were typical as found for roof prisms with silver mirrors: lower blue transmission and higher in the red region, but the shape of the spectra is changed in the latest models.
So: will be continued.
Gijs van Ginkel
 
I viewed through the Cabelas HD 12X50 and compared it to the SV 12X50 outside for about an hour, the views were so close that for $1000+ less, go with the Meopta. The 12X50 HD is a great glass, if I was looking for a glass for astronomy and for terrestrial viewing, that would be the one. In fact down the road, I will surely get one.

Andy W.
 
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