A quick comparison between three pocket rockets, the Meopta B1.1 8x32, the long in service benchmark Zeiss 8x32 FL and the most recent Leica Ultravid HD+.
The Meopta has a newer version out, the B1 Plus with different armour and according to Meopta improved optical and mechanical tolerances.
Unfortunately I could not get my hands on one, for reasons mentioned elsewhere, lets not harp on it.
Three amigos:
Zeiss is the lightest, Meopta the heaviest and Leica reassuringly dense.
The focuser on the Zeiss is the best in the business on this sample. Perfect.
The Meopta focuser is very good and almost on par with the Zeiss, but slightly erratic at times...
Leica is solid in action with some inertia changin direction.
On Zeiss and Leica the dioptre adjustment rotates with the focuser. On the Meopta the dioptre adj is fixed and seems prone to pinching the focuser on this model - causing intermittent binding. In my eyes the Meopta design is flawed.
However I haven't found any issues with the larger Meopta binos in this regard.
Meopta is taller, slimmer than the Zeiss and about as slim as the shortest of the bunch, the Leica.
The eye cups on the Meopta are at the lowest setting but stick up two to two and half mm.
Ocular sizes:
I use glasses and Zeiss gives me ocular reflections. Lots of them in some instances and sometimes I need to shield both sides.
This is just about the only real negative for me with the Zeiss. I don't recall these problems with the 10x32FL I had though at the time I didn't use glasses all the time and when I did I had different glasses.
Bringing the Zeiss up to the eyes is easy, with/without glasses, and the eye cup extensions allow a good fit for most people. The view is great with glasses and the bino is light and stable in hand. The focuser on this sample is about as good as they get - light, fast and zero play.
Nailing focus is very easy and the Zeiss has a very calm image. Sweetspot is not as large as on the Leica but the field of view is very good. The Zeiss is the sharpest of the three at far distances - there is no question about it. Close focus is on par with the Meopta, with the Meopta having slightly less contrast but the Leica gives the best close range imaging. For digging out shadow detail nothing beats the Zeiss.
Leica too gives me ocular reflections. About the same as Zeiss but not as intrusive as on the Zeiss. For the most part it is out in the field stop and just creeping into the image. Eye cups on the Leica are atrocious in use. I am lucky I have glasses so that I don't have to pull them out, it is a bit of a chore.
Leica is almost excellent with glasses for me, slightly behind the Zeiss and Meopta but no troubles at all. The focuser is smooth but changing direction has a moment of inertia in one direction - some might find this annoying. Image pops with more contrast than the other two - which for the most part is very pleasing. Sweet spot is larger than on the Zeiss but the field of view is smaller and in back lit situations the Leica sometimes crunches the shadows due to the high contrast.
Meopta has the largest back oculars of the bunch - but the ocular reflections are absent. Very well done Meopta. All three were compared in the same harsh light with the sun high up at 11 and then panned side to side and up and down. Looking down the field against the sun gave none of the three any problems with glare from the front objective lenses. Ocular glare was present on both the Zeiss and Leica at times. The eye cups work great but I have them all the way down with glasses.
With glasses on the Meopta surprisingly edges out even the Zeiss FL for my eyes in terms of viewing comfort.
For medium distances all three are great. Can't complain about sharpness.
Leica has more contrast and it helps with some detail but for sheer resolution the Zeiss is on top. The Meopta is very good and I would say that the Zeiss gives the most neutral imaging with regards to contrast and color. Leica is a little warmer and has more contrast. The Meopta is also a little warmer but in a different way than the Leica.
Leica colors seem more saturated than the other two but looking through the other two there is nothing that stands out as bleak or boring, it is just that the Leica gives a little push to everything, especially in open shade.
Chromatic abberation is superbly controlled in the Zeiss FL. I think this also helps with the calmness of the image when looking at small details at far distances. Here the Zeiss is visibly sharper.
Leica has the most CA of the three, well the Meopta and the Leica are very similar in this regard but show the CA a bit differently. Though I really don't like CA - especially not in Alpha level binos I would say that CA is well controlled in both but you can get CA flashes in some instances. At the focal point in the center neither the Leica nor the Meopta display any disturbing CA and on natural objects it is not really noticeable.
Looking at birds in flight only the Zeiss will pass without flying colors though.
The business end:
Objective lenses are recessed on all three so standing them down on a flat surface risks nothing but marring the rubber armor.
Handling is excellent on all three. Handholding with medium sized hands I like them all.
The Leica suffers a little from being the smallest and is also the least stable of the three in viewing.
Zeiss and Meopta has a calm image and the Leica is a little bit more jittery. Just a little bit.
For imaging the Leica comes out as the most impressive but when you have them a little longer you find that the Zeiss feels more correct in a way. The Meopta sits in between the two giving a very pleasing image but never besting either the Leica or the Zeiss. Still, for handling, eye relief and steadiness I prefer the Meopta even though it is a slight notch under the other two in terms of perceived sharpness and contrast.
For close to medium distance viewing, again, the Leica is most impressive only let down by occasional CA.
Nailing focus at very close range is a bit trickier with the Meopta but once focus is acquired the imaging is very good to excellent.
Build quality is excellent on all three and the Leica feels more premium and the Meopta feels like the most robust of the three. The Zeiss in this comparison is eleven years old and still looks the part - that says some about the quality of Zeiss.
I have not posted any specs, will see if I can do a little digging and post them.
Will reserve a posting to complete with some more thoughts later, off to work now!
The Meopta has a newer version out, the B1 Plus with different armour and according to Meopta improved optical and mechanical tolerances.
Unfortunately I could not get my hands on one, for reasons mentioned elsewhere, lets not harp on it.
Three amigos:
Zeiss is the lightest, Meopta the heaviest and Leica reassuringly dense.
The focuser on the Zeiss is the best in the business on this sample. Perfect.
The Meopta focuser is very good and almost on par with the Zeiss, but slightly erratic at times...
Leica is solid in action with some inertia changin direction.
On Zeiss and Leica the dioptre adjustment rotates with the focuser. On the Meopta the dioptre adj is fixed and seems prone to pinching the focuser on this model - causing intermittent binding. In my eyes the Meopta design is flawed.
However I haven't found any issues with the larger Meopta binos in this regard.
Meopta is taller, slimmer than the Zeiss and about as slim as the shortest of the bunch, the Leica.
The eye cups on the Meopta are at the lowest setting but stick up two to two and half mm.
Ocular sizes:
I use glasses and Zeiss gives me ocular reflections. Lots of them in some instances and sometimes I need to shield both sides.
This is just about the only real negative for me with the Zeiss. I don't recall these problems with the 10x32FL I had though at the time I didn't use glasses all the time and when I did I had different glasses.
Bringing the Zeiss up to the eyes is easy, with/without glasses, and the eye cup extensions allow a good fit for most people. The view is great with glasses and the bino is light and stable in hand. The focuser on this sample is about as good as they get - light, fast and zero play.
Nailing focus is very easy and the Zeiss has a very calm image. Sweetspot is not as large as on the Leica but the field of view is very good. The Zeiss is the sharpest of the three at far distances - there is no question about it. Close focus is on par with the Meopta, with the Meopta having slightly less contrast but the Leica gives the best close range imaging. For digging out shadow detail nothing beats the Zeiss.
Leica too gives me ocular reflections. About the same as Zeiss but not as intrusive as on the Zeiss. For the most part it is out in the field stop and just creeping into the image. Eye cups on the Leica are atrocious in use. I am lucky I have glasses so that I don't have to pull them out, it is a bit of a chore.
Leica is almost excellent with glasses for me, slightly behind the Zeiss and Meopta but no troubles at all. The focuser is smooth but changing direction has a moment of inertia in one direction - some might find this annoying. Image pops with more contrast than the other two - which for the most part is very pleasing. Sweet spot is larger than on the Zeiss but the field of view is smaller and in back lit situations the Leica sometimes crunches the shadows due to the high contrast.
Meopta has the largest back oculars of the bunch - but the ocular reflections are absent. Very well done Meopta. All three were compared in the same harsh light with the sun high up at 11 and then panned side to side and up and down. Looking down the field against the sun gave none of the three any problems with glare from the front objective lenses. Ocular glare was present on both the Zeiss and Leica at times. The eye cups work great but I have them all the way down with glasses.
With glasses on the Meopta surprisingly edges out even the Zeiss FL for my eyes in terms of viewing comfort.
For medium distances all three are great. Can't complain about sharpness.
Leica has more contrast and it helps with some detail but for sheer resolution the Zeiss is on top. The Meopta is very good and I would say that the Zeiss gives the most neutral imaging with regards to contrast and color. Leica is a little warmer and has more contrast. The Meopta is also a little warmer but in a different way than the Leica.
Leica colors seem more saturated than the other two but looking through the other two there is nothing that stands out as bleak or boring, it is just that the Leica gives a little push to everything, especially in open shade.
Chromatic abberation is superbly controlled in the Zeiss FL. I think this also helps with the calmness of the image when looking at small details at far distances. Here the Zeiss is visibly sharper.
Leica has the most CA of the three, well the Meopta and the Leica are very similar in this regard but show the CA a bit differently. Though I really don't like CA - especially not in Alpha level binos I would say that CA is well controlled in both but you can get CA flashes in some instances. At the focal point in the center neither the Leica nor the Meopta display any disturbing CA and on natural objects it is not really noticeable.
Looking at birds in flight only the Zeiss will pass without flying colors though.
The business end:
Objective lenses are recessed on all three so standing them down on a flat surface risks nothing but marring the rubber armor.
Handling is excellent on all three. Handholding with medium sized hands I like them all.
The Leica suffers a little from being the smallest and is also the least stable of the three in viewing.
Zeiss and Meopta has a calm image and the Leica is a little bit more jittery. Just a little bit.
For imaging the Leica comes out as the most impressive but when you have them a little longer you find that the Zeiss feels more correct in a way. The Meopta sits in between the two giving a very pleasing image but never besting either the Leica or the Zeiss. Still, for handling, eye relief and steadiness I prefer the Meopta even though it is a slight notch under the other two in terms of perceived sharpness and contrast.
For close to medium distance viewing, again, the Leica is most impressive only let down by occasional CA.
Nailing focus at very close range is a bit trickier with the Meopta but once focus is acquired the imaging is very good to excellent.
Build quality is excellent on all three and the Leica feels more premium and the Meopta feels like the most robust of the three. The Zeiss in this comparison is eleven years old and still looks the part - that says some about the quality of Zeiss.
I have not posted any specs, will see if I can do a little digging and post them.
Will reserve a posting to complete with some more thoughts later, off to work now!
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