Meopta or Pentax DCF SP

I live out here in Arizona hunting coues deer and javelina glassing across many canyons.  I want a good pair of 12X50 binoculars. I am deciding on a pair of Pentax SP 12.5X50 or Meopta 12X50 Meostar binoculars. Of course I use a tripod almost all of the time even when using my nikon 8X40 monarchs.

Most of my buddies who do have 10X42 or 10X50 Swarovskis have either traded in their 10X  or just bought another pair of 15X56's slc's and swear by them. I went deer hunting out here in November with my friends and they were constantly finding deer quicker and much before i could. Even when i did find the deer they had already glassed up i could barely see them. A couple of my friends had a pair of 12X56 Nikon Monarchs that i liked but i feel that the pentax and the meostars from what i read here are a better glass.  I feel under gunned with the 8X40's and of course my reason for the 12X50's.

I have seen the Pentax at around 600 used and the Meostars at around a 1000, do you feel the Meostar are worth the price difference?

Get your self a good spotter!...... and keep or get some 10x/8x binocs. you will get a lot more use out of both ....IMO

I recommend the Nikon 50mm ED scope - angled body, with the 20x wide angle eyepiece, and a Manfrotto 728B tripod. I find this setup very easy to carry around and much better than a 12x or 15x binocular.

My dad has the 12x50 Meostars and I have the 10x42 Meostars.  Optically to me they look as good as the 10x.  He really likes then and carries them all the time.  He does not use a tripod either, just his knees or the handbars on his wheeler.  He has never complained about them being to shaky.  I have looked through them quite a bit and thought they are very nice binos and the little extra power for spotting far out game is nice in some situations.  

I'll take the meoptas over the pentax, especially at 12x, you'll need all the perfomance you can afford at this power range

Here is another option Minox BL 13x56 BR. click here

Edited by Bird Watcher - January/05/2009 at 21:53

I guess it depends on the hunting that you do.  Personally I find 10X to be the upper end of the magnification without using a tripod.  Most 12X are very heavy and are good for stand hunting but if your out beating the brush I think they are too big.

I think I would rather have a good spotting scope and then a good set of lower powered 10x or 8x nocs.

Have some Pentax SPs, not in 12x.  The glass is great!  I compared them with several higher end binos outside at the shop I purchased them at and couldn't find a noticeable difference in the higher end stuff.

Those Minox BL 13x56 BR look like a really good option. Since they are a 56mm glass one would think they would be brighter than the 12X50's. Anyone have any experience with Minox? How do these compare to Meopta?

Chris,

Of the 12x binos for reasonable amount of money, Meopta Meostar 12x50 is probably your best bet.  It is beter than the Pentax.

As for Minox 13x56, I have heard good things about it, but have not played with it myself.

If you want to move to even higher magnification, the cheapest (relatively speaking) good binocular there is Optolyth Royal 15x63.  These are pretty large, but if you use a tripod this is not a bad way to go.  Very good image quality in the sample that I have seen.

ILya