MEOPTA vs SWARO???

[Flashgun]

Meopta is decent for the price but definitely not Swaro quality on their binos. That being said the Meopta spotters are much closer in quality to Swaro quality imo. I would recommend Mavens over Meopta if you are trying to save a little money on binos. Good luck with your decision

 

[northAZarcher]

Meopta are the easy choice over the swaro non hd imo. 

Most people probably haven't even looked through Meopta binos and are just going off the Swarovski name.  Don't get me wrong, their glass is top notch. But if you aren't buying the HD, Meopta beats the SLC in every way.

[Dkart4]

I don’t mind paying the swaro price. I just wanted to hear if they are worth the extra money. I might even save up for another few weeks and go with the EL’s

[matt]

If you take good care of your stuff, swaro is a no-brained. Clearer glass, lighter and the resale value is great. You can buy them for $2200 new NF sell them used for $1900 in five years. You will get 1/2 your money back on the meopta if you’re lucky. 

[CatfishKev]

1 hour ago, Dkart4 said:

I don’t mind paying the swaro price. I just wanted to hear if they are worth the extra money. I might even save up for another few weeks and go with the EL’s

I have looked through both 15 hd side by side, I honestly could not tell the difference but to be fair it's probably there I just couldn't personally see it. On this same outing we also had a pair of EL 12s.  Like I said if you have the money go swaro, but the meoptas are still freaking awesome. But i myself am planning on losing my 15s for 12s, possibly 10s.  If i had the cash, id go EL 12 over the meostar 12s.  But I don't, so probably will go meopta

[no worries]

I’ve owned Swarvo HDs and Meoptas and have used the Swarvo non HDs. 
I liked Meoptas more than non HD Swarvo. 

Side by side on tripods viewing a windmill that that was a mile or so away, they ( Swarvo HDs and Meopta) were pretty identical in clarity.  The Swarvo HDs had a slight bluish tint compared to the Meopta. The Swarvo HDs also had a little more magnification which was weird since both were 15s. Very slight but it was there.  
Im older (50s) so I had my kids look thru them. They agreed with what I was seeing.

I ended up with 3 pairs of Meoptas for myself and the 2 boys. And I’m happy with the choice.
 

As far as resale goes. New Meoptas are $1200-$1250 and used ones sell fast at $900-$950.  I’ve never seen them half priced myself. Most guys want a grand for newer used pairs. 

[ocotillo4me]

Try the zeiss 15x56hd. Brilliant glass for the money. I’ve had swaro hd and slc. The zeiss gives it. 

[NMHNTR727]

Swaro hands down. No questions 

[recurveman]

On 8/16/2020 at 11:24 AM, Dkart4 said:

I don’t mind paying the swaro price. I just wanted to hear if they are worth the extra money. I might even save up for another few weeks and go with the EL’s

They don't make the EL's in 15's.    I have 10 power EL's and they blow SLC's out of the water for clarity.   I also have the Swaro 15's and they are just incredible.  

[Dkart4]

1 hour ago, recurveman said:

They don't make the EL's in 15's.    I have 10 power EL's and they blow SLC's out of the water for clarity.   I also have the Swaro 15's and they are just incredible.  
 

I think I may go with the 12s

[PowellSixO]

8 minutes ago, Dkart4 said:

I think I may go with the 12s

Look through them before you do, and do it in the field. They have a flattening effect that I absolutely hated. Money was not a concern, and the SLC to me was better for my eyes. I wanted to like the el's, but I couldn't. I have the 15's for my tripod, and the 10's for my tripod and chest carry. Best glass there is. You can look through them from sun up to sun down with zero eye strain. 

[recurveman]

Head down to the outdoorsmans in Fountain Hills.    They have all the glass to look at.  Personally I found the Swaro EL's to be the clearest.    You can look through everything and decide what you want to buy.    I was out sheep hunting last fall and had the opportunity to look through 10EL's, 12EL's and 15's.   Very interesting hour of my life.    I was switching glass like crazy for the better part of an hour.   The one thing I can say is the 10's and 12's EL's are clearer but it is so very close.   The biggest difference to me was the field of view.   The 12's gave me almost the same field of view as the 10's with a 20% bump in magnification.    After looking through the 12's I was wondering how I don't go buy a pair.    The 15's field of view was much, much tighter.   The difference was massive.   I like the extra magnification of the 15's but it comes at a price.   I hear the new 12's are even better.    Haven't looked through them yet but there is a very high probability of me owning a pair in the next 6 months.   

[codyhuntsaz]

I owned, at the same time, a pair of Swarovski 10x42 HD and the meostar 12x50 HD, so not an exact comparison, but I sold the Swarovski‘s and kept the Meopta. The main reason I did so was because the color through the Meoptas  was much better than the Swarovskis. For my eye Swarovski sort of washed out and everything had a lighter tone to it. Not to mention if you go with the Cabela’s brand Meoptas called the instinct, they have a no questions asked return policy. I haven’t had to use it but I’ve heard from people that have that you walk in with your broken pair and walk out with a brand new pair, even if it is a model or two newer than the ones you had. That being said I had to send back that pair of Swarovski‘s the first time I used them in the field, the focus knob came completely detached and I couldn’t focus the binoculars. I did own a pair of non-HD 10 x 42 Swarovski‘s for 15 years before that and never had them malfunction though.

[apache12]

There is a reason every glass is compared to Swarovski.  That’s really the answer to your question.  

[CatfishKev]

11 minutes ago, apache12 said:

There is a reason every glass is compared to Swarovski.  That’s really the answer to your question.  

True. But 97% swaro quality for $1000 less? Meopta shines.