Meopta Meostar vs Nikon Premier and Chromatic Aberration? (1 Viewer)

Hi,

Which binocular tends to have more Chromatic Aberration...the Meopta Meostar
10 x 42 or the Nikon Premier roof 10 x 42?

I would think you could look this up on the allbinos tests as you did before on the 10x42 Nikons.

http://www.allbinos.com/allbinos_ranking-binoculars_ranking-10x42.html

I'm not sure where you are in NJ, but there are some great Audubon shops there and the CMBO where you can try everything out and then do some great birding. After owning several pairs of alpha and sub-alpha binoculars over the years, I can tell you there is no substitute to eyes and hands-on testing. And if you're not accustomed to using binoculars in the field, you might not know what to look for. I alternate between various pairs, because I haven't sold them--except for the Nikon 10x42 SEs, which puts me in a definite minority--and each has certain desirable attributes. There really is no substitute for individual testing, as the many preferences stated here will prove. Someone will absolutely love binoculars that you have a great deal of trouble with... I would say that you should not get into the 4-figure range with anything that you haven't tested personally several times against comparable options, unless you can afford to buy more pairs later. The hobby keeps getting more and more expensive, unfortunately. Most any alpha will suit most people; however, the more birding or field work you do, the more the differences will become pronounced--for you. I've seen CA with Zeiss FL's, and wrote about it here... You never know, even with individual pairs of glass. The worst I've seen is with my 8x32 LX, but only in the right conditions. When it happens, they fail. Does that matter to you? I've had occasions where it really did matter to me. Meanwhile I took that pair on a pelagic trip recently--I knew they would be right for that purpose that day, and they were...

After having owned/tried both I would say they are pretty much equal in this area....that is assuming we are talking about the newer 42 mm LXLs and not the original LX/Venturer. The original Venturer/LX/HG displayed less CA when compared to the newer version...at least in my opinion.

Beyond that I think the images are very comparable overall especially considering both have field flatteners in the design. Different handling characteristics but both were a joy to use.

FrankD said:

After having owned/tried both I would say they are pretty much equal in this area....that is assuming we are talking about the newer 42 mm LXLs and not the original LX/Venturer. The original Venturer/LX/HG displayed less CA when compared to the newer version...at least in my opinion.

Beyond that I think the images are very comparable overall especially considering both have field flatteners in the design. Different handling characteristics but both were a joy to use.

Click to expand...

I was hoping Frank would chime in since I knew he had owned both of these bins. There is one stark difference btwn them that should be mentioned. The 10x42 Premier has very little pincushion if it has any, and for some people this results in wicked "rolling ball effect" while panning. If you see "rolling ball," CA is a "mute" point not worth talking about since the rolling ball alone could be a deal killer.

If you don't know if you are bothered by "rolling ball" make sure you can return the Premier (w/out a 25% restocking fee!).

I agree with Frank that the 10x42 LX Venturer showed less CA, but it was still there and more prominent than the 10x42 SE, plus the Venturer weighed 8 oz. more than the Premier.

Frank, you said images were "very comparable". Most of the comparative reviews I've read put the LX/LXL ahead in terms of color saturation and contrast. Even looking at the Swaro SLCNeu, which the Meopta is often quote as being "almost as good" as, and I found that the LX was superior in those areas to the SLC, though not by a landslide in the case of the 2009 model.

So even sight unseen, I doubt that the Meopta would beat the Premier for color saturation and contrast. OTOH, the Meopta has thumb indents, which for me and my big mitts, would be an important factor.

The latest Meoptas have dielectric coatings, so they will probably be brighter than the Premier, but because Nikon skewed the color bias on the LXL towards the yellow to make it look brighter, it could be close in that regard. But the actual light transmission should be greater in the new Meopta.

So if you do buy the Meopta, ask if it has dielectric coatings. There is no designation to tell the silver from the dielectric. This was pretty much an upgrade w/out fanfare. I don't see any discounts on the non-dielectric version, so you wouldn't save anything by buying the older version except on the used market.

Brock