Warning about Meopta binoculars

[W.R.Buchanan]

They just joined the countless other companies that manufacture their products in China, Vietnam, or the republic of gonoria. Its all about the almighty dollar. The profit that can be make by having stuff made overseas as opposed to here in the states.

Dude, who needs a pair of $900 binoculars anyway?

I have been to the Republic of Gonorrhea (checked spelling before I posted) and survived only after a stiff dose of the unpronounceable antibiotic which was supposed to cure anything including Cancer, TB and Brain Farps. And I agree with who needs $900 Binos? Most people (99.9%) can't tell the difference between $20 and $200 Binos. But its your money.

On another note: Czech made stuff is pretty good. Lots of the best Mausers were CZ made (BRNO). I just bought a very small 2-6X IJK Optics scope for $70 and the optics are excellent. Made in CZ. They make really good looking women too.

Randy

[megasupermagnum]

I have been to the Republic of Gonorrhea (checked spelling before I posted) and survived only after a stiff dose of the unpronounceable antibiotic which was supposed to cure anything including Cancer, TB and Brain Farps. And I agree with who needs $900 Binos? Most people (99.9%) can't tell the difference between $20 and $200 Binos. But its your money.

On another note: Czech made stuff is pretty good. Lots of the best Mausers were CZ made (BRNO). I just bought a very small 2-6X IJK Optics scope for $70 and the optics are excellent. Made in CZ. They make really good looking women too.

Randy

As far as I'm concerned, the difference between $20 and $200 binoculars is that you can drop the $200 ones once or twice. The $20 binoculars can't survive a fall from chest height, I'm 2 for 3 on that. My "$200" binoculars were Konus (really about $150), and they were nothing great. You can get some fair binoculars for $200, although I would never recommend Konus. Leupold and Nikon would be what I'd look at. Comparing Leupolds bottom level binoculars, or my Konus binoculars, to something in the $500 range is a big jump up in clarity. Meopta, the made in USA set I borrowed were fantastic, as were similar priced Leupold, and Vortex. There isn't much above that until you are looking north of $1000 topping out around $2500. Those are the big European brands.

In a store, you can't tell the difference, how could you? I had to go out and actually try binoculars to see what they could do. $20 binoculars aren't worth much. $200 binoculars let you see well during the day, some are bad in the dark some are better. $500 binoculars let you see quite well well even when dark. I never tried Swarovski, Leica, etc. I'm not an optics junkie. All I know is that I NEED to be able to spot animals in harsh conditions. It just so happens that the ONLY time I need binoculars are when it's dark, I'm cold, and the animal is well into the brush. My Maven's came in yesterday, and boy they sure are nice. I would have liked to have had them last week when hunting for a Tundra swan. It's not easy to tell a tundra from a trumpeter from 300 yards away. I couldn't quite make it out with the Konus's. In particular I was looking for a yellow spot on the cheek about the size of a bean. THAT's where nice binoculars come into play. Last year I had a buck come through within the last couple minutes of legal light. All I had was my 6x Leupold range finder, and I couldn't identify him as a good buck. Thankfully I had a rifle scope that could see, but I'm moving more to open sights. Turkey hunting, I like to put the tom to bed the night before. This year they were silent. I saw some fly into a tree, but boy it sure would have been nice to be able to identify one as a good tom. I took the Maven's to the shooting range today. I've used plenty of binoculars at the range before, I was blown away when I could spot 30 caliber holes at 100 yards off hand without even straining. It was as if I was looking at the targets from 10 yards away. I'm sure you could see the same with $500 binoculars too, but not my Konus's, not with Bushnel's. If you put those cheap binoculars on a rest, and really focus, you might be able to figure it out, but I still doubt you could see the hits in the black as well.

I thankfully do not wear glasses. Those that do are well aware of their cost. Rifles scopes go even more than binoculars. As I said, $900 is a middle of the road rifle scope. I'm not sure what more I can say. I want great binoculars, and a great rifle scope or open sights. Beyond that I'll eat oatmeal and beans, wearing 2nd hand clothes, and housing it all in my $700 truck. I was never a believer in "you get what you pay for", although optics is one of the few exceptions.

[lefty o]

As far as I'm concerned, the difference between $20 and $200 binoculars is that you can drop the $200 ones once or twice. The $20 binoculars can't survive a fall from chest height, I'm 2 for 3 on that. My "$200" binoculars were Konus (really about $150), and they were nothing great. You can get some fair binoculars for $200, although I would never recommend Konus. Leupold and Nikon would be what I'd look at. Comparing Leupolds bottom level binoculars, or my Konus binoculars, to something in the $500 range is a big jump up in clarity. Meopta, the made in USA set I borrowed were fantastic, as were similar priced Leupold, and Vortex. There isn't much above that until you are looking north of $1000 topping out around $2500. Those are the big European brands.

In a store, you can't tell the difference, how could you? I had to go out and actually try binoculars to see what they could do. $20 binoculars aren't worth much. $200 binoculars let you see pretty well during the day. $500 binoculars let you see pretty well even when dark. I never tried Swarovski, Leica, etc. I'm not an optics junkie. All I know is that I NEED to be able to spot animals in harsh conditions. It just so happens that the ONLY time I need binoculars are when it's dark, I'm cold, and the animal is well into the brush. My Maven's came in yesterday, and boy they sure are nice. I would have liked to have had them two weeks ago when hunting for a Tundra swan. It's not easy to tell a tundra from a trumpeter from 500 yards away. I couldn't quite make it out with the Konus's. In particular I was looking for a yellow spot on the cheek about the size of a bean. THAT's where nice binoculars come into play. Last year I had a buck come through within the last couple minutes of legal light. All I had was my 6x Leupold range finder, and I couldn't identify him as a good buck. Thankfully I had a rifle scope that could see, but I'm moving more to open sights. Turkey hunting, I like to put the tom to bed the night before. This year they were silent. I saw some fly into a tree, but boy it sure would have been nice to be able to identify one as a good tom. I took the Maven's to the shooting range today. Haven't used plenty of binoculars at the range before, I was blown away when I could spot 30 caliber holes at 100 yards off hand without even straining. It was as if I was looking at the targets from 10 yards away. I'm sure you could see the same with $500 binoculars too, but not my Konus's, not with Bushnel's. If you put those cheap binoculars on a rest, and really focus, you might be able to figure it out, but I still doubt you could see the hits in the black as well.

I thankfully do not wear glasses. Those that do are well aware of their cost. Rifles scopes go even more than binoculars. As I said, $900 is a middle of the road rifle scope. I'm not sure what more I can say. I want great binoculars, and a great rifle scope or open sights. Beyond that I'll eat oatmeal and beans, wearing 2nd hand clothes, and housing it all in my $700 truck. I was never a believer in "you get what you pay for", although optics is one of the few exceptions.

dont try swarovski's, you'll want a set. i got a chance to use a $2000+ set of swaro's a few years ago, and holy heck are they great.

[nueces5]

Understandably, the lie bothers him. But in capitalist society, money rules.
Also footwear and clothing, mostly, is produced in China with subhuman working conditions.
That is why there are many people who begin to take the choice of their purchases seriously.
In Argentina, the tsunami of Chinese tools has devastated domestic manufacturers, today quality tools are a rarity, and most are Chinese. But they have no problem putting the label made in china.
Years ago the world began a change that is unstoppable.

[dogdoc]

I really do not care where something is made as long as it is quality. Parts and materials come from all over the place in our global economy. I have had plenty of American made junk as well. Look at some of our American made gun problems people bitch about like megasupramagnums Smith 57. Now I do not doubt his problems were legit and I would have been pissed as well. A lot here also complain about Lyman moulds but love Balkan made moulds. As to false advertising , I would not write them off for that if the product is good. It could have been an oversight. If it continues, then maybe write them off.
Dogdoc

[megasupermagnum]

While I never did try the Meopta's, I can honestly say these Maven 8x42's blow everything else I've ever tried out of the water. That's not something I say often, and especially with optics which rarely show such huge differences in quality. Maybe Swarovski would be a step up yet, but it would have to be a small step. I took my Maven's out over the weekend, and could identify animals a full 45 minutes before shooting light (1 hour and 15 minutes before sunrise). Some early rustling I heard turned out to be a coyote, although I could not have shot it where it was. A few minutes later, I saw a doe I never would have known was there otherwise.

As for the new Smith and Wesson model 57's, yep, some American made products are junk. Maybe in a few years with all the bad press they will be great again. They used to be great.

As for clothing, I've found great sources of American clothes for the most part. My every day work clothes are Carhartt duck canvas pants, Fox River socks, Currently Carolina boots, although I liked Thorogood best. I've got a mix of T shirts like most people. There are good reasonably priced USA made ones like Bayside or American Apparel. All of this is made in usa, and costs similar to the Chinese products. The only thing that always cost more is underwear. A great place to get all these things is https://allusaclothing.com/

When I'm not at work I often trade the Carhartt's for Texas brand jeans, which actually cost SIGNIFICANTLY LESS than the Chinese garbage. My Charhartt bibs are usa made. My Kamik snow boots are usa made. My wool hat is usa made. Another great place for all camouflage or hunting clothes is Clarkfield Outdoors. They make great hunting clothing right here in Minnesota.

I think this thread has run it's course, I'm going to start a new one.

[fatnhappy]

As likely with many folks here, I stop by the local pawn shops from time to time to see what interesting revolvers might turn up.

A couple of years ago, I found these: Bausch & Lomb Zephyr binoculars...made in Rochester, NY. Early post war production, they have coated lenses and a magnesium body. These are 7x35, easily the most common, as they were recommended as most useful all around. Not too much magnification to be steady handheld, not too bulky yet producing bright images. These are still astoundingly clear and well-collimated; a tribute to a time when American workers and factories produced a product equal or superior to any in the world!

I have a pair at my cabin in the adirondacks and they're just as good as the day they left the factory on Goodman St. 70 years ago. They used to make the sears branded binos too.


It wasn't that long ago Rochester, NY was the imaging science capital of the world.
Kodak employed 70,000 rochestarians. that number is now 2500 last I heard and I bet the majority are security guards. My company leases 500,000 square feet in the old Kodak Elmgrove plant. It's depressing to see what once was.

Xerox is close to tanking.
I could probably buy a majority share of B&L with my 401K, but who would want to own B&L?

[Minerat]

This started as a good discuss on the merits of optics. It has gone off topic. Lets get it back on topic or staff will likely close it.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

[Eamonn]

This is interesting.
Where I'm from american optics have a reputation for good warranty and ruggedness but not good glass quality.
German, austrian and czech scopes have a very high reputation for quality and low light performance.
Leupold for example makes great light scopes but they have a low FOW for close range driven hunts and less than desirable low light performance for night time hunting, which is what we need over here.
They do however have excellent warranty and service even for older scopes and a major reason to buy them as I have done before.
I own and have owned Meopta R1 and leupold VariX-II and VX3I scopes but as they were very different scopes of different generations for different purposes ii's difficult to compare them. I can say however that the ones I still have is a 7x56 Meopta R1 and an older Leupold 1-4 waiting to come back from service.

[cas]

The binos are now made by Czechs instead of Central Americans.

[Lloyd Smale]

allways wanted a set of Steiner's. About 10 years ago I bought a set of 10x40 preditors. thought they were good glass until I bought a set of leupold McKinley 8x40 hd's. They flat blow the Steiner's out of the water. Difference in good binocs is sure not the ability to drop them. There's huge differences in glass and low light performance. In the last 10-15 years glass has come so far that a pair of ziess from the 70s or 80s that was only affordable by the rich is now beat by units costing 500 bucks. Same goes for scopes. Take a leupold vx1. it has the same glass and coatings the old vari x 3s had. The vari x3s were 400 bucks back in the 80s and 90s. Which would make them 800 dollar or more today. You can get the same performance for 200 dollars today. Were living in the golden age of optics and muscle cars!! never before has such performance been available to middle class wage level americans.

This is interesting.
Where I'm from american optics have a reputation for good warranty and ruggedness but not good glass quality.
German, austrian and czech scopes have a very high reputation for quality and low light performance.
Leupold for example makes great light scopes but they have a low FOW for close range driven hunts and less than desirable low light performance for night time hunting, which is what we need over here.
They do however have excellent warranty and service even for older scopes and a major reason to buy them as I have done before.
I own and have owned Meopta R1 and leupold VariX-II and VX3I scopes but as they were very different scopes of different generations for different purposes ii's difficult to compare them. I can say however that the ones I still have is a 7x56 Meopta R1 and an older Leupold 1-4 waiting to come back from service.