Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Maven Binoculars

Bought a pair of their 8x30's. Haven't done any fancy chart tests or anything of that sort, but they look very nice to my eyes. Hang with my Zeiss Conquest 8x40 T* ABK whilst being much lighter and compact-er (grin). Was able to see the same three whitetail bucks with both binoculars at around 700 yards until well past what I would consider shooting light.

Just a heads up as I haven't heard much about these binos anywhere.

I have the Maven B1 10x45, the B2 9x45, and the B3 8x30. They are superior binoculars, well worth a look. A combo of the small B3 and either one of the B1 or B2, I prefer the B2, will do whatever needs to be done with handheld binoculars. I currently have the Swarovision 10x50 and recently went through the 10x42 SLC-HD, and the SV in 8.5 and 10x42. So it is not like I had nothing to compare them to.

Steve, did you post your findings on you review of the three Swarovski binoculars and the Maven?

Thanks

Therebe a review in AMERICAN HUNTER soon, thanks in part to Steve, who turned me onto the Mavens. Good stuff!

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=310659
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=311367

Nobody will either believe this or will want to believe this, but the short story is that Swarovski makes nothing that will chase any of the Mavens off the stage. I am NOT saying the Maven is better than the Swarovski, or is equal to the Swarovski. The Maven is not a Swarovski, but believe this or not, the Swarovski is not a Maven either. They are different, superior binoculars with different strengths and different weaknesses. Some people will prefer one or all of the Mavens, the Swaro will not be a unanimous choice. Yes, the Mavens are that good. Good enough to not be embarrassed by an alpha competitor. The B2 has a listed overall light transmission of 94%, the B3 at 95%. The only other glass I know of right off the top of my head that is in that range is the Zeiss Victory HT at 95%, which like the B2 is an Abbe-Koening prism design. The Maven are built by Kamakura in Japan with some assembly and the Maven customization done at Kama Tec in San Diego. All Maven binoculars are inspected before they are shipped.

The SV EL 10x50 is for sale. I should have stuck with the SLC-HD 10x42. The rolling ball issues with Swarovision technology are an insurmountable obstacle for me. Next stop is a Zeiss HT.

John,

Glad to see you followed through after our phone conversation.

Two big thumbs for the little B3 8x30. I have had mine for since last February and I have nothing but positive things to say about it. It compares very favorably with bins that cost $1000+. In fact the only similarly configured bin that I thought bettered it slightly was the Leica Ultravid HD 8x32..and then only in the size of the sweetspot.

I did a review for them and posted it here last spring.....

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...ch/true/Maven_B3_8x30_review#Post9696653

I wish they had better eye relief. 15mm is a non starter for use w/ glasses.

David

The eye cup assemblies on all three Maven binoculars unscrew, making it a minor task to use an 0-ring to extend the eye cups 2-3 mm.

I fail to understand how extending the eyecups is going to help short eye relief? That seems like it would only make the problem worse.

David

You are right, forgive my senior moment .

I got to thinking about extending eye relief for relief of blackouts, and answered for an unasked question.

However, if you do remove the eye cups, you will be able to get the thickness of the eye cup closer to the ocular lenses, which may make the difference. I don't wear glasses except reading glasses and all three of the Maven models show me full fov with them in place, your mileage may well be different of course.

Appreciate the follow-up Steve. Short eye relief seems to be common in the 8x30 class, but the Maven's seem worse than several competitive brands. The $500 price tag is attractive, but useless if they won't work w/ my eyeglasses in the field.

I'm interested in the 8x42's also. The mavens do have good eye relief in this size but the price doubles from the 8x30's. At the 8x42 price point it's hard for me to risk the unknown of the Mavens vs a comparably priced pair of Conquest HD's.

Comments?

Thanks,

David

Is the 8x42 really pushing 30oz? IF so it is a deal breaker. The 8x30 has me thinking though.

Yes, Maven is a new and relatively unknown firm. However Kamakura is the source for the Maven as well as the Conquest HD. The Conquest is only assembled in Germany, not made there. Zeiss design and QC influence, but Zeiss likely went with Kamakura because they did not have to do much to get what they needed for the Conquest. So you do have the choice of established history vs a new enterprise, with optics from the same source. While the Conquest is priced about the same, it is IMHO not quite with the B1. Close enough to make little to no practical difference. So if you feel the need for the Zeiss logo, the Conquest HD is a heck of a glass.

As far as I can see the B1 and B3 are pretty much two sizes of the same glass. The B3 went with a polymer frame to avoid the cost of a new Mg alloy frame, the big reason for the price difference. There is no price difference apparent in quality of the binocular or the view. The B3 will likely amaze people at how bright it is in low light. It hangs with 8x42's far better than I ever thought was possible.

Steve,

I appreciate the comments. The Zeiss logo does carry some weight with me, particularly in this price segment. In this day and age where brand loyalty often seems misplaced Zeiss continues to earn its name. I'm not saying they are ALWAYS the best choice in this price range, but in review after review it seems they are the gold standard to which others are compared.

I started looking for another pair of binoculars almost a year ago and have been paralyzed with the choices. The Meoptapr 8x42HD is another binocular that I'm interested in, and again limited reviews from actual users keeps me going back to the Zeiss.

Regards,

David

With your eye relief issue, both the Meopta HD and the Conquest HD are try before you buy. There are actually quite a lot of complaints on most forums about the eye relief not being right and eye placement being finicky on both of those binoculars. Mostly they seem to be with blackouts from lack of enough extension from the eye cups.

Steve,

Again I fail to understand how the problems you relate apply to me. Lack of extension from eye cups is a problem for people that don't wear glasses. I've yet to see a case where excessive eye relief was a problem for people that wear glasses.

Conversely, I have seen a reciew of the B2 Mavens that indicated they don't have the advertised eye relief. Again, not a problem if you don't wear glasses, major aggravation if you do.

Regards,

David

and that just sold me a set of 9x45 B2s...

That's the model I reviewed in AH. I suspect you'll like it!

Eye relief is set by the parameters of the design. If a binocular has a measured eye relief of 17.3 mm, that is what it is. The reviewer may not have realized that. What he was talking about was effective, or usable eye relief. Just because the design of a binocular gives it, say, 17.3 mm, that does not mean that that is all usable or effective. Usable eye relief matters both with users who need the eye cups screwed down and for users with the eye cups screwed out. The primary driver of the amount of usable eye relief is the eye cup design. The next thing is how far the eye cups will extend...this one does not apply to you. However the eye cup design does affect you. If the eye cup is a thick rolled over the top of the eye piece design, it may create a dead zone of as much as 5 mm. That is 5mm your glasses are held away from the ocular lens, and that may kill the deal for your use, regardless of what the optical eye relief is, or how good the binocular is. You will not be able to get close enough to the ocular with your eye glasses. Another factor is the design of your glasses regarding how flat or how curved your eye glass lenses are. The design of your eye glasses may well affect how close you can get the oculars to the lens. Just because you screw the eye cup down does not mean it has no effect for your use.

When a good binocular shows up with some eye relief issues, and some of the Conquest HD issues are with eye glass wearers, I happen to think that is something that really means you need to try before you buy.

Steve,

Again, I appreciate the response. I have not tried the Meopta's myself, but the Conquest worked great for me. There is a Cabelas not too far from here. Maybe I should purchase the Maven 8x42 and drive to the Cabelas and compare. Seems like I remeber that Maven would allow you to return a stock pair within two weeks if you didn't like them.

David