Meopta Meopro 6.5x32 impressions/concern (1 Viewer)

[annoluce]

Dear birders,
I just received these binoculars. Here my first impressions and also question for you.

My overall feeling is positive. I'm also a 7x42 Zeiss Dyalit owner so I know what an "Alpha" pair of binoculars should look like.
Vision is bright and sharp. Contrast is also good. Let's say these binos are not seriously that far behind my Dyalit.
Field of view is 8.4, which is not bad, but apparent field is quite narrow to my eyes (it's around 55 deg). I'm accustomed to my giant binos and 76 deg apparent field so I'm not complaining really.
Overall, the binos are well made, robust and small enough to be carried around during sports/treks/tourism.
So far so good. I also like the generous ER, which is a problem for me as I wear glasses.

Coming to cons, I like the close focus capability, what I don't like is that when I focus very close, I need to accomodate IPD, and I get an effect of "field crossing" where I see the 2 fields dark and only the intersection of the fields bright and clear, this I believe depends on the optical design, but I'm not sure all extremely close focusing binos have this behaviour (the Meopta are the only ones I have with close focusing).

Any comment on this particular point? No one mentioned this in your feedback.

Thanks
Max

 

[gcole]

Dear birders,
I just received these binoculars. Here my first impressions and also question for you.

My overall feeling is positive. I'm also a 7x42 Zeiss Dyalit owner so I know what an "Alpha" pair of binoculars should look like.
Vision is bright and sharp. Contrast is also good. Let's say these binos are not seriously that far behind my Dyalit.
Field of view is 8.4, which is not bad, but apparent field is quite narrow to my eyes (it's around 55 deg). I'm accustomed to my giant binos and 76 deg apparent field so I'm not complaining really.
Overall, the binos are well made, robust and small enough to be carried around during sports/treks/tourism.
So far so good. I also like the generous ER, which is a problem for me as I wear glasses.

Coming to cons, I like the close focus capability, what I don't like is that when I focus very close, I need to accomodate IPD, and I get an effect of "field crossing" where I see the 2 fields dark and only the intersection of the fields bright and clear, this I believe depends on the optical design, but I'm not sure all extremely close focusing binos have this behaviour (the Meopta are the only ones I have with close focusing).

Any comment on this particular point? No one mentioned this in your feedback.

Thanks
Max

Hi .. I owned a pair for a short time after they first came out. I found them quite nice. How did you find theses ? A few years after they were discontinued I looked for another pair, no where to be found. This is one of the most allusive 6x plus Bino I ever try to renown. All the others seem to remain in old stock and much easier to find even today, but try and find one of those little Meopta ... it’s like they vanished off the face of the earth. Another which seems to have vaporized into thin air is the Bushnell Custom 7x26, another I wish I never sold.

 

[oldfortyfive]

Same with the old Vortex Fury 6.5x30

 

[PhilR.]

I purchased one of these when you could buy new ones for $299. Really impressed by them, but we don’t use them much at all. We are saving them for when we get old and shakey, and wear eyeglasses all the time.

 

[Pinewood]

Hello,

I used mine today. It has excellent eye relief. There is a slight yellow cast; some curvature of field and very mild chromatic aberration but not colour fringing. Setting the dioptre by the lever is hard to remember if one is used to other binoculars.
Watch out! The focussing knob is held on by adhesive. If you think the dioptre is set like a Zeiss or a Leica, you may pull it off.
I reviewed it here seven years, ago.

Stay safe,
Arthur :hi:

 

[annoluce]

Hi .. I owned a pair for a short time after they first came out. I found them quite nice. How did you find theses ? A few years after they were discontinued I looked for another pair, no where to be found. This is one of the most allusive 6x plus Bino I ever try to renown. All the others seem to remain in old stock and much easier to find even today, but try and find one of those little Meopta ... it’s like they vanished off the face of the earth. Another which seems to have vaporized into thin air is the Bushnell Custom 7x26, another I wish I never sold.

Hi,
it was not easy to find these. I have been searching for 1 year, monitoring also ebay where I lost a bid.
Then, I found a sample in a store in Spain, and had to have them shipped to Italy.
Keep on monitoring the web, some stores could still have 1 sample.

 

[annoluce]

I had my first trekking with these binos.
All in all, I'm really satisfied. They are not Alpha, but:

1. very easy to carry in a bag to the belt, easy to pick up, easy to manage
2. lightweight and small factor form
3. very effective during trekking, both on panning the scene or focusing on details, animals, plants etc
4. very good sharpness and contrast in the center

So very much value for the money here, because these are all rounders, they won't have the clarity and "4k" perception of Swarowski or Zeiss, but hey we are under 400 bucks...

Max

 

[Mark9473]

what I don't like is that when I focus very close, I need to accomodate IPD, and I get an effect of "field crossing" where I see the 2 fields dark and only the intersection of the fields bright and clear, this I believe depends on the optical design, but I'm not sure all extremely close focusing binos have this behaviour (the Meopta are the only ones I have with close focusing).

Any comment on this particular point? No one mentioned this in your feedback

That is because of how your eyes work, your IPD changes at close distances.
Your binoculars however always keep their two tubes parallel. For a relatively close object the two sides cannot see the same view, so the fields don't overlap.

Only the Pentax Papillo have a parallax mechanism to improve the field overlap for close-up viewing.

 

[annoluce]

That is because of how your eyes work, your IPD changes at close distances.
Your binoculars however always keep their two tubes parallel. For a relatively close object the two sides cannot see the same view, so the fields don't overlap.

Only the Pentax Papillo have a parallax mechanism to improve the field overlap for close-up viewing.

Thanks for the explanation.
Papilio: if only they had more ER!!

 

[pluton]

Is it the same as the Kowa 6.5X32 model?

 

[eitanaltman]

Is it the same as the Kowa 6.5X32 model?

Not at all.

 

[PhilR.]

Is it the same as the Kowa 6.5X32 model?

The Meopro is larger, heavier, has more ER than the Kowa. The Meopro has a smaller FOV, but is sharper at the edges. The Meopro’s focus wheel turns more smoothly, and has more traction. The Meopro has small “bump-outs” just distal to the strap lugs, which keeps your hands off of the lug corners. The Kowa is slightly brighter and more color-neutral. The Kowa smells like vanilla, the Meopta smells like a casaba melon.

IMO, the Meopta is nicer to handle and operate, the Kowa is nicer to look through.










Just kidding about the smell.....