I wouldn't want ro be confined to using 6x30's for everything, but their tremondous field of view, depth of focus, easy of use (particularly in unsteady conditions), image brightness and compact size make them a favorite. The only really good pair I've ever used are the Vortex Viper HD 6x32's. I've noticed a few folks comment that they would like to get a pair of the Vortex's, sadly they have been discontinued (there's probably still some old stock available somewhere).

A few days ago I was looking at 8x30's (always trying to find a pair with decent eye relief - almost impossible!) and I went back to the Maven site. I had previously purchased a pair of the Maven 8x30's and was really impressed with the glass, but found the eye relief too short at 15.1 mm. This trip to Maven's site I noticed they had added a 6x30 model:

http://mavenbuilt.com/binoculars/

The 6x30 Maven B3's also have a generous 18.3mm of eye relief, and are still priced at $500. If I had known these were available I likely would have purchased instead of the Viper HD's (I am still very happy with the Viper HD's.)

Just a heads up for those looking for a 6x30 Roof Prism - As far as I know, the Maven's are the only current model available.

David

Appreciate the 411.
If someone lands a 6x30 Maven, I'd be interested to hear the findings.

Or I'll play guinea pig in the coming months.

Good info David, thx!

I'll stick with my Yosemites for that kind of $$.

Has anyone looked at the Sig Sauer Zulu 8x32? Eurooptic has them at $249. I've not checked anywhere else. Cameraland?

OSU-
No experience with that bino but B&H Photo has it at $189.

Same here. Bought one for my wife, I was very impressed.

I have Yosemites also .great if you wear glasses too.

I think that Sig Zulu is the same thing as the Sightron Big SkyII, but don't hold me to it.

I enjoy my Katmai and Yosemites 6x's.........

There are other 6 and 6.5's that are likely good but no experience to offer.

JGRaider- I had not heard that but I'll dig into it at DSC, SCI and SHOT. I have no knowledge of any of the Sig Sauer optics but have heard good things about them, in general.

Huntingnut, Hugh & 65BR, I have a Yosemite 6x30 that I keep in my FJ Cruiser. Excellent for the price. I bought them when Leupold was running a $25 rebate. Made my total cost around $55 or so. I also use them when at NCAA football games. wide field of view helps.



SKane, thanks for the heads up on B&H.

I had a Maven 6x30 for review. The outstanding differences between th 6xand its 8x sibling are the 6x has 3 diopters total adjustment while the 8x has four. This may impact some eye glass wearers as much as eye relief. Nothing definite can be said about eye glass wearers other than their requirements differ even more than those of non eye glass wearers. So because they may/may not work for one eye glass wearer,don't assume they will work/not work for your particular eye glass prescription. That is not just for a Maven binocular, it is for anything. If you need to crank your diopter adjustment to nearly the full extent of adjustment, the Maven 6x30 might not work. This is due to the need of some redesign to get the eye piece to work with a 4 diopter travel. That would add some to the cost and 6x is likely not to be a real big seller.

With the 6x30, the depth is nearly complete from about 50 feet to infinity. Unless you want to get in really close for some reason, the focus wheel will be rarely used.

The B3 6x30 has a listed fov of 420' @ 1,000 yards. It actually measures 460' and is poke you in the eye, obviously wider than my 6x30 Yosemite. It also has a somewhat better image than the Yosemite, but for the cost, there is still no beating the Yo.

The fov is typically understated by Maven. The feeling seems to be that nobody will complain a lot if they get more than the spec sheet lists. For example the 8x30 is listed at 420 and measures 445. The 9x45 B2 is listed at 376 and measures 404. The 7x45 B2 is listed at 389 and measures 420.

At any rate the Maven B3 6x30 is a very good binocular. I have not had my hands on the Viper equivalent, but I feel the 8x30 is better than the same size Viper.

WTF?


Are you giving an opinion on how well the 6x30's can be used by eye glass wearers when they're not wearing their eyeglasses?


David

An eyeglass wearer, wearing their correct and current prescription eyeglasses, should have a diopter of -0-.

I'm sure there's some extreme example where the best correction in eyeglasses won't yield those results, but in general - yes! The eyeglass wearer should have far less need for diopter adjustment than a non eyeglass wearer. I wear eyeglasses and all my binos are set to zero....

David

I wanted the Yosemite's as well but they proved a bit difficult to locate and in my search I stumbled on the Kowa's. Wife got them for me for Christmas, just opened them up this morning. Naturally this means I haven't got to test them in low light or anything, but my first impressions are very good indeed. I am quite surprised that you can buy bino's this good at this price point. I wanted them specifically for bow hunting, and their small size will be great for that for sure. I'm now thinking I need to buy a couple more to keep in the vehicle's. Its very sunny out today and with fresh snow on the ground is is super bright out there but I went out and did a little testing, gotta say I am really impressed so far. B&H is selling these little Jap bino's for $79, so if your kids drop them or they get lost/stolen they are easily replaced. Anyone looking for a small and light but very clear set of bino's for a great price should check them out.

I've handled them a good bit. Appreciable glass for the price rice. But the ergonomics of them were terrible for me. Maybe some others find them serviceable, but I did not.

Perfect timing - I've been meaning to drop you a PM to see if you'd played with the 6x30 Maven.