Meopta 12x50

[Darrindlh]

Hello ,
Looking for some advice!! I am looking to get my backcountry glassing set up established. I am considering the Meopta b1.1 12x50 binoculars as a single pair. I am wanting to use them on my high alpine mule feel archery hunt. Would I be lacking in an upper basin ? I feel if I step up to the 15’s I would need a two Bino system. What are you thoughts! Thank you so much for your help.
Darrin

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

That's an excellent choice in bino. Those Meopta B1.1 12x50s are fantastic! Throw them on a tripod for long glassing sessions, but they are still handy enough for the bino harness and quick glassing as well.

I had the 15 and 10 combo in that exact bino and I'll be switching to just the 12's for this season.

 

[Darrindlh]

Did you feel you were lacking in terms of judging a buck on the opposite side of the basin? I deff will be putting them on the tripod?

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

In purely comparing the 12's and 15's the answer is no for me. There wouldn't be any buck that I wouldn't be able to decide "I'm going to go take a closer look at him" with the 12's vs the 15's at all. If you are really wanting to identify more details of bucks at ranges long enough for the 15's to potentially make a difference over the 12's you're going to want a spotter anyway in my experience.

I used to think it was 15's all the way for tripod long glassing but after spending some time really comparing them side by side, my statement above is what rang true for me.

 

[Ben RT]

If you can hold a 12x50 still enough to use free-handed, then you'll probably be happy with just them. It didn't work for me.

I've had those Meostar 12x50s for a time and the Swarovski ELs as well. They really are excellent glass (the Swaro is amazing, but the Meostar isn't far behind it). I finally admitted to myself that I can't hold more than an 8x still enough to be useful free-handed, so I was still hauling 8x binos around my neck and using the 12x50s only on the tripod. I eventually went to 15x Meostar on a tripod, since I feel I get greater detail with them, and 8x42s around the neck for their stability and excellent field of view. My point of this is that it's going to be different for every person.

 

[Darrindlh]

yeah your right ! Any buck in a basin I can tell drake no problem with 12’s especially on a tripod. I have Maven B3’s 8x30’s for my timber up close and personal elk hunting Bino.

 

[Tahoe1305]

I have the Meostar 12x50 and B3 8x30 just like the above. Perfect combo for a bunch of hunting.

I feel comfortable out to about a mile with my 12x at least confirming it’s a good animal. I would go 12 over 15 all day long because you have ability to hand hold although degraded a bit compared to tripod. Good luck.

 

[Darrindlh]

So if I were to carry a tripod always and glass from a tripod would you go 15’s over the 12’s? In the Meoptas

 

[Brian Fahs]

Yes

 

[Tahoe1305]

I haven’t looked through the 15s but assuming they are about the same as 12s and not a huge weight penalty I’d probably say yes too.

keep in mind you are probably loosing a bit of low light and FOV as you get higher mag. I just think 12x are a great compromise. There are a few articles on here and the web about various hunters choosing to go 12x only and their reasons why.

I personally think if you want to give up the option to hand hold, go all the way and get 18s. The mavens and UHDs are pretty sweet and then you get a significant mag increase over 12s with hardly any weight penalty.

 

[Darrindlh]

Tahoe,
Thank you I was thinking that !! I was thinking bout the maven B5. Have you guys heard how the glass is compared to Meopta and the big three?

 

[Tahoe1305]

So I’ve done a few comparisons. I had the UHD 12x50s (prior to my meostars) and I compared the B5 18x mavens to the 18x UHDs

I wish I could have compared the 12x UHD and Meostar together. I like my meostars but remember the UHDs being really good. I think they would have compared well personally.

For the B5 18 compared to the 18x UHDs I personally preferred the UHDs. The mavens were good but I didn’t think optically better than the UHDs and the UHDs I thought had better ergonomics (size, weight, feel). I haven’t compared 15x meostars or SLCs.

 

[Randonee]

I personally would not carry only 15x binos. Like others, I pair my 15x with a smaller 8x32. I really like how the 8x32’s are so light in a bino harness. The 15x are carried in my pack. More to OP question, I have not tried using a 12x in the field.

 

[Don Qui Puncher]

Great info here I started with a pair of Leupold 12’s and I couldn’t hand hold them for the life of me sold them and got the Meopta 10’s and they are awesome I can definitely make out frame size from a mile plus and see if it’s worth pulling out the spotter or not, but I keep wanting to try the Meopta 12’s for the little bit extra magnification. Most of my glassing is from a mile on the salt marsh, I can definitely pick up deer movement with the 10’s and usually size but I can’t make out bedded deer in the cattails that I’ve picked up with my spotter. But on the other hand 12’s are way to much in a tree stand with the thick stuff I hunt I should really have 8’s for that. I’m really tempted to dump the 10’s and get 12’s

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Not to hijack but I'm at the exact same crossroads. I have the 10x42 b1.1 meostars and think they are exceptional glass for the value and can hang with slc's and surpasses the conquests, razors, and mavens I've looked through by quite a bit. However, I want another arrow in the quiver. If I had to pair a second bino with my 10x42s and could only buy either the meostar 12s or the 15s, which one should I get to get the maximum versatility and possibly ditch the spotter?

If you’re comfortable and like the 10s so much keep them for the bino harness and throw the 15s in your pack is what I’d do.

 

[Darrindlh]

Another option is the Maven b5 18. About the same price as the Meopta. And it give you a little more range paired with your 10’s. Just a thought