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

Meopta 7x42 MeoStar Review (1 Viewer)

Not with the later models, say after 2005. If you get a new production, I have one, there is no yellow cast. It is very nice 8X42, I am very impressed, then again I am impressed with all the Meostar glass.

Andy W.
 
Hi Lee.

First of all, I just want to say that your approach to the review made it a very interesting - I have wanted to see a Dartford Warbler ever since I first saw a photo of one in the AA Book of the Countryside back in the 70s ( perhaps one day ).I bought a pair of Meostar 7x50s two years ago and enjoyed using them, however, I sold them because of the yellow cast. I then had the 8x32s, which appeared 'cleaner' but were too short on eye relief, so they also went. I am now considering a pair of 8x42s, but am concerned that these too will have a cast. Have you noticed any kind of cast with these recent Meostars and have you compared them directly with anything else ?

Thanks.

Sorry for delay due to holidays.
No cast in 8x32 or 7x42! And the 7x42 is super transparent, a real pleasure to use. In fact its transparancy has something of the Zeiss HTs about it though how that can be possible without the HT's AK prisms is a good question. These Meopta's are good enough to compare with the alphas but you really need to judge for yourself.

Lee
 
Lee, post 24,
Good that you are back. In your post I inserted one word in the sentence "These meoptas are good enough to compare with the OTHER alphas .... etc.", since I consider Meopta to belong to the alpha class.
Gijs van Ginkel
 
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Lee, post 24,
Good that you are back. In your post I inserted one word in the sentence "These meoptas are good enough to compare with the OTHER alphas .... etc.", since I consider Meopta to belong to the alpha class.
Gijs van Ginkel

Hi Gijs
I happily accept your correction!

Lee
 
Yesterday me and Troubadoris were sitting overlooking a quiet east coast bay on North Uist, Western Isles, Scotland, hoping for Otters as we have seen them here several times in the past.

Periodically I scanned around the seaweed fringes of the bay with the MeoStar 7x42s hoping to find Otters (I didn't) but when I focused on a distant headland, with another headland visible beyond it, I was immediately struck by a sense of 3D. There was a perceptible distance between the nearest headland and the one beyond this. I hasten to add that I wasn't looking to check out if these binos had this quality, it wasn't in my mind at all, I was solely thinking about Otters I was searching for and the Gannets and Red-throated Divers that were in the bay. Startled by this I looked at the northern side of the island in the centre of the bay and sure enough it stood out from the northern shore of the bay in a most 3D way.
Now I am the first to admit that when looking for evidence of something like this, and you have this characteristic in your mind already, you can fool yourself into seeing it when it is not there. But you can clear your head of this false positive by looking away, focusing on different distances and thinking of something else when you repeat what you did and normally the effect that you thought you glimpsed has gone.
I did this head-clearing and the 3D was still there and in any case I wasn't looking for it in the first place, it just jumped out at me.
Have any other MeoStar users noticed this with their 7x or either of the other magnifications?

I am wondering if the extra depth of field of the 7x is causing this.

Lee
 
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Lee,
Since you find that this is repeatable would you like to test for it with the Opticron Discovery 7x42 (if you still have it)? Shall appreciate hearing back about that, thanks!
Adhoc
PS. A response might be more appropriate in the Opticron sub-forum than here.
 
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Adhoc I am currently on holiday in Western Isles of Scotland and so 500 miles away from the Discovery! I will have a look for this when I get home but will have to make the test using buildings instead of scenic coastal landscapes. It will be at least a week before I can do this and that assumes no delays in the ferries off the island due to weather.

I must say that this effect took me quite by surprise.

Lee
 
That is disappointing, but I guess you could compare them, even in that setting, "side by side" for this effect, to see of it is produced by the Meopta--as between them--or by the 7x magnification. Thanks and don't forget :) I am thinking of getting the Opticron just for the benefits of 7x.
 
Don't worry I will do what I can when I get back home and post on here. I am very curious about this myself!

Lee
 
Finally got a chance to spend some time with mine on a trip through Montana and Wyoming. The first day I was noticing some blackout issues, but they were gone after the first day. Guess I got used to them. I really enjoyed the wide easy view up on the Chief Joseph Highway.
 
That is disappointing, but I guess you could compare them, even in that setting, "side by side" for this effect, to see of it is produced by the Meopta--as between them--or by the 7x magnification. Thanks and don't forget :) I am thinking of getting the Opticron just for the benefits of 7x.

Hi Adhoc

Yes the effect is present in the Opticron and an industry product developer explained that the effect is due to a large extent to the magnification. Some habitats make the effect more obvious than others and locally I had to search for a set of buildings spaced at the right distances but it was definitely there. I was just fortunate on holiday with the Meopta that the set of headlands made it so obvious that it leaped out at me.

Cheers Lee
 
Thanks Lee.
I was waiting for that! Now could you, and I think you wish to do this anyway, please test for this effect with the Opticron in your "natural glassing habitat" as you did with the Meopta (and, of course, tell us how they compare!)
Cheers. Adhoc
 
Thanks Lee.
I was waiting for that! Now could you, and I think you wish to do this anyway, please test for this effect with the Opticron in your "natural glassing habitat" as you did with the Meopta (and, of course, tell us how they compare!)
Cheers. Adhoc

Adhoc

I will not be able to test this out locally near my home but since I will be returning the test unit to Opticron at Bird Fair I can take a look at Rutland Water and its islands and report back.

Lee
 
Adhoc

I will not be able to test this out locally near my home but since I will be returning the test unit to Opticron at Bird Fair I can take a look at Rutland Water and its islands and report back.

Lee

Checked this out at Bird Fair looking at the reedbeds and the islands in the lake and the Opticron does have this 3D effect of 7x whereby the depth of distance between objects is quite noticeable.

Lee
 
I couldn't resist to buy this green brick, an ex-demo from 2015, which I tried months ago and was still for sale and got it for nice price. Original wool case, new strap (crazy long) and a too large a rainguard, probably from another size Meostar. So I've already contacted Meopta if they have fitting lens caps and rainguard available. I've searched a bit online as well, maybe people here know if this Meopro rainguard will fit a Meostar x42?

Just tried the 7x42 a bit, comparing to my Nikon MHG 8x42. Yeah, there's a weight difference, but the Meostars are balanced very well, fit the hands nicely and the soft armour gives a good grip, feels good and dampens movement/vibration to some extent. These 7x are steady! It's almost like having IS bins! Even compared to the MHG 8x there's a clear difference. I already found I sometimes couldn't get the MHG as steady as I'd liked and as I was used to from my former Meostar 10x42hd and I still think that's a disadvantage of the light weight. On the Meostar 7x the hefty weight and soft grip enhance the already better steadiness of a 7x til the point of a steady image that's a pure joy.

Optically it was a fun comparison as well. The bit of 'rolling ball' (or is it a distortion..? Sorry guys, I'm not a very experienced optic geek) sensation the MHG gives when panning is totally absent on the Meopta. Its fov is totally flat to my eyes, and gives the same sharpness to the very edge. There's just a tiny outer ring a little bit out of focus (not tried yet if I can refocus to get that sharp). So that's one huge sweet spot!

The colour rendition the Meopta gives seems more neutral than the MHG's. First I missed that sparkle and felt a bit of disappointment creeping in. But when viewing coloured autumn leaves and house sparrows with the Meopta there was a peculiar sensation; because how, why, is it when the one (MHG) shows brighter sparklier colours, the other (Meopta) makes colours stand out more, 'pop' more? The contrast seemed better. Darks are darker, lighter colours...well, every colour and shade jumps out more with its own natural characteristics. When I looked at a bit further off tree (always a welcome reference point for me) with some tits and sparrows in it, the MHG gave nice bright colours and I could see some birds scather about, with the Meopta the individual green and yellow leaves and their intermediary shades were better visible, outlined, and I could clearly distinguish a Blue Tit's cap on it's head... Resolution? The same effect on a few bald branches sticking out against the sky: Meostar showed them tighter outlined, while the MHG showed less details on the branches themselves and even a very tiny bit of ca around...

Another thing which really popped out for me just now in my short experience was the depth of view. I already found that quite nice in the MHG but in the Meostar it went up another level. It's hard to describe that sensation, which Lee also tried to relate earlier, everything seems more 3d layered somehow, it just gives a very nice viewing experience.

So I'm happy to have bought this, as one of the few obtainable 7x42's I'll probably ever be able to afford (Zeiss FL, Edg and Ultravids are over my head). With the MHG I constantly felt to miss some resolution in mid-distance (closer they're fantastic), and it not being sharp to the edge and giving the sense of a curved field of view when panning kept bugging me while I did enjoy the weight, colours and brightness very much. The Meostar 7x42 overall gives me better optical quality; more neutral colour rendition, better contrast/resolution (I know it's not exactly the same but can't wrap my head around that, yet), sharpness in the whole FOV makes me not miss the 8m difference, the DOV is very enjoyable, and the 7x mag combined with weight (balance) and padded armour make an insane steady view.

Nope, there's no one perfect binocular and each has its cons and pros. The MHG might make a better travel companion and are very good birding bins, but the heavier and highly solid Meostar offers a (not crazy big but still significant enough) step up in optical quality and viewing joy. As long as I can keep that hefty brick up long enough I will enjoy these very much!
 
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