Meopta production moving to China

[deye243]

Certainly don't agree with your assessment of Meopta. I have been in the lens game for many years and the Meopta glass is excellent.'
Certainly up there with Zeiss, Schott etc. Hunting in 40+ heat, in my books is just stupid so what did you expect, that it wouldn't affect some of your kit? By the way I have dealt with the importer here and had no problems. Maybe it was just your attitude, don't know as I wasn't there.

Really hear a lot of people say this and I need to "correct" or provide my opinion.

Looking through them, no they are nothing like a GERMAN MADE zeiss in terms of glass (v6, v8, Diavari). Contrast, clarity, chromatic aberration, in no way does this look remotely as good as a Zeiss that is made in germany. The Conquest HD series, no idea havn't looked through it.

The Meopta OPTIKA range is average, something everyone is familiar with - glass quality is below a Vortex Viper PST. I am not a vortex fan, my bushnells (japanese made elite) are far nicer to my eyes.

The Meopta OPTIKA:
1. NOT On par with any european made optic in the top tier (Zeiss, S&B, Steiner, Swarovski, Kahles, Leica etc) in terms of glass - no where near.
2. NOT made in CZ
3. NOT the best quality scope for the money in terms of durability
4. NOT made with Schott Glass
5. NOT a lifetime warranty

The Meopta OPTIKA
1. IS a decent scope for the money in terms of features
2. IS easy to resell
3. IS punching at its price tag

Meopta Meostar is a real Meopta. Meopta Optika is not, what they done different is they kept the location of where their OPTIKA series scopes is made very hush hush so that they tell you its not made in CZ but dont tell you where it is made. Multiple scope reviewers and myself have contacted Meopta requesting this information nothing apart from "some components made in Asia". Which components, surely if it was still using Meopta Euro glass they would have stated this as it is to their advantage. This is how it costs half as much as a Meostar which is proudly announced as Made in Czech republic. This has worked in their benefit as most have taken the misleading statement of having cz on their scope thinking it is made there with European glass.

Now for those who want to dispute clarity - theres a youtuber who raves on about them (also has affiliated links so no guess as to why he does) CDOES he shows a side by side comparison, the whole time i thought the Viper was the Meopta as he was talking it up alot. Turns out, the Meopta was the one of the right. If I could upload a image I would, heres the link. No need to take any word or opinion I mention, see for yourself at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKUkfWlUDPM look at 15:20 and feel free to browse. You can easily see (ensure you have your settings on max quality) the viper is head and shoulders above the Meopta.

Just really good advertising is all. Pick one up at a store, then pick up a swaro, V6 Zeiss etc and tell me they look the same. Look at a object atleast 100m away, look at high contrast objects, pay attention to the image contrast, blades of grass etc.

Warranty - is very limited on Meopta.

Meopta Meostar is a different story - they are brilliant- and if you ever pick one up compare it next to the optika, its quite noticeable in glass and build that these are not in the same realm of quality standards. There are coatings that the Meostar receives that the Optika does not (Meolux ion)

As someone mentioned earlier - the level of glass of the Diavari isnt really necessary, but then again for some a little luxury sometimes is necessary - this si why we have choice if your $200 scope is enough for you, be happy with it and enjoy it. As long as your having a good time personally, thats what matters truly. There are cheap scopes that do an excellent job. I was just correcting this idea that the current Optika series has same glass quality as scopes 5x the price for the glass connoisseurs

At my home, with time on my side, tested at a distance, under low light conditions, I had a Leupold, Zeiss Diavari, Swaro Z6, and the Meopta Meostar. The Leupold was not in the race, but no surpise as I did not expect it to be. It was an older scope, and the model is not known. I am sure a high spec Leupold in the same price range would compare well.

As for the others, it is hard to separate the Meostar from the Zeiss or Swarovski. The Meostar has a 30 year warranty. It is a very high quality optic.

Don't bet on it I have found that the two optica sixes we had here a while ago were better than the vx5 and 6 loopys even my friends were surprised especially for the money this was looking at kangaroos and foxes at around 400 yards under a decent light I know we're not going to shoot that far but if we're talking glass that's the only reason why we did the test .
And again glass is only 30% of the equation it is for me tracking as far more important.

to edit I have been crook for quite a while and have forgot that I have two night vision scopes in the 4K Realm and believe you me glass don't mean s*** anymore they crap all over any of the glass that I've ever looked through .

Game over

[jpsauer88]

[/quote]

At my home, with time on my side, tested at a distance, under low light conditions, I had a Leupold, Zeiss Diavari, Swaro Z6, and the Meopta Meostar. The Leupold was not in the race, but no surpise as I did not expect it to be. It was an older scope, and the model is not known. I am sure a high spec Leupold in the same price range would compare well.

As for the others, it is hard to separate the Meostar from the Zeiss or Swarovski. The Meostar has a 30 year warranty. It is a very high quality optic.[/quote]

Agreed! The meostar is a completely different optic to the Opitka series just as the Zeiss Terra is a completely different optic. Differnet glass, coatings, manufacturer etc. Meostars are lovely

[perentie]

Just a thought. No one mentions NightForce. Dont they compare any more?

[allan]

I have a few Meoptas - My "cheap" Chinese Optika 6's compare pretty favorably with my NX8..LOL!

[Mattraff]

Sad if this is the case as the price won't change to reflect the lower production cost.
China is easily capable of producing world class products but they simply make things to the specification they are asked. Chinese factories are among some of the newest and most advanced in the world.

I have 4 Optika5 scopes fitted to rimfires that I bought because they were made in the Czech Republic and were reasonably priced compared to most of the Chinese manufactured big brands. My Meopta scopes were all purchased when the Optika5 were new to the market and were very competitively priced. I would not buy a Meopta now though as they have increased in price to a point where they are not great value. I recently bought a Burris 4.5-14X42 for a Steyr zephyr 22lr and found it way better than the price asked for it.

[jpsauer88]

Sad if this is the case as the price won't change to reflect the lower production cost.
China is easily capable of producing world class products but they simply make things to the specification they are asked. Chinese factories are among some of the newest and most advanced in the world.

I have 4 Optika5 scopes fitted to rimfires that I bought because they were made in the Czech Republic and were reasonably priced compared to most of the Chinese manufactured big brands. My Meopta scopes were all purchased when the Optika5 were new to the market and were very competitively priced. I would not buy a Meopta now though as they have increased in price to a point where they are not great value. I recently bought a Burris 4.5-14X42 for a Steyr zephyr 22lr and found it way better than the price asked for it.

Optika5 are not made in Czech Republic.

[Bugman]

Optika 5 are apparently assembled in the Czech Republic with some parts sourced from Asia.

[Wapiti]

I see from an email from The Barn about "the last European made Meoptas" that they have Optika 5 & 6 on sale at the moment.
From the excellent info from jpsauer88 above, about the secrecy in hiding the manufacturing origin of these models, I see a bit of misinformation from this email ad - probably just because they are fooled as are most of us. Me included.

I've said my bit about Meopta, using the European made examples. They might be good to look through and the glass is reasonable, but no way we will ever use them again because of the clusterf*ck I explained that happened to us from the two examples we had, on the same day.
Australia's climate is harsh, and if they can't take it, we aren't going to risk using them. Especially with the way we were treated by the importer.

[Die Judicii]

Meopta seems to be yet another "once was good" product going down the cheap and nasty gurgler by the sounds of things.
Way back,, Tasco were a good scope, now the T stands for Terrible

I'd like to know what on earth makes the board of directors of these companies that have excellent products with respected names,, make the decision to turn
production over to eg: China and kill the name and the product for time eternity.

In protest, I make a point of refusing to ever buy their product/s which are now sh!t.

[deye243]

Meopta seems to be yet another "once was good" product going down the cheap and nasty gurgler by the sounds of things.
Way back,, Tasco were a good scope, now the T stands for Terrible

I'd like to know what on earth makes the board of directors of these companies that have excellent products with respected names,, make the decision to turn
production over to eg: China and kill the name and the product for time eternity.

In protest, I make a point of refusing to ever buy their product/s which are now sh!t.

Because on the grand scheme of things people who hang out on forums like us and are a little bit educated in these things are in the minority of their customer base the 99% is the one who just walk in and thinks I know this is a good brand I'll buy it or take a sales assistant at their word .

[zbenga]

Jesus whey you guys even bother with Meopta? they were always a s**ty European scope, yes better than china ones but never even remotely close to a Zeiss... ANY Zeiss like the cheapest Zeiss made in Japan vs the top of the range Meopta in the same magnification will beat the Meopta all day long in image quality and everything else.

There is a reason you don't see many Zeiss, Leica etc. for sale, they are good.

When a manufacturer is hiding where their products are made then yeah stop buying it. China scopes aren't bad just don't pay EU prices for it, or even Japan prices for it.

[Wapiti]

Zeiss also have caved and certain optics of theirs are now made in China. Dunno about scopes as an assembled unit right now, but Zeiss is sourcing lenses from China and has been for ages, including lens coatings and bodies. Microscopes, sensors for CNC manufacturing and heaps more optical products. I picked up a pair of Zeiss binos in town at a gunshop in town the other day and they were made in China. still paying for the name though, they felt cheap and lightweight and just under $1K.
So we should give them a miss too now?
Whys that? I do not believe they will ever totally be all Chinese, but then again I didn't think Meopta would either.
I actually think there's way better than Zeiss out there, but everyone has their favourites.

[Wapiti]

Jesus whey you guys even bother with Meopta? they were always a s**ty European scope, yes better than china ones but never even remotely close to a Zeiss... ANY Zeiss like the cheapest Zeiss made in Japan vs the top of the range Meopta in the same magnification will beat the Meopta all day long in image quality and everything else.

There is a reason you don't see many Zeiss, Leica etc. for sale, they are good.

When a manufacturer is hiding where their products are made then yeah stop buying it. China scopes aren't bad just don't pay EU prices for it, or even Japan prices for it.

A mate dropped in with a truckload of lucerne here today and he's just bought one of the Meopta Optika 5 2-10x42 scopes The Barn has on special.
Apparently they've bought out the supplier of the last of the Czech Meoptas and he go this one for $550. He put it on a walk-about 30-06 Rem 700 he's proud of. The old Jap made Tasco it had for 30 years gave up the ghost, crosshairs are jingling around inside of it.
It's a 25mm tube scope so not dumb-heavy, the eyebox is forgiving and gorgeous to look through and I must say, bright as f**k.
It's no secret that I've had my issues with earlier Mepotas and warranties, but looking through this one it is right up there as a great European scope and he's proud as punch having it and he should be too.

[GQshayne]

Jesus whey you guys even bother with Meopta? they were always a s**ty European scope, yes better than china ones but never even remotely close to a Zeiss... ANY Zeiss like the cheapest Zeiss made in Japan vs the top of the range Meopta in the same magnification will beat the Meopta all day long in image quality and everything else.

There is a reason you don't see many Zeiss, Leica etc. for sale, they are good.

When a manufacturer is hiding where their products are made then yeah stop buying it. China scopes aren't bad just don't pay EU prices for it, or even Japan prices for it.

Having had the chance to put my Meostar side by side with a Diavari, and take my time doing tests with them both, I will disagree with your assessment. Hard to pick any difference between them. The owner of the Diavari agreed.

[deye243]

Jesus whey you guys even bother with Meopta? they were always a s**ty European scope, yes better than china ones but never even remotely close to a Zeiss... ANY Zeiss like the cheapest Zeiss made in Japan vs the top of the range Meopta in the same magnification will beat the Meopta all day long in image quality and everything else.

There is a reason you don't see many Zeiss, Leica etc. for sale, they are good.

When a manufacturer is hiding where their products are made then yeah stop buying it. China scopes aren't bad just don't pay EU prices for it, or even Japan prices for it.

Little bit of an over reaction on your part as you're not comparing apples with apples at about a third of the price yeah zeiss is better I actually own a couple and even the Conquest is a better scope at more than double the price of the meopta6 so Jesus has nothing to do with it

[deye243]

Zeiss also have caved and certain optics of theirs are now made in China. Dunno about scopes as an assembled unit right now, but Zeiss is sourcing lenses from China and has been for ages, including lens coatings and bodies. Microscopes, sensors for CNC manufacturing and heaps more optical products. I picked up a pair of Zeiss binos in town at a gunshop in town the other day and they were made in China. still paying for the name though, they felt cheap and lightweight and just under $1K.
So we should give them a miss too now?
Whys that? I do not believe they will ever totally be all Chinese, but then again I didn't think Meopta would either.
I actually think there's way better than Zeiss out there, but everyone has their favourites.

The one thing that a lot of people can't get through their heads is China is quite capable of making top quality products their problem Lies with the companies who get them to manufacture their products they just won't pay for the quality I know a bloke who's a purchasing agent for Kmart and he's told me how the system works and it's quite interesting and an eye opener

[Wapiti]

Yes mate I've worked in China setting up and doing QA on heavy manufacturing, of course they are capable any standards elsewhere in the world.
Thing is, it's the standards we want to pay for and what we are willing to accept. The other thing is the Chinese will cut every corner they can if you turn your back, raw materials being the hardest thing to police. The stories I could tell of Aussies, Frenchies and Brits who ruined their whole working lives being distracted by short skirts whilst critical manufacturing was laughing behind their back.

If I compare my new ZeroTech at $699 to the Meopta 2-10 Optika 5 at $549 my mate is so proud of, there is no comparison. The Czech scope is worth way more because it has both the image and reticle crystal clear and is way brighter, whereas the ZT is absolutely a POS.

[Mattraff]

Jesus whey you guys even bother with Meopta? they were always a s**ty European scope, yes better than china ones but never even remotely close to a Zeiss... ANY Zeiss like the cheapest Zeiss made in Japan vs the top of the range Meopta in the same magnification will beat the Meopta all day long in image quality and everything else.

There is a reason you don't see many Zeiss, Leica etc. for sale, they are good.

When a manufacturer is hiding where their products are made then yeah stop buying it. China scopes aren't bad just don't pay EU prices for it, or even Japan prices for it.

Did you know Meopta made the Zeiss Conquest scopes?
Meopta were once great value. I have 4 Optika5's that I bought when they first come on the market. Back then they were only a little more expensive than than the competition but now at about $800 they are no longer punching above their price point.

[Wapiti]

Check out the prices The Barn has at the moment, both Optika 5 and 6 if anyone has a hole that needs to be filled.
For a Euro 2-10x or a 3-15x for under $600, IMHO buying a Chinese punch-in-the-face scope is crazy. They are nowhere near the quality of this Czech stuff.
Well under what it would cost to get into US VX3HD scopes, which are bombproof working optics.

https://www.thebarn.net.au/categories/Optika+5/21541
https://www.thebarn.net.au/Categories/Optika6/21268