BuzzH
Well-known member
Looked through them more today, I'll use them around the house to watch the pronghorn across the street, birds on the feeders, etc.
Maven optics
- Thread starter MuleyMB
- Start date
rjthehunter
Well-known member
I ordered the b6 10x50s recently. I'll report back once they show up. I heard they punch way above their price point. I'll see once I get them. Saw some pretty in depth reviews online on another forum when I was looking for reviews. The reviewer was claiming pretty great things about them when compared to higher end optics, but not quite sworos. Razor HD and UHD was what they were best related to.
SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
I use Maven B.2 11x45 and an RS1 Rangefinder. Both are fantastic.
MinnesotaHunter
Well-known member
I got a demo pair of this same binocular a few years ago. They are always in my center console, and make a great truck binocular when you stumble on something.
Right on, I’ll look forward to your report
The cs1 65mm spotter leaves a lot to be desired. Darkens and is almost worthless at full zoom. Its decent otherwise. Wish it was their B series glass, if that would help at all. No phone scope, at a half mile away, I can count points on some big forked mule deer. At a mile, doubtful. Still helped confirm them vs 10x42 swaro slc I mainly use to glass. Weight penalty for the spotter is still worth it to me but my pack is pretty light overall. Compared to my friends 65mm swaro ats, his is better but not by that much of a price difference. $650 used vs $2k new. I spotted more just by staying on the glass longer than him. Full zoom and early/late is where swaro or similar will win out easily.
2nd pic is closer to 3/4 mile.
2nd pic is closer to 3/4 mile.
Optics are a pretty cool class of products in that generally speaking they correspond almost exclusively with their price. In most any measurable test you will see price to performance correlation. I would expect maven the same in this regard.
rideold
Well-known member
Great optics. I am currently using the B.6 12x50 binos. I carry a light carbon tripod most days and use the binos either on the tripod or by hand. I demoed the B.5 12x56 binos as well. They are great glass too but they are heavier and quite front heavy not to mention a lot larger. For my uses (hand held and on a tripod) the B.6 is pretty perfect. If my B.6's ever get stolen or lost I'll buy another set immediately.
Firehawk54
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2014
- Messages
- 112
I jumped on the Maven bandwagon early on. Ran a B2 9x45 bino for over 6 years and it never left me wanting. I sold my Leica Duovids 8-12x42 in favor of the Maven. I added a C1 8x42 for the kids to use and it is good glass. The C1 is NOT in the same class as their B series binos, but they are priced much lower as well. They seem to compete very well with other binos in that price class. A little narrow on FOV, but better image than the Vortex Viper HD which typically costs significantly more. And I own a CS1 spotter. Spotter is small, has a good image and is easy to pack. Not the same level as a Kowa 55 series for sure, but easily as good or better than my Vortex Razor that was a gen 1 65mm.
Last year, I picked up a Swarovski EL 8.5x42 for such a good deal, I couldn't pass it up. Ending up selling the Maven B2 to help replace the funds used on the Swaro. The ELs are better, but not by the margin one might be led to believe. The B2 is bulkier (but handles well in the hand) and holds its own with the EL. Several friends have (had) the B2 in the 11x45 configuration. Excellent glass, especially behind them on a tripod. The 9x45 has a better depth of field and was overall more comfortable for me to use. I also struggle with seeing my shake with a 10x or higher bino, so I finally settled on the 8-9x as it works better for me. And they are still fantastic on a tripod. One of my buddies sold his 11x45 after getting the newer B1.2 in 10x42. The B1.2 is right there optically, sharp to the edge and excellent view. Kept up with his B2 easily and in a much handier package. I personally liked the glass in the B1.2 and almost bought the 8x42 version, but ended up with those Swaros and stopped looking. I did think that the B1.2 10x42 was critical in the eye placement arena. My buddy didn't notice that, but I did. I have read so many excellent reviews on both the B1.2 in 8x and the B6 10x50 that I tend to think that those sizes are their sweetspot.
I also owned an 8x30 B3 bino for a while. Much preferred the view through them to the C1 8x42. They are AWESOME! But I was cash poor and optics rich, so I sold them to fund other projects. I am still shocked at how good they were on a tripod. And they were so light and "dainty".
Maven as a company has been terrific. I asked a lot of questions and they were always so fast to respond and help. After making a really stupid mistake with my B2 9x45, I had to send them in to get fixed. Not only were they fixed perfectly, they cleaned the lenses internally and made sure the armoring was perfect. Same serial number, or I would have thought that they just replaced them. And, they sent me a demo B2 9x45 to use during the remainder of my season while my bino was being repaired (they had to be sent to their facility in California to fix them, took about 3 weeks). Great folks, great product and they stand behind them.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
FH
Last year, I picked up a Swarovski EL 8.5x42 for such a good deal, I couldn't pass it up. Ending up selling the Maven B2 to help replace the funds used on the Swaro. The ELs are better, but not by the margin one might be led to believe. The B2 is bulkier (but handles well in the hand) and holds its own with the EL. Several friends have (had) the B2 in the 11x45 configuration. Excellent glass, especially behind them on a tripod. The 9x45 has a better depth of field and was overall more comfortable for me to use. I also struggle with seeing my shake with a 10x or higher bino, so I finally settled on the 8-9x as it works better for me. And they are still fantastic on a tripod. One of my buddies sold his 11x45 after getting the newer B1.2 in 10x42. The B1.2 is right there optically, sharp to the edge and excellent view. Kept up with his B2 easily and in a much handier package. I personally liked the glass in the B1.2 and almost bought the 8x42 version, but ended up with those Swaros and stopped looking. I did think that the B1.2 10x42 was critical in the eye placement arena. My buddy didn't notice that, but I did. I have read so many excellent reviews on both the B1.2 in 8x and the B6 10x50 that I tend to think that those sizes are their sweetspot.
I also owned an 8x30 B3 bino for a while. Much preferred the view through them to the C1 8x42. They are AWESOME! But I was cash poor and optics rich, so I sold them to fund other projects. I am still shocked at how good they were on a tripod. And they were so light and "dainty".
Maven as a company has been terrific. I asked a lot of questions and they were always so fast to respond and help. After making a really stupid mistake with my B2 9x45, I had to send them in to get fixed. Not only were they fixed perfectly, they cleaned the lenses internally and made sure the armoring was perfect. Same serial number, or I would have thought that they just replaced them. And, they sent me a demo B2 9x45 to use during the remainder of my season while my bino was being repaired (they had to be sent to their facility in California to fix them, took about 3 weeks). Great folks, great product and they stand behind them.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
FH
802flyfish
Well-known member
Have the binos and spotter. Can’t beat the quality for the price.
After taking this scope through the paces, I fell in love with the Maven RS5 4-24×50 rifle scope. You get one of the best values I've seen in a rifle scope with incredible image quality, build quality, fantastic zero stop, great eye relief, top notch turrets, and super smooth mechanisms.Just wondering those that have used maven optics what was your experience and thoughts ? I’m thinking on some at the moment and just wondering what others think on the products. Good bad or ugly
Have the same thing, love em!
Sdolan617
Member
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2018
- Messages
- 96
I currently own the B5 15x56s and have demo'd other B-series binos and have nothing but good things to say. I think they're entire lineup punches way above their price point. I've also owned the C1 10X42 and the CS.1A 15-45X65 spotter in the past and while I think they both perform well for their price, I think its definitely worth the money to upgrade to their higher end B-series offerings. FWIW I've also done a side by side with a friends Razor (Non-UHDs) and for my eyes preferred the Mavens.
How far can you actually zoom before the image takes a crap?
I was intrigued by this thing because of the weight and price point, but figure I’d probably be disappointed with it in the field if the image sucks once it’s zoomed past the halfway mark.
Can’t imagine dropping $1500 on the Kowa counterpart, but maybe ought to start saving my pennies.
Hard to say exactly how far it can zoom without taking a crap. But its more than 50%, probably good til 80%. Those pics i shared were backed off a little from full zoom til it was clear. In bright light, full zoom is useable. The blurry first image is from free handing.
My choice was the cs1 maven spotter or athlon ares which has great reviews for its price point too. Im happy with it for what it is. I just couldnt afford alpha glass at the time and the maven spotter has paid off in the meantime. Transferable lifetime warranty gives me confidence i can resell to upgrade to alpha which is the plan in a few years.
EastCoast94
Member
I have the Maven C1’s 8x42 binos and really like them. They are super clear and are great in the early mornings and at dusk. Sometimes I wish I had the 10x42s tho
Rzrbck918
Well-known member
I have a pair of the B2 11x45. I bought them through a discount site and so I got them in the low 600s. They are unbelievable at that price. They are a reasonable deal at retail. I think they are solid binos and do very well early and late for the magnification. The 9s are definitely better but there are some technical reasons for that. Id buy them again if I were looking for a good midpriced set of binoculars.
rjthehunter
Well-known member
I finally got around to trying out my B6 10x50s I ordered. So far they're great. A good step up from the Vortex Diamondback HD's I have. I might bring them in to Scheels and compare them to some Sworos and see how big the difference really is. So far theses are pretty great.
rewildgear
New member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2020
- Messages
- 1
I have the Maven B1 and love them. Got rid of my higher end Zeiss because the Maven's were clearer. Definitely recommend.
