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I've heard good things about Maven Optics. What do you know about Maven Optics? Good or bad scopes and binoculars.
Does anyone have them?

Wont be here in 5 years

Good to know--but would love top hear your inside info.

You have info stating other wise?


Another newer company with not much of a track record. High priced optics with lots of known competition

Just a guess on the 5 years, but there are better options

They've already been around for more than five years, and keep introducing new products. Which indicates to me that they might be making money, so might be around for another five.

Maybe as long as Brunton?

Brunton optics didn't last long, because they were vastly over-priced for the quality. Maven optics are not.

They are introducing cheaper optics, trying to compete in a tough market

Several have gone out of business in the last few years. Zen-ray and Alpen are two that come to mind.

Will be more to follow, Its a tough market

338rcm,

Depends on what you mean by "cheaper optics." If you mean price, you're right. If you mean quality, you're wrong.

Maven has been following the the direct-to-customer via the Internet marketing plan followed by several optics companies lately, including SWFA, Tract and GPO. The traditional plan involves several layers of folks who each have to take their cut, including distributors, company sales reps (who talk retailers into carrying the products), and retail catalogs and brick-and-mortar stores.. Instead they cut out the cost of each of those layers, which allows them to sell very good products for lower prices.

Brunton tried to market their optics the old-fashioned way, relying on their name and jacked-up prices to attract customers. It didn't work.

GPO, Maven, SWFA and Tract offer better optics for lower prices, by cutting out the middlemen. Whether or not this works in the long run is another question, because more and more companies are going to be following that same plan.

Have you ever had a chance to really try Brunton, GPO, Maven, SWFA and Tract optics, comparing them directly to other "established" optics? I have, including both Brunton binoculars and scopes. Both sucked, and REALLY sucked for the price.

The others don't, and in fact are all very good values. Along with Maven, GPO, SWFA and Tract have all been around several years now, and (once again) are introducing new products, which indicates they're doing more than OK, even in today's highly competitive market.

If you have "insider" information that they're failing, please share it.

I have a RS2... the 2x10x38 with the SHR reticle. I’ve used it 1 season hunting elk and this is my take on the scope. The finish is very nice, a very attractive and trim scope. The adjustments are crisp and dead on. The crosshairs easy to see at dawn and dusk. The optic clarity as good as any scope I’ve used to include the Leupold vx6, vx5 and vortex razor LH. The only thing I don’t like about it is the short eye relief when mounted on my model 70 post 64 FWT Long action(Talley LW rings)...I have to “crawl” a bit on the stock to get the full pic with
cold wx clothing worn. LOP is 13.5”. I think it will work a bit better on a my SA’s.

I hope their around another 5 yrs because they are damn fine scopes for the $$. BTW, I spoke with their CS and expressed my concerns with the eye relief and they suggested a “ soft “ mount to see if it would work for me or return it as new. Good guys to work with.

Price and quality go hand in hand.

I've had more Brunton binos than I care to admit. You say they were over priced. I say they were to heavy

Reminds me of the Zen Ray plan that a lot of you jumped on

As I said, 5 years was a guess , lets see what happens

Price and quality in optics have not been "hand in hand" for many years now.

The Brunton roof-prism 10x40 binocular priced at $1500 was NOT "too heavy." Instead it was optically a POS, especially when compared to the Zen Rays that appeared a little later for a third the price. (In fact, the Brunton was a POS compared to many binoculars selling for the same price, or even less, from companies like Bausch & Lomb and Swarovski, I don't know who Brunton thought they were trying to fool.

In fact, the top Zen Ray beat out at least one famous brand of Euro-binocular that cost twice as much. I know this not just from my personal experience with both, but because I went on a bear hunt in Alaska in 2009, where my guide had just bought a 10x40 offered by a famous Euro-brand for $1100, and my Zen Ray 10x40 was noticeably better at half the price. He was pretty disconsolate until I have him the Zen-Ray as a tip.

The reason Zen-Ray failed was not because their binoculars weren't good. Instead, the guy who started the company did not have the money to promote them enough--and when companies with more money saw how well Zen-Rays worked (and sold), they went to the same factory and essentially bought the same product, and could afford to promote it better.

Yes, there is going to be more shake-out in the optics industry, because it's too crowded. But companies like GPO, Maven, SWFA and Tract will not fail because they're offering inferior-quality optics.

Can you show me were I said they will fail because they are offering inferior optics
??

That is exactly what you heavily implied when you just posted "Price and quality go hand in hand."

Sorry to put it bluntly, but this would be a much more interesting thread if you knew what you were talking about.

Lets give it 5 years and see

We have 3 pairs of Mavens. I particularly like my 10x42 set. Have used them going on 3 years now they have performed very well.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the guys that started Maven the same guys that were in charge of optics at Brunton (I believe I heard it from them on a podcast).

So maybe ask Maven, why Brunton sucked?

Maven's business is only 50 miles from me. I really should go visit them and see what I think of how they interact. Their optics are quite highly priced and so they do not have a lot of a "local following" around here. As a full time gunsmith I see LOTS of guns from the locals and in all the years I have been here, I have yet to see one Maven on a rifle. I have spoken to about 60-65 shooters and hunters when Maven's name has come up, but so far everyone is saying the same thing to me They want to wait and see how it all works out and let someone else spend their wad of money on them, and let them be the "guinea pigs".
A good friend of ours did buy one of their spotting scopes and he likes it, but he only got it 3 months ago so the jury is still out on it as of now. He got a "really good deal" on it at a reduced price, but that reduced price was still quite high. He told me what he paid and I remember is made me think "That's reduced?"

I did some work on 3 of the rifles he, his wife and his daughter own. We were at my range shooting them and he had the spotting scope out. It was nice, but I can't say it was nicer in any way that I could tell then other scopes that shooters have had here which cost 1/4 as much. But looking through a scope under perfect conditions at only 200 yards is not any kind of real test, so I am willing to say it is possible the Maven will end up being worth more then the Leupolds, Baush and Lombs ,Bushnells, Redfielfs, Burris's Vortex's--- and so many others I see here all the time in the hands of all my friends and customers. I'll have to wait and see.

I am actually watching this pretty close because I have an old Bushnell I got from my Dad as a Christmas Present in 1972, and it's eye piece is now wobbling and the scope has somehow gotten a bit "dusty" looking on the inside. So I may soon be in the market for a new spotting scope.

Anyway, ...........time will tell