Optics Myths #1 – “Binoculars With More Magnification Help Me See More”

The most common statement of buyers remorse that I hear from people after they purchase a binocular, is that they though that a stronger pair was supposed to help them see more/better. Most people are under the assumption that what they need in a binocular is more magnification to see better. In all actuality I don’t believe this to be true.

In my experience, the usable power of a binocular is limited to the steadiness of the hands that they are in. More magnification is not always better.

You can count on the fact that there is going to be some wobble or shake in the image of a hand held binocular. The greater the magnification the more noticeable that shake will be.  In some instances, the wobble will be so great that it will negate the increased resolution that higher magnification will provide.

A birder hiking a trail, a hunter stalking and animal,  or an adrenaline filled infantryman just getting into his position will not be able to hold a pair of binoculars as steady as a person sitting on their back porch, a hunter sitting in their tree stand, or a scout sniper that has been in his hide for a couple of hours.

For a hand held binocular, regardless of application, I usually recommend 10x magnification as the upper limit.  For someone that is walking and glassing all day, I might even recommend a lower magnification as in an 8x. As fatigue starts to set in, it might become more and more difficult for someone to hold the binocular steady. Now add 12x worth of magnification to his binocular and you imagine how difficult stability would be.

To get a sense of how much hand shake degrades the quality of an image, take your binoculars outside and look through them at something with some detail. Now run in place for about 25 seconds and look at the same image again. How’s that image looking now? You may be very surprised in the amount amount  of detail that you loose to handshake.

I have been using a pair of Meopta Binoculars that I really enjoy. I got them for general observation. I use them on hiking trips, birding, and hunting. I got into the  Meopta MeoStar 10×42 HD’s and can honestly say that the quality of image that the binoculars provide is awesome. They perform great in low light conditions. Meopta has recently released their MeoPix adapter which allows me to take pictures through the binocular with my iPhone. In a lower price point, the Meopta MeoPro 10×42’s are an unbeatable product for the money.

Meopta 10×42 HD

To help figure out if a magnification is suitable, take the distance you are viewing the subject at and divide by the power of magnification. That will tell you how close the image will appear. If we are looking at a bird 20 yards away with a 10x binocular, then the bird will seem 2 Yards away. If we are looking at an elk 200 yards away with a 10x binocular, it will seem 20 yards away.

What I want you to take away form this article is that more magnification is not always better. Sometimes what we need is quality not quantity.

Optics Review: Meopta Meostar 4-16×44 MilDot

For a long time now I have been searching for a scope to put on a Tikka M595 Master Sporter that I picked up from a forum member on SnipersHide.com. I’ve tried a couple of scopes but have really had a difficult time finding a piece of glass that would complement the rifle.

I tried a Vortex PST 4-16 but wasn’t overly impressed with the glass quality and the cheap zero stop feature. Then I had a Nightforce 5.5-25 on it for a trip to the range, but I moved some scopes around and the Nightforce ended up on my TRG. So I had this beautiful rifle sitting around with no scope on it.

My plans for the rifle were to use it as a varmint rig, do some paper punching from 0-800, and banging on some steel out to 800. I really wanted something with good optical quality, something with a nice thin crosshair that would not cover much of the target, and something that I could crank the turrets on.

I turned to a little know company in the sport optics community by the name of Meopta looking for a scope that would fill my needs. I read some really good reviews on their 1-4 tactical optics, so I decided to look at their line and see if there was something that would work for me. After doing some searching, I decided to give the Meopta Meopro 4-16×44 a try.

Tikka with Meopta Meopro 4-16×44

After getting it mounted and bringing it out to the field, I can honestly say that Meopta rifle scopes are optically the most impressive scopes that I have seen in their class. I’ve look through lots of different glass and I was very impressed with the clarity, color, contrast, and resolution that my Meopta provided. The quality of the image was the same from sun up to sundown. I could clearly see hits on target and could clearly define where the edges of my .22 cal shot group were. The mil-dot reticle works very well with the center crosshair not covering much of the target out to 800 yards.

The turrets on the scope are capped, however they are a high target turret so I can make adjustments without having to change my shooting position very much. The scope is waterproof without the caps on. The turret clicks are crisp and I found the scope to be repeatable. The parallax adjustment is located on the objective lens of the scope. Not really a big deal to me, but it would make life easier if I were shooting different positions to have the adjustment on the side of the scope.

As I said before the scope offers a beautiful sight picture with great edge to edge clarity. The eye relief is constant throughout the power range allowing me to stay at a comfortable distance from the scope even when I crank the power all the way up. I believe it is a little over 3.5″ worth of constant eye relief. I don’t remember noticing the scope having a tunneling effect whatsoever.

Not every optic is perfect so here is what changes I would make to this scope:

• Matching turret/reticle. Currently the scope has a milradian reticle with an MOA turret sysetm. Not cool if I want to quickly make adjustments based on the reticle.
• This one is minor but I would like to see the parallex located on the side of the scope versus the objective. Not a huge deal but it would be nice.
• Not a ton of adjustment in the scope itself for long range shooting, however I have a 20MOA base on the rifle so its not a huge deal to me. I deal with  many people that I know do not look at how much adjustment a scope has till they run out.

For anyone looking for European quality glass for half the price, get yourself into a Meopta rifle scope.