Rating: 
Summary: JEEPERS, CREEPERS--REALLY GREAT PEEPERS!!
Review: The Meade Safari Pro 8x42WA is the finest binocular I've ever used. Having begged, borrowed, or owned well over two dozen binoculars in my life, I feel I can make a fair assessment of these things. Granted, most of the glasses I've used in the past were somewhat entry-level (el cheapo) models. Perhaps that's all the more reason for my enthusiasm over the Safari Pros. While I'm certainly no authority in this area, I strongly suspect that the BaK-4 prisms have a lot to do with the clarity experienced. Add to that the comfortable feel of the rubber armour coating, the short focus distance, the long eye relief, the ratio of magnification to lens diameter, and you wind up with one of the best values in sports optics on the market today. The only thing that I can see lacking is, they're not nitrogen filled; but for the price tag, that's to be expected. Until the day I'm able to move up to the Leica/Swarovski class, these Meades will fill the bill quite nicely. Oh yeah, one other thing! Everything we've heard or read about the cheesy neck strap connectors is true, but this was so easy to overcome that it hardly seems worth mentioning (so I won't). Still worth 5 stars in my book.
Rating:
Summary: JEEPERS, CREEPERS--REALLY GREAT PEEPERS!!
Review: The Meade Safari Pro 8x42WA is the finest binocular I've ever used. Having begged, borrowed, or owned well over two dozen binoculars in my life, I feel I can make a fair assessment of these things. Granted, most of the glasses I've used in the past were somewhat entry-level (el cheapo) models. Perhaps that's all the more reason for my enthusiasm over the Safari Pros. While I'm certainly no authority in this area, I strongly suspect that the BaK-4 prisms have a lot to do with the clarity experienced. Add to that the comfortable feel of the rubber armour coating, the short focus distance, the long eye relief, the ratio of magnification to lens diameter, and you wind up with one of the best values in sports optics on the market today. The only thing that I can see lacking is, they're not nitrogen filled; but for the price tag, that's to be expected. Until the day I'm able to move up to the Leica/Swarovski class, these Meades will fill the bill quite nicely. Oh yeah, one other thing! Everything we've heard or read about the cheesy neck strap connectors is true, but this was so easy to overcome that it hardly seems worth mentioning (so I won't). Still worth 5 stars in my book.
Rating:
Summary: Safari Pro 8X42
Review: This pair of Binoculars delivered as offered. On a recent trip to the Lake Tahoe region of Nevada I used the Safari Pro by Meade to do some Bird Watching and spent a good Hour watching an Osprey feeding in Spooner Lake. I did not suffer any eye fatigue and I was wearing Sun glasses with out any interference. Just a great Binoc. also gave a wide view of the entire Spooner Lake.
Rating: 
Summary: Neck strap loops: acceptable design but very poor quality
Review: With all the nice features that come with that binoculars, the most disappointing is the poor quality of two attaching loops and rivets that you use to tie the neck strap to the unit. They are thin and plastic! One rivet broke even before I carefully attempeted to close the loop. What if it broke while having the binocular hanging on the neck? The manufacturer states they don't cover the "abuse" or "mishandling", which sliding off the neck and dropping the unit on the ground would fall into those terms. For few bucks more the leather loops and metal rivets would do just fine. But anyway, since I liked the unit itself very much I decided to keep it and made my own attaching loops.
Rating:
Summary: Really nice binoculars
Review: You can buy binoculars for $20 or for $2,000+. It's amazing the range of prices and quality. As such, it's important not to compare apples and oranges when rating a particular pair.I have never used expensive binoculars. I have only used basic consumer grade binocs. The kind that your grandpa throws in the back of the truck on hunting trips. Furthermore, I wasn't looking for a pair that allow me to count the feathers on a bird from 400 yards. I was looking for a pair of all-purpose binocs that I could view birds in my yard, look at the hills, take camping, and take hunting. These binocs are great. Very clear -- much criper than anything I've ever used. Great wide view -- really makes a differnce in trying to locate objects. The close view focus of 10' means I can get extremely close to objects and still magnify. The strap is weak, as mentioned. But it's no big deal. The case is also sort of weak. Remember, this is marketed as a ~$180 pair of binocs (check around on the web, that's what others sell for) -- Amazon's price makes this a steal. This is clearly the best value on the market. This is a premium set of binocs at a casual/consumer price.
Rating:
Summary: Great Binocs
Review: You can buy binoculars for $20 or for $2,000+. It's amazing the range of prices and quality. As such, it's important not to compare apples and oranges when rating a particular pair. I have never used expensive binoculars. I have only used basic consumer grade binocs. The kind that your grandpa throws in the back of the truck on hunting trips. Furthermore, I wasn't looking for a pair that allow me to count the feathers on a bird from 400 yards. I was looking for a pair of all-purpose binocs that I could view birds in my yard, look at the hills, take camping, and take hunting. These binocs are great. Very clear -- much criper than anything I've ever used. Great wide view -- really makes a differnce in trying to locate objects. The close view focus of 10' means I can get extremely close to objects and still magnify. The strap is weak, as mentioned. But it's no big deal. The case is also sort of weak. Remember, this is marketed as a ~$180 pair of binocs (check around on the web, that's what others sell for) -- Amazon's price makes this a steal. This is clearly the best value on the market. This is a premium set of binocs at a casual/consumer price.
| 
