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Some weeks back I posted some findings about a spotting scope comparison I made. I had compared Leica 77mm APO, Zeiss 65mm, Zeiss 85mm, and Swarovski 85mm (non HD).
When I posted the study someone on this forum told me that the Meopta 75 would beat the Euro glass, so I decided to have a look and add it to the lineup.
Following are my observations. I offer them up because making these comparisons isnt easy - it required me to buy all three scopes and return ones I didnt want. I took a beating from the mop squeezer over this one, since she seemed to think buying groceries was more important than spotting scope comparisons. This cost me bucks, and maybe someone can save some money and learn from what I learned.
I purchased three scopes for round two of the evaluation - knowing I would keep one of the three. A Leica 77 APO, a Zeiss 85mm, and a Meopta 75 APO. Had I known what I know now, I would have subsituted a Kowa for the Meopta. More on that in a minute.
I studied the three scopes over the course of three days, in early morning, morning, afternoon, late afternoon, dusk, and pitch dark. The following observation are not mine alone, a friend was with me on half of it, and once again we had identical findings. We even wrote them down so we wouldnt influence each other - then compared notes.
Meopta - not worth the money IMHO. Single large focus ring does not lend itself well to fine focus. Glass is close to being good, but has irregularities, such that one can get a better focus merely by shifting one's head slightly side to side - to get on a different section of the glass. The eyepiece glass is small in diameter, which doesn’t lend itself to easy viewing, because eye alignment is critical. Pain in the butt. I stopped looking through it right away - removed it from the lineup.
Now down to Zeiss 85 vs. Leica 77 - As a rule, the Zeiss beats the Leica in resolution in low light only. Several times throughout the day, as the light was lost due to cloud cover, the better resolution was sometimes found with the Zeiss. In total darkness this difference is easily demonstrated- the Zeiss' better light gathering (bigger objective) simply provides more light and hence gives higher apparent resolution. But in most daylight conditions, the Leica was better and provided that extra crispness that resolves small subtle details. When the Zeiss was better in daylight hours it was subtle. When the Leica was better it was noticeable and there was no ambiguity about it. For example, at 2000 yards or so in bright light I could see something on a roof top with the Zeiss, and make out it was the size of a sparrow,but with the Leica I could get the tiny bit of extra crispness in focus and see it was round, black, and probably the stub of a roof vent.
The design of the Leica eyepiece is far far better than the Zeiss - the way it clicks into place with the button - very precise and extremely close tolerances to the tube. The Zeiss is much less precise in the eyepiece fit, but once in, it is unlikely to be removed anyway.
Overall I gave the Zeiss the higher marks because of low light resolution, because it is noticeably lighter, has shorter length, and has a great matte green and black finish - it isnt shiny, all important considerations to a hunter. No doubt in my mind. I bought the Zeiss. Well, okay, a little doubt. It was a very tough decision. They were both outstanding scopes.
But if Leica lightened up their scope, and didnt have a shiny finish on it that would shine like a diamond in a goats butt, I would have picked it in a second. I love resolution.
Lastly, I didnt have the money to add a KOWA to the list, since that would have been four scopes. Wish I had replaced the Meopta with a Kowa for the study, as I have heard they are also good. They are not cheap however, they are on a par with the two I looked at.
Many many thanks to Chris at SWFA , now riflescopes.com (Board Sponsor) for being such a gentleman and tolerating my study. He is quite a nice man and wonderful to do business with. I have bought several scopes over the years from SWFA and have always been pleased with their price and fast pleasant service. He lost money on this transaction because I foolishly used a credit card, and they get dinged on both the sale and the return when a CC is used.
When I posted the study someone on this forum told me that the Meopta 75 would beat the Euro glass, so I decided to have a look and add it to the lineup.
Following are my observations. I offer them up because making these comparisons isnt easy - it required me to buy all three scopes and return ones I didnt want. I took a beating from the mop squeezer over this one, since she seemed to think buying groceries was more important than spotting scope comparisons. This cost me bucks, and maybe someone can save some money and learn from what I learned.
I purchased three scopes for round two of the evaluation - knowing I would keep one of the three. A Leica 77 APO, a Zeiss 85mm, and a Meopta 75 APO. Had I known what I know now, I would have subsituted a Kowa for the Meopta. More on that in a minute.
I studied the three scopes over the course of three days, in early morning, morning, afternoon, late afternoon, dusk, and pitch dark. The following observation are not mine alone, a friend was with me on half of it, and once again we had identical findings. We even wrote them down so we wouldnt influence each other - then compared notes.
Meopta - not worth the money IMHO. Single large focus ring does not lend itself well to fine focus. Glass is close to being good, but has irregularities, such that one can get a better focus merely by shifting one's head slightly side to side - to get on a different section of the glass. The eyepiece glass is small in diameter, which doesn’t lend itself to easy viewing, because eye alignment is critical. Pain in the butt. I stopped looking through it right away - removed it from the lineup.
Now down to Zeiss 85 vs. Leica 77 - As a rule, the Zeiss beats the Leica in resolution in low light only. Several times throughout the day, as the light was lost due to cloud cover, the better resolution was sometimes found with the Zeiss. In total darkness this difference is easily demonstrated- the Zeiss' better light gathering (bigger objective) simply provides more light and hence gives higher apparent resolution. But in most daylight conditions, the Leica was better and provided that extra crispness that resolves small subtle details. When the Zeiss was better in daylight hours it was subtle. When the Leica was better it was noticeable and there was no ambiguity about it. For example, at 2000 yards or so in bright light I could see something on a roof top with the Zeiss, and make out it was the size of a sparrow,but with the Leica I could get the tiny bit of extra crispness in focus and see it was round, black, and probably the stub of a roof vent.
The design of the Leica eyepiece is far far better than the Zeiss - the way it clicks into place with the button - very precise and extremely close tolerances to the tube. The Zeiss is much less precise in the eyepiece fit, but once in, it is unlikely to be removed anyway.
Overall I gave the Zeiss the higher marks because of low light resolution, because it is noticeably lighter, has shorter length, and has a great matte green and black finish - it isnt shiny, all important considerations to a hunter. No doubt in my mind. I bought the Zeiss. Well, okay, a little doubt. It was a very tough decision. They were both outstanding scopes.
But if Leica lightened up their scope, and didnt have a shiny finish on it that would shine like a diamond in a goats butt, I would have picked it in a second. I love resolution.
Lastly, I didnt have the money to add a KOWA to the list, since that would have been four scopes. Wish I had replaced the Meopta with a Kowa for the study, as I have heard they are also good. They are not cheap however, they are on a par with the two I looked at.
Many many thanks to Chris at SWFA , now riflescopes.com (Board Sponsor) for being such a gentleman and tolerating my study. He is quite a nice man and wonderful to do business with. I have bought several scopes over the years from SWFA and have always been pleased with their price and fast pleasant service. He lost money on this transaction because I foolishly used a credit card, and they get dinged on both the sale and the return when a CC is used.
