My new Maven 9x45 (1 Viewer)

First ever post so go easy. Courting popular opinion for a issue wih the lenses. Ive just noticed contaminant on the inside of one of the objective lenses (speck of dust about size of pin head). I don't notice it when viewing through them. But I'm in Australia and they'd have to go back to the States prob couple of week turn around. More p*ssed off that they are a lot of money and for this price was not expecting that from a QC perspective. Send or keep ?

Thanks in advance

Stu.

Clark:

Welcome to Birdforum.

You are right to complain about the issue. I do realize you took a chance on ordering, and
here is what I would do.

Contact Maven, and they can email you a prepaid label that you can place on the box, and
send it back.

It is up to you, if you want to replace or return. I have not tried a Maven, but most reviews are
good.

There are lots of great choices in the midrange, and if they are selling to your country, they should
back it with proper service.

I hope this helps, and please post your experience with Maven, and how they handle the issue.

Jerry

Clarky007 said:

First ever post so go easy. Courting popular opinion for a issue wih the lenses. Ive just noticed contaminant on the inside of one of the objective lenses (speck of dust about size of pin head). I don't notice it when viewing through them. But I'm in Australia and they'd have to go back to the States prob couple of week turn around. More p*ssed off that they are a lot of money and for this price was not expecting that from a QC perspective. Send or keep ?

Thanks in advance

Stu.

Click to expand...

Keep them for awhile and check the view, which is ALL that matters.

I have a $700 scope lens with specks even after a cleaning (round trip coast to coast and a month's time lost). The lens is SO good I just ignore them with a touch of the focus. I also have a 13-year old Leica Ultravid with many speckles seen only from the objective...the view from the eyepiece is superb. Then there's the dust inside an 8X32 SE that delivers outstanding views.

Hey Stu, welcome to BF and congrats on the 9x45 Maven.

Specks inside the bin is one of my pet hates, so I may be biased, but you just shouldn't get that with a thousand dollar instrument!

I would contact them and have a conversation with them so that they are fully informed (I'm sure they would be very interested and disappointed in the situation too) and arrange to send it back. They would probably send a replacement rather than go through the extra time frame of repairing your particular unit. As Jerry said, they will probably cover shipping, but confirm it.

With a new unit (I'm sure they will personally inspect to make sure there are no specks inside you of course run the minor risk of some unit to unit variability, but at 1K this should be negligible.

I think the psychological annoyance of an imperfect unit at that price, and the potential for future problems down the track with your unit (possible glare issues, or further specks forming if flaking off something internally, or fungal growths forming if the sealing is less than perfect, etc) outweigh any slight change in feel of a new unit .....

So you are possibly talking potential for the issue to worsen, or ..... nothing may come of it. If you are famously happy with the rest of the bin, focus feel and tolerances etc, glare performance of the bin, and can see no ill effects in the view caused by or of the speck - colour fringing or other weird effects due to the speck, then you may decide to just keep it. Make sure you thoroughly talk to and inform Maven of the options (send photos etc) -- they may be happy for you to sit on it for now, and send it back later if anything further negative develops.

Ask them if this is a common occurrence (what % of bins are affected), they may want to inspect a random sample of n=30 bins, and take other quality assurance measures, contact their Japanese suppliers etc (something like this is the way most quality assured businesses would operate). So I'm thinking that they would be very interested to get your unit back.

Talk to them, and talk to them some more. Good luck.



Chosun :gh:

Contacting the source first is always the best initial option. Always give the seller a chance before hitting the Internet forums. Specks of dust are something that can't always be avoided no matter the cost of the binocular. The speck is a non issue unless it bothers the view. If it bothers you because it is simply there, that is another issue completely and service is required.

I'd recommend you call and talk to Brendon.

I appreciate everyone's thoughts. My initial post was to seek 'expert' opinion on realistic expectations for this price bracket, as my last pair of binoculars that I actually put up to my eyes was over 30 years ago. And I certainly don't have a reference for the improvements that have occurred during this period. Maven have kindly offered to inspect and rebuild if I choose. If I do send them I'll update the post with the outcome.

Stu.