I can get Vortex Viper HD 10x42 for $300.00 and Meopta Meopro HD 10x42 for $260.00 through a Dealer Program at work.
Which one do you think is better quality?
I cannot answer your question about the Meopta's, but I do have Vortex glass.
The one thing I can say about Vortex is that they stand behind their product.
I had a new pair of 10x42's that I broke (rolled a quad) and they replaced them... NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
Quick turn around time too.
I'd jump all over that Meopta deal. The Vortex Viper HD's I've had (briefly), both the 10x42 and 8x32 had great glass and a cheap feeling build quality with flimsy eyepieces. Eye relief was marginal for me too.
I have owned the non HD vipers (10x42) for about 7-8 years. Have enjoyed them, but there definitely a couple things that I don't like. The cheap eye pieces. I've had to send them back a few times to have them replaced. They bind and bend very easily. I also don't like the extremely sharp focus drop-off with the vipers either. (This was also present in the newer Vortex Razors that I looked through last week)
I have been looking at the Cabelas Euro's HD 10x42, which are the Meostar HD's...just rebranded for Cabelas. They are definitely a step up in quality from my vipers. The build quality is much better, and the Meopta HD glass is on par with the alpha glass brands....at least in my experience over the past week. The vortex warranty is nice, but be prepared to use it...unless your binos never leave your truck or your closet.
Edit: Sorry....just realized you said Meopro's in your post. I'm probably not much help.
The $99 Leupold 6X30's that have been a real hit here on the fire! I bought some I believe last Spring and they are as functionally sound as any, unlike my Zeiss Classics I'm not afraid to leave them in the vehicle so always available and a recent trip to Cloudland Canyon State Park showed just how far away they allowed detail to be seen clearly.
Mike
I'd jump all over that Meopta deal. The Vortex Viper HD's I've had (briefly), both the 10x42 and 8x32 had great glass and a cheap feeling build quality with flimsy eyepieces. Eye relief was marginal for me too.
JG is spot on, Viper has great glass but build quality is suspect and feels cheap.
Meopta all the way!!
I'm definitely leaning towards the Meopta.
The $99 Leupold 6X30's that have been a real hit here on the fire! I bought some I believe last Spring and they are as functionally sound as any, unlike my Zeiss Classics I'm not afraid to leave them in the vehicle so always available and a recent trip to Cloudland Canyon State Park showed just how far away they allowed detail to be seen clearly.
Mike
I might look into those in the spring as a second pair. What model are they? I get a pretty good discount on Leupold also.
http://swfa.com/Leupold-6x30-BX-1-Yosemite-Binocular-P48062.aspxYosemite
I took them out and looked side by side with my Zeiss 10x 40's at a couple of Hawks the other day and they impressed. They have a lot of nice features like adjustable eye ups so you can use them with sun glasses on ergonomic lite weight good glass for the money a real steal.
Mike
The Viper HD seems an awesome deal for that price. I also like the 6x30 Yosemite. very nice binoculars indeed. I have been using a pair of Zen-Ray ZRS HD, also very nice, especially in the brightness department.
I was able to look through both and preferred the Meopta. They also retail for $300.00 more than the Viper so it figures that to me the glass was better. The Meopta also felt sturdier and better built.
$260 for Meopro HD? I'ld be on that faster than a bum on a ham sandwich.
Got an Email from Meopta that they shipped today and will be here on Tuesday. Can't wait.
With shipping they were $275.00. One weird thing about where I work(The World's Foremost Outfitter), is that pretty much nothing is publicized and easy to find. I've been there over a year and found out about the dealer program with Meopta only a couple of weeks ago. To make matters worse, you earn points every time you sell a Meopta product, all you have to do is keep track of the serial numbers. I don't sell binoculars and spotting scopes, just rifle scopes since I work the gun counter. I sell approximately one Euro Scope a month and at 50 points a scope I would have had enough points to get the binoculars and a Meostar scope for free. I've purchased four Leupold scopes and two Burris scopes and some of those purchases would have been Meopta.
I have given my Vortex binos to my son in law, but my Meopro binos are keepers. I push my prescription glasses up out of the way when looking thru binos and the Meopro gives me a great view.
They came yesterday. Wow, I'm a happy camper.
The Meopro line, whether binos, spotting scopes, etc, rate far better than they have a right to at their price point.