Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Euro HD's vs Swarovski SLC's

Hey guys,

Was in Cabela's today looking at purchasing some new bino's. Currently I have some older Vortex vipers (non-HD) 10x42. Purchased them back in 07. Anyway, getting tired of having to send them back to Vortex every other year for repair. Nothing major, usually having to replace the cheap eyecup assembly's that seem to bind and bend very easily. I am not a fan of the incredibly sharp drop off of the focus either.

I would like to step up to the next class of binos. I spent about 30 minutes today comparing models (10x42) in the store. The optics guy was pushing the Vortex razors pretty hard. I spent an evening last week using my father-in-laws newer razors next to mine, and I really wasn't overly impressed. Today, the more I switched between the razors, euro HD's, and Swaro SLC's....to my eye the Euro HD's and SLC's were brighter and more crisp. The razors also have that sharp drop off on the focus as well, compared to the Euro's and SLC's that seem to hold their focus point much longer. The SLC's seem to be just a tad bit crisper, with a tad more edge to edge clarity than the EURO HD's....but it was really close. I realize that using them indoors under artificial lighting is not the same as using them out in the field while hunting.

Anyway...I was wishing I could have been at cabela's this evening to take these two sets outside at sunset and get a comparison of how each gathers light.

Hoping some of you may have some feedback on your experiences using these binos in hunting conditions, specifically low light conditions.

Guess I might have to make the 3 hour trip to Cabelas again, this time in the evening.

Thanks

SLC if you can afford it. THe SLC is brighter, weighs less and is more compact. It will also retain its valve better in the future. Its a better investment.

If you ever have a problem with the SLC the customer service at Swarovski is excellent and fast.

As good as the Meostar HD is, it is too heavy for a modern 10x42 and the diopter adjustment sucks, its too easy to get bumped out of position.

The Meoptas Meostar 10x42 HD's weigh an ounce less than the Swarovski SLC 10x42's

For the money you won't beat the Meoptas. Its what I am using and I love em

This

I was thinking of getting the SLC's, to me they fell better in my hands than the EL's but with the Cabelas 10x42's Instinct Euro HD's on sale for $899.99 I may have to try them out!

If they have a return policy you can't go wrong.

This again.

about 2 yrs ago now, I had my Meopta 10x42HD side by side on a tripod with my SLC HD, also in 10x42, outside, glassing for mule deer. I spent several hours over a couple of days doing this because I'm weird....I like good glass and I love glassing for big mule deer bucks. Anyway, I decided that if I had to come up with some difference, it would be that the SLC HD may be ever so slightly, slightly sharper, but if you don't have them side by side you will never know what you missed. The Meopta's are super super good stuff, and I kept them and sold the SLC HD. I would also say if you have a tendency to beat around your glass a little, I'd bet the Meopta is tougher and better built. I have never had any diopter problems, inadvertent movement, etc from them either.

Appreciate the feed back guys. I'm going to head back to cabelas tomorrow evening and give them a run through outside at sunset. Hopefully I will be able to make a decision based off of that.

eurooptic has the non hd meopta models...........

10x42 @ 689.00
8x42 @ 699.00

Cabela's return policy is great. Buy them both on credit card and return the one you don't like when you get to use them in field a little.

The Meopta's won't be better than the Swaro's but they will be really really close and much cheaper. I have Leica Ultravids and have owned the SLC's, EL's, Zeiss HT's and the Meopta HD's. The Meopta give up very little if any to those others.

Lee

Meopta 42mm is 31 oz
Current SLC 42mm is 28 oz

How do the Meoptas weight less??

Just as important is the handling, the SLC is more trim and compact.

Cameraland has their specs wrong. You are correct, the meoptas weigh 3 oz more. Luckily, for me, those 3 ounces are well worth $900





I guess if a guy has dainty hands then a smaller, more compact binocular that weighs 3 oz less might be worth paying double but for me I'll take the Meoptas because optically they are absolutely excellent and in my experience they are equal to the SLC's. I also like how the Meoptas fit my hands. I'm not small and they fit me well

That is a great price on the Meoptas, they are the best binoculars in the mid price range by far if they have the HD. But they aren't as nice as the SLC's, as a test about anyone who has the SLC's would turn down a trade but the Euro owners would swap for the Swaro's in a heartbeat.

I did the same thing looking at Cabela's last year and would probably own the HD Euros today if they had been on sale - luckily I found the new SLC's at a sporting goods store, Dunns, on eBay for just over 1300 and I'm very pleased. They aren't way better in many ways but they resolve more detail and more color than the Euros and I'm done binocular shopping for at least a decade.

Either are way better than your Vipers and would be great hunting tools for a long time. It is nice to know you have the best tool going if you can find a deal on the Swarovski they really make an exceptional binocular.....but are you going to spot more animals than the Euro? Maybe right at dark or if you needed to resolve close colors of foliage and prey, but not likely even then.

True. But I would just flip them Swaros again smartly and buy a pair of Euros again - and be money way ahead.

Why - because of the law of diminishing returns.

That "smitchen and a half" more sharpness, edge to edge clarity, less pincushion yada yada, is not worth that much money to me.

My 2 cents.

You offer anybody with SLC's a trade with the Meoptas plus the cash difference they'd be idiots not to jump on it. In fact, I've had a number of clients sell their more expensive glass to buy Meoptas after looking through mine.

The difference you speak of is negligible at best. They are almost identical to the SLC's for half the money. It's a no brainer and anybody that argues otherwise doesn't have the common sense God gave a goose or doesn't have enough experience to be able to form an educated opinion

Well, on some days I have more "common sense than God gave a goose". So I am going to march down to Cabelas this AM and pick up a pair of those 10x42 Cabelas/Meopta HD's and do an in depth comparison with my new SLC 10x42's that I just got last month- also with an awesome deal.

And if after a couple days of in depth testing in all sorts of light- if the Cabelas Euros are anywhere close to the SLC's, then I will list them for sale and someone else can enjoy the awesome deal that I got on them.

I have lots of experience with optics, and it will not take me long to figure out the differences between these. Maybe even in the first 30 minutes of the first evening. And if it is not much- these SLC's will be at a new home. Plus, even though I like 10x's and use them quite a bit, I tend to also use 8x's quite a bit. So if these 10x Euro's are real real close- I will not need to hang on to the SLC's.

I'll take the Swaros any day. When you get to the top end glass the differences ARE minimal and the slightest bit of sharpness and clarity is worth it to me. PLUS- the resale value (if that factors in) in my experience is unbeatable on Swaros. I personally have tried the EL (new and older version) and the SLC. The SLC is preferred by my eyes and the added weight doesn't bother me. FWIW

Well, I hope all this Cableas Euro hype is half of what I keep reading and not just self verification. I had a lower spinal fusion in May and I've decided my EL's are going to be too heavy this year around my chest, so I have a set of 8x32 Euro's two days out. It is my first bino that isn't a Swaro, and I am feeling it. CL's are just about universally panned and I can't afford the Zeiss or Lecia's. To be honest I'll be ecstatic if the Euro HD is 95% the bino my 1st gen EL is.

The difference to me was the ergo's, I just like the Swaro's better. The actual difference in the glass quality was hard to tell. I think the re-sale value that was mentioned is a factor, at least for me.

I like the SLC's better than any bino I've owned to date.

I walked out of Cabelas a few years back with about 5k in optics, two spotters and two Bino's, sole purpose was to spend some time at home to really, really evaluate this large outlay of cash,

Week later I returned two and kept the two I finally decided was the superior optics and the best value for me.

Don't waste everyone's time at the counter while you stare at some Taxidermy mount 121 yards away at the end of aisle 9.

Some may think returns are tacky, that's your call. I had no problem with it.

no experience with the swaro but i love my 10x42 HD Meopta. the weight is no issue for me. i like the ergos. built like a tank.

Are the Euro HD's the Meostar or Meopro's?

And in the 10x42's, are you guys running the Meostar's or the Meopro's?

Casey

Euro HD's and the Meostars are one and the same. ie- the Euro's are not Meopro's

I spent some time comparing the Euro HD and Swarovski SLC outside during two different times of the day (middle of the afternoon, and right at sunset) for a total of about 30 minutes.

Man...it was incredibly difficult to distinguish any real noticeable differences between these two. They are very, very similar to my eye. Clarity, brightness, crispness, light gathering ability. Ergonomics, for me, was fine with either pair. I did not mind the few ounce difference in weight of the Euro HD after handling them for a while.

I was really hoping that one was going to stand out over the other, during the low light testing, so my decision between the two would be easier. Or I guess, kind of hoping that the Swarovski was going to be noticeably better....but it wasn't. They were extremely similar. The Euro HD seemed a tad "warmer" also. Not sure if the expert optic testers, consider that a positive, negative, or indifferent. But it was noticeable. Also, it seemed like the SLC's had a slightly larger FOV, even though both are listed @ 330ft @ 1000yds.

Extremely tough call. I do agree that the SLC's are probably a better investment, as they will likely retain more of their value down the road. For the money, the EURO's are a pretty sweet set of glass so far.

Got my 8x32 Euros yesterday. Compared them with my 1st Gen 8.5x42 Swaro EL's. It's really, really close optic wise. Resolution goes to the Swaro but not by alot, and could be just that extra .5 power. The Euros were actually brighter than the Swaro. This disturbed me greatly. Swaro hands down had the better FOV. But the weight and size of the Euro made up for the FOV.

This is definitely good if not great glass at the price point. It truly is 90-95% of the glass of my EL. It's going to cost another 1200.00 for that 5%, and at my stage in life (57). I can make this work. These will be my primary glass for next months elk hunt, and then they go in the truck so I will always have decent glass at arms length.

Those 8x32 Euros will grow on you Lee. I've taken that exact pair to Africa 3 times now, and when hunting creek bottom whitetails. It is really outstanding stuff IMO. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I have enjoyed mine.

Just before I left for my elk hunt 2 weeks ago I finally decided that I needed to part with a gun in order to buy my first "good" pair of binos. I went to Cabelas with 3 in mind; Razor HD, Conquests, and Instinct or Euro hd, all in 10x42 for mostly western hunting.

I walked out with Euro 8x32's and could not have been happier on the trip. For the longest time I thought $4-500 binos were all I needed, the upgrade in glass alone made up for the loss of 2x. I never once wished for more light in the evenings and the size/ weight was ideal in my hands.

Don't overlook the little guys.

Thanks,
Nick

I have a pair of 10x42 meostar non hd and a pair of swarovski slc neu 8x32 that I've had for better than a year now. I know these are not the exact binos your talking about but I think close in age and comparison.
I use the 8x32 hunting almost all the time due to size and weight but the meoptas prolly see more use as the are in my living room all the time for use.
I guess a long story short is I can't tell any noticeable difference in the binos as for performance. I would not pas the meoptas if I could get a better deal on them, I mean compared to what they will bring two years for now

Bino-wise the new Swaro SLCs and Zeiss HT have done the best for me in low light comparisons...and yeah, that is outside after sunset...:)

Meopta (currently) may very well be the brand that gives you the most bang for a buck.

But life is short and all. For me, hunting equipment-wise, binos get the most latitude for expenditures.

I'm very happy with my Meopta 10x42HD.

Well, I have spent quite a bit of time comparing these two binoculars.

The Cabelas Euro HD is very nice glass; extremely well built and IMO optically hangs real well with the Swaro SLC HD.

I just spent the last few days comparing a new 10x42 Euro HD to a new Swaro SLC (HD) 10x42 in a wide variety of situations and varied light conditions, and overall the Euro hung real close. Close enough that I was strongly considering keeping the Euro's and selling my SLC's. But I finally decided that there was enough of a separation for me that I decided to keep the SLC's. Truth be told probably not a $6-700 separation, but I just decided to keep the ones that were overall best. And the Swaro's should be for the price.

So the Euro's are going to go up for sale, and someone else can enjoy the fine optics- and a real good deal on very, very nice glass.