15x Glass

[ND_Hooligan]

For my 15s I run the Meopta's and no complaints here. One of my friends has 15x Swaro's and after doing a side by side test right up until dark, he said if he were to do it again he'd go with the Meopta as the Swaro advantage didn't justify the extra price to him. Not saying Swarovski isn't better, in fact we got a couple of minutes more twilight visibility out of the Swaro. Meopta does put out a nice product though.

 

[Hotmail]

Coulda shoulda woulda don't second guess just buy the Swarovskis especially the newest models $1800 recently on the classifieds. Why even settle for second best then kick yourself later for not paying that little extra for THE BEST?

 

[Hotmail]

I have a good tripod and some 10x Lieca's and an old Swaro 20 to 60x80 spotting scope. I want a good high power binocular in the 15 to 20 power range. I'd use it for many things but presently hoping to draw a late October mule deer hunt in Wyoming in open country. My budget is about $1,500 or less.

My question is 3 fold:
1. Do I need to increase my budget to achieve the advantage that a 15x + should have over my 10x Leicas?
2. What would you all suggest as a good value in that price range?
3. I was looking at the 16x ZULU6 and they seem interesting. I'd even thinking about leaving the Leicas behind and the tripod and bringing a handheld range finder. Is the glass so deficient in those or does the stabilization make up for that? How does the glass compare to something else in that price range? The image stabilization aspect really intrigues me though.

I'm also interested in the Zeiss Conquest HDs but they're at that $2,000 mark.



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Tell you what If you can just hold off for a little while more I'll buy a Meopta B1 PLUS and Swarovski SLC both in 15x56 right away to personally test out and let you know if it's actually worth the difference in price and I'm actually more of a cheapskate at heart and a more bang for your buck kinda guy in reality and I even bought two NL Pures recently just to have a reference as to "supposedly" THE BEST BINOCULARS THAT MONEY CAN POSSIBLY BUY and now buying lower priced Razor UHDs and cheaper HDs and SIG ZULU 9s and 10s just to test them against to see if the price difference are actually worth it.

I collect Binoculars as a hobby as well and only use the ones that I like the best that are most comfortable for me daily.
I don't use these NL Pures and just have them to have to compare everything against in all honesty and prefer to use my dirt cheap ScoopX UHDs and NIKON Prostaff P7 10x42s daily believe it or not and now added a SIG ZULU 9 9x45 probably gonna be another daily use bin.

I actually really don't like their lack of POP and really low color tone (like turning down the color on your TV compared to what you're used to) in the two NL Pures 8x42s and 12x42s I bought compared to my daily use bins.

I also sold my Swarovski ST80 spotting scope and ridiculously overpriced top of the line Swarovski tripod I bought brand new at a huge loss because I just didn't like the mediocre sub par image quality on Max magnification and lack of color pop.

 

[jimh406]

I don't have any really expensive glass, but I watch YouTube videos that review them. Frequently, the reviewers pick the same brand that they regularly use as best for them. At some point, it seems to be personal preference and what your eyes get used to as long as they are pretty good.

With that in mind, I think you should buy Swarovski and trade your Liecas out as well, or simply trade your Liecas for 10x Swaros and skip the 15x, or consider buying Swarovski range finding binoculars.

 

[tracker12]

If my budget was $1500 the Maven B5 would be at the top of my list. They are a great value and a splendid optic.

Maven is making pretty good glass but down the road SWARO is still king for resale value.

 

[Spiral Horn]

Maven is making pretty good glass but down the road SWARO is still king for resale value.

The OP was very clear that he had a $1500 budget. With that in mind he can actually buy the B5. The $2400 SLC is much more than he said he can afford. Is the SLC a better binocular = yes, but for $900 more it should be, and even then the B5 isn’t put to shame by the SLC. The B5 is an exceptional performer at its price point.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I have extensively looked through them all. The list goes in this order
1.Swaros
2. Swaros
3. Swaros
4. Meoptas (the eye relief sucks)
5.Zeiss (the chromatic aberration on the putter 15% Is very evident)
6. Leicas (even worse chromatic aberration)
7. Leupolds

Save for the Swaros, find a good deal on the Swaros ect.

If eye relief “sucks” in the Meopta B1 or B1.1 it is 100% operator error. I’ve spent thousands of hours behind Meopta binoculars, this is nonsense.

 

[Hotmail]

The OP was very clear that he had a $1500 budget. With that in mind he can actually buy the B5. The $2400 SLC is much more than he said he can afford. Is the SLC a better binocular = yes, but for $900 more it should be, and even then the B5 isn’t put to shame by the SLC. The B5 is an exceptional performer at its price point.

I'd buy the way cheaper SIG ZULU 10 15x56 before spending Maven kind of money. Sane Binoculars with the edge going to the new ZULU 10. Easily can buy them brand new for $1100 and cheapest $900 just call dealers willing to negotiate prices. I really don't get the direct to consumer motto to keep prices low when middle men dealers resellers flippers for SIG getting their cut and reselling them for way cheaper than the Maven version direct to consumer.

Why not spend as least as possible for the exact same Binoculars so you don't take as much of a hit after trying to sell them?

I own both Maven B5 and SIG ZULU 10 and to my eyes the cheaper ZULU 10s are slightly brighter and clearer. I also have two Vortex Razor UHDs inbound to compare as well. Actually I have 4 Razor UHDs I just bought 2 are the newly released 8x32 and 10x32. I'm not really a Vortex fan when it comes to Binoculars though I just collect Binoculars to compare different brands at different price levels ti see which are the best bang for the buck and SIG and Maven and Vortex Razor UHD supposed to be same same all at different prices go figure.

 

[TrackerG]

If eye relief “sucks” in the Meopta B1 or B1.1 it is 100% operator error. I’ve spent thousands of hours behind Meopta binoculars, this is nonsense.

I’m glad you feel that way. I guess I should say “I feel as though the eye relief does not work for me and my eyes”

 

[TrackerG]

For my 15s I run the Meopta's and no complaints here. One of my friends has 15x Swaro's and after doing a side by side test right up until dark, he said if he were to do it again he'd go with the Meopta as the Swaro advantage didn't justify the extra price to him. Not saying Swarovski isn't better, in fact we got a couple of minutes more twilight visibility out of the Swaro. Meopta does put out a nice product though.

An interesting thing I have noticed is people with Swaros always say “if I did it again, I would have bought Meoptas” but they are never selling their Swaros to buy a set of Meoptas.

On the flip side, I know a lot of people that have sold their Meoptas, Leicas, Zeiss, ect to buy Swaros. Including myself

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I’m glad you feel that way. I guess I should say “I feel as though the eye relief does not work for me and my eyes”

I’ve posted this here a few times. Here’s how I “feel” after spending tons of time with both brands side by side.

My personal comparison between my Swaro SLC 15x56 vs my Meopta 15x56…

Up close image and general “clarity” as peoples eyes normally see it, has a very slight edge to Swaro.

Longer distance glassing the meoptas are clearer to my eyes. They also handle the chromatic aberration much better than the swaros which my eyes are susceptible to. Mid to long range edge to edge clarity favors the meoptas.

To me the swaros give a “cool” color tone to everything when comparing to my natural vision. Everything is “greener and bluer” than what my naked eyes see. The meoptas are a hair “warmer” which matches what my naked eyes see when comparing colors.

The swaros are more ergonomic, and the eye cups are a bit nicer. Especially if you wear glasses. My 15s are on a tripod 99% of the time so the ergonomics don’t mean much to me with 15s. The swaros are a bit lighter too in the pack but not super noticeable.

Meoptas are more rugged and have a better mainframe coating. I’ve used the ever living crap out of multiple pairs of meoptas and they keep on working. My two pairs of Swaro SLCs had to go in for minor repairs with similar use.

Overall they are both fantastic glass and I’d be happy using either in the field all day. For me personally the Meopta wins out on a couple categories that are most important to me (long distance clarity and CA).

 

[nnmarcher]

Why spend $1500 on older Swarovski when for only $300-$400 more you can get newer ones with better glass? Those older Swaros are comparable to the Meopta B1 plus while the newer ones are clearer.

I have the new SIG ZULU 10s and Maven B5s and to my eyes the SIGs look clearer and they're much cheaper buying brand new if you shop around as cheap as $900 brand spanking new for the 15s. Makes me really wonder how much they're really marked up direct to consumer with no middleman to keep the cost down? Maybe you will see a sale at Midway USA for $600-$700 for these like they did for the ZULU 9s. I just bought two of the exact same models of Vortex Razor UHDs to check for for sample variance and will compare them with my ZULU 10s and B5s to see which of these same Kamakura cousins are actually the clearest.
The Burris Signature HD 2023 improved Japan version 15x56 I recently bought on sale for under $600 brand new from Amazon is another fantastic option while on a very tight budget and are actually comparable to both my way more expensive Leupold BX5 Santiam 15x56s believe it or not.

I guess my broader question is when do a pair of new binos from a company like Maven/Sig/Meopta exceed the performance of old alpha glass, if ever? Do early 2000s Swaros outperform 2024 Sig Zulus?

I understand it is subjective to whoever is holding the binos, I've just never held enough to compare.

 

[ND_Hooligan]

An interesting thing I have noticed is people with Swaros always say “if I did it again, I would have bought Meoptas” but they are never selling their Swaros to buy a set of Meoptas.

On the flip side, I know a lot of people that have sold their Meoptas, Leicas, Zeiss, ect to buy Swaros. Including myself

Won't argue with that fact and as I said the Swarovski's performed "slightly" better in both of our opinions. If a person has more disposable income then you could never go wrong buying them. Once the purchase is made, it probably wouldn't make much sense to sell Swarovski's at a loss to buy Meopta's because at that point you are not gaining performance or saving money. I personally buy top-end, premium glass in most applications as I fully understand the difference it can make. When it came to the 15 powers, I don't use them nearly as often as my 10 powers or my spotting scope so I saved money to put towards those two. For what I use my 15s for, the negligible difference in performance between Swarovski and Meopta reaffirmed that, in my opinion, I made the correct choice.

 

[tracker12]

Comparing glass is probably the most debated hunting item. Just google Youtube and you will see more comparisons than you have time to view. So many factors enter into our choices. Problem is there is a wide price gap in the different of popular brands. For the cost SIG, Nikon, Vortex etc will get the job done. If you can swing more $$$ you step up all the way to Swaro or anywhere in between. No matter what you buy, good condition used glass cant be beat.

 

[lundellhunting7]

I am very intrigued with the Zulu 6s. I run swaro binos and spotter and love them. But have really been thinking I am going to be adding Zulu 6 to the stable. I have looked through them a couple of times and I really like them.

 

[RaggedHunter]

I have a pair of the Meoptas, my buddy has the Swaros. We've been on many hunts together using them side by side. I do believe the swaros have a slight edge. But I the meoptas are still very good. I can not justify paying the extra money for swaros seeing the difference. If budget was no concern, buy the swaros, if you are limited to $1500, I'd buy the meoptas in a heart beat and never look back.

 

[ericF]

If you want the Zeiss Conquests at your $1500 mark you can get a "demo" model from Red Hawk. Much like Europtic the "demo" designation allows them to sell below MAP. I bought a pair of the 15's two years ago from them, but honestly haven't even had a chance to take them out. That being said I like my 8x42 Conquests and use them more than my 10x42 SLC's unless I have the SLC's on a tripod. So whenever I did the same research you were doing 2 years ago I felt pretty confident in the Conquests.

https://redhawkrifles.com/used-zeiss-conquest-hd-binoculars/

 

[twall13]

I'm relatively new to the 15x game and can't say I've compared a bunch side by side but my research led me to the Meopta or Swaro as the only two I was considering. I ended up buying some Meoptas used on the classifieds over the winter for well under OP's budget. For the limited use I've gotten out of them so far I really like them. That said, there's one thing worth pointing out. I have a narrow interpupillary distance and the Meopta barrels have to be completely touching for me to be able to use them without double vision. The Outdoorsman stud/adapter doesn't work for me. The new Wiser Precision BA-7 adapter works, just barely for me. I know the objective lens size is likely going to limit interpupillary distance on most 15x binos and I have no point of reference for whether Meopta, Swaro, or others are better than one another in this aspect but, if your eyes are close together like mine, it's something worth considering.

I'd love to look through some Swaro 15x's and compare them specifically for how narrow they will go, but for me that's the only reason I'd see that might sway me towards Swaro over the Meoptas. For the price difference I don't think I can justify what can only be marginal improvements over the Meoptas. I say this coming from Swaro EL's as my primary Bino so I do know the quality of glass Swaro puts out there.

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[Acharenio]

I am very intrigued with the Zulu 6s. I run swaro binos and spotter and love them. But have really been thinking I am going to be adding Zulu 6 to the stable. I have looked through them a couple of times and I really like them.

Jay Scott has a podcast with Cody nelson from gohunt about optics but they talk quite a bit about the zulu's, also you can call Cody Nelson he is very helpful about it.

 

[Gone4Days]

You can easily find like new, used SLC HD’s for 1800 all day long. Save the extra $300. It’s worth it for the resell value alone