Does anyone happen to know? From what I can gather, it seems like the MZAPO might be the first Leica re-packaging of the Wild M10 following the acquisition (beyond the period where they just printed "Leica" on the Wild scopes). The MZAPO and M10 specs seem pretty much the same.
I've been coveting an M10, but just found and acquired an MZAPO in mint condition. It is a very noticeable step up from my Wild M8.
Are Wild M10 and Leica MZAPO the same scope?
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atariwarrior
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I've worked with an M10 for over 20 years for my job. I just this past month acquired one on EBay for $688 from Singapore for my personal home use after a year of searching for one. It's an awesome scope. It came with a transmitted light base and I am looking for the Leica Wild hardware to mount to it on a boom stand.
The Leica marketing literature that I've seen on the MZAPO states that it is a 10:1 stereo zoom (like the M10) and uses M65 (65mm) connection threads on its objectives (like the M10). In those respects, they are similar. I have not used one.
In terms of construction, the M10 has a metal housing and metal components on the interior. After the M10, subsequent Leica microscopes have plastic housings, and some plastic gears on the inside. These plastic components are less durable and have been known to fracture after a shorter amount of use than the M10 and its predecessors. One of the gears on one of our MZ16s at work had a plastic gear break and we lost the ability to zoom in and out. It cost us about $2k to have someone come in and replace the set of gears because they would not sell just the gear that broke.
We have two MZ16s at work. They may be similar in performance to your MZAPO. They work very well but I still find myself using the M10.
I also have a Wild M8 at home. It's a very good scope but there are no plan apo objectives for it.
Which objectives will you be using with the MZAPO?
The Leica marketing literature that I've seen on the MZAPO states that it is a 10:1 stereo zoom (like the M10) and uses M65 (65mm) connection threads on its objectives (like the M10). In those respects, they are similar. I have not used one.
In terms of construction, the M10 has a metal housing and metal components on the interior. After the M10, subsequent Leica microscopes have plastic housings, and some plastic gears on the inside. These plastic components are less durable and have been known to fracture after a shorter amount of use than the M10 and its predecessors. One of the gears on one of our MZ16s at work had a plastic gear break and we lost the ability to zoom in and out. It cost us about $2k to have someone come in and replace the set of gears because they would not sell just the gear that broke.
We have two MZ16s at work. They may be similar in performance to your MZAPO. They work very well but I still find myself using the M10.
I also have a Wild M8 at home. It's a very good scope but there are no plan apo objectives for it.
Which objectives will you be using with the MZAPO?