EuroHD 12x50 (Cabelas) (1 Viewer)

I made it up to the local Cabelas today. It's about an hour from my home.

I played with various models but wanted to offer some feedback on the Euro HD 12x50 model.

Construction: Surprisingly good. No obvious faults here. Feels great in the hand and are quite rugged.

Eye-cups: A little small for my taste. Was my first time seeing/playing with the thin-style (like the Swaro EL) eye-cups. I didn't have any obvious issues with them but I think I prefer the larger eye-cup style, similar to Nikon, Vortex or Zeiss. I would just need to spend time with the binoculars for an in-depth opinion.

Optics: Very good. Quite sharp. Couldn't see a difference between them and the Vortex Razor HD.

Weight: 36 ounces! One of the only "cons" I could find is the weight. Very heavy for a 12x50. A lot of glass in there but the larger body also contributes to that.

Controls: Average. Focus wheel was smooth and consistent. A tad slippery. I could see some slippage if it gets wet. Diopter control is on the front of the focus wheel and is of the click-stop variety. The problem is it's hard to set this one finger while looking through the binocular. It's doable but the small grip makes it kind of a challenge. The very fine ribs don't turn without some pressure but that just makes the finger slip off. In theory, this is a one-time setting so it's probably not a huge deal.

Reflections: Looking through the eyepiece end, it was kind of disappointing. It was probably average but for the money, I would expect better.

I guess it is a good binocular. I have recently got the 10x50 version of that Meopta and like it a lot. In fact, I sold a Leica 10x50 Trinovid BA to buy that Meostar, because the latter was simply superior. The weight of just above 1.02kg seems quite average to me (the Leica had 1.15 kg). I think that Meostar is still underrated, because it has the reputation of having a distinct yellow image tint (it doesn't have any longer, just a slightly warm tone), and it has received just a moderate score on the allbinos website, which appears unjustified to me in some aspects.

So far I didn't have any problems with reflections, stray light suppression seems excellent, the focuser is precise, fairly tight and not too fast.

Cheers,
Holger

Are we talking about the Cabela's Euro HD 12x50 or the Regular Meostar 10/12x50? I understand Europe is getting the 12x50HD and 15x56 HD next year. The HD made a big difference to 10x42.

David

typo said:

Are we talking about the Cabela's Euro HD 12x50 or the Regular Meostar 10/12x50? I understand Europe is getting the 12x50HD and 15x56 HD next year. The HD made a big difference to 10x42.

Click to expand...

Apologies, I guess I did get this wrong. It looks like it was the Euro HD model in 12x50. Funny, because I asked about the price and the Nikon rep didn't have a price-checker device with him so we didn't look it up. I looked at the Cabelas site and it was definitely this model as I recall the EuroHD symbol.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Instincttrade-Euro-HDtrade-12x50-Binoculars/1776888.uts

Thanks for clearing that up. It was the mention of Cabela's in the title that confused me. They have the Euro HD 12x50.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunt...=SBC;MMcat104791680;cat104752080;cat104217480

David

cnick6 said:

Apologies, I guess I did get this wrong. It looks like it was the Euro HD model in 12x50. Funny, because I asked about the price and the Nikon rep didn't have a price-checker device with him so we didn't look it up. I looked at the Cabelas site and it was definitely this model as I recall the EuroHD symbol.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Instincttrade-Euro-HDtrade-12x50-Binoculars/1776888.uts

Click to expand...

All right, I was talking about the 10x50 Meostar (which is a non HD) model.

Cheers,
Holger

What I don't understand is that these binos are made in the Czech Republic which is located in Europe but they first serve the overseas market.

I am the proud owner of the Meopta 10x42 HD and like it a lot.

First I wanted to buy a bigger Meopta B1 but since I learned about the intention to serve the European market with the new HD-binos next year I will wait.

Holger Merlitz said:

All right, I was talking about the 10x50 Meostar (which is a non HD) model.

Cheers,
Holger

Click to expand...

Holger, in which way is the Meopta Meostar 10x50 superior to the Leica 10x50 BA? Would the Czech 10X50 also outperform the German 10x50 BN? Even if the Czech bin is not of the HD-type?

I'm looking for a bin with some higher magnifiction than 10x. And with a larger objective diamater than 42 mm. The 12x50 HD would be fine but a 15x56 HD would be finer.

Elmer Fudd said:

Holger, in which way is the Meopta Meostar 10x50 superior to the Leica 10x50 BA? Would the Czech 10X50 also outperform the German 10x50 BN? Even if the Czech bin is not of the HD-type?

I'm looking for a bin with some higher magnifiction than 10x. And with a larger objective diamater than 42 mm. The 12x50 HD would be fine but a 15x56 HD would be finer.

Click to expand...

Hello Elmer,

Compared to the Leica 10x50 Trinovid BA (made in 1996), the Meostar was brighter, displayed less color fringes and had a somewhat better edge-sharpness. The Trinovid had a slightly wider field of view, but there was also something disturbing: There seemed to be a concentric ring-like structure halfway toward the edge when pointing the Leica toward a bright background, for example the sky. It may somehow be related to vignetting but I am not quite sure what exactly caused this phenomenon. Altogether the Leica is a compact and still well performing binocular, but I found that the Meostar offered more, at a lower price, and also at lower weight. The BN is of the same construction, apart from its modified focuser, and since it was introduced later, it may have a somewhat better coating than its predecessor, the BA. But I haven't compared them.

If you are looking for a 15x56, the Swaro SLC is probably the best of the best, though it seems to have a globe effect.

Cheers,
Holger

Seems that 12x50HD and 15x56HD will soon hit the market under Meopta /hope that also in the Europe.../

http://www.meoptasportsoptics.com/u...50-hd-and-15x56-hd-binoculars-1404043662.html

Are there any experiences with the new Meopta HD 12x50 and 15x56 now?