The Maven B2 9x45 arrived last night in the midst of a howling storm. Initial impressions were, it's big (actually tall or long), it's heavy, and what's with the orange trim? The fit and finish are excellent with the exception of the objective covers. No serious viewing was possible last night, but I could tell that the focus was relatively quick and very precise with no slop and no "tight spots" through the range of focus. There was a bit more resistance to the focus than I am used to, but it isn't a problem.
The ergonomics were a bit of a mixed bag for me. The eyepieces with cups are a bit large to completely fit in my eye sockets at the proper IPD, but I can get the IPD correct and the eyecups go far enough beyond the bridge of my nose that I can comfortably see the entire field of view. OTH, the balance of the binocular is excellent, and they are relatively easy to hold steady. At almost double the weight of the Sightron 8x32 I do notice that they are heavier. I wore them on a RYO ultralight harness for a couple hours just to see how they carried. Again, while I notice their weight more than the Sightron, the harness does a good job of distributing the weight and there was no discomfort. I'm not sure I would like them around my neck on a strap for several hours. I like the tactile feel of the rubber covering and the binoculars feel good in hand. It took a bit to find the hand placement that worked best for me. Initially I was gripping closer to the objective, the way I find works best for my heavy Fujinon 7x50 Marine binoculars. This is fine for an individual focus binocular. Luckily the balance point of the Maven is further back toward the hinge and I ended up with a couple fingers behind the hinge and a couple finger on the hinge. Limited viewing last night showed that the field of view of the Maven was similar to the Sightron, ~7.5 degrees. Also, the Maven showed absolutely no stray light with a street light just outside the field of view. So last night my impression was that the mechanics were superior, but did I really want to pay $1K for a higher quality binocular that might be heavier than I want to carry around?
This morning the storm had broken and it was clear but windy. The ocean was relatively wild and the tide was high so waves were regularly breaking over the barriers of the channel. I took a look through the Maven and I was quite literally stunned. The depth of texture in the surface of the ocean made it look like a raging wall of water. The spray of the waves over the rocks at the edge of the channel showed a spectrum of whites. I don't know how to dissect the view into brightness, contrast, sharpness, 3D, because it wasn't some sort of technical test, but it was a Wow! experience. I went back and forth between the Sightron and Maven, and I was seeing all the same things, but the experience was quite different. In all fairness, it was 8x32 vs 9x45 and <$200 vs. $1,000+, but the Maven transported me into the scene while the Sightron gave me a clear comfortable view. So, yes I can see the difference. I am still a bit concerned about the weight, but the 9x vs. 8x doesn't seem like enough of a difference to greatly improve imagine scale or make it much harder to hold steady. My sense is that increase in scale might help me detect a feature, but inability to hold it steady might make it difficult to see much more detail. I think that factors other than difference in magnification dominate. In fact, I think it's likely that the difference in aperture was not a critical feature either given how bright it was.
More when I get some clear skies for night viewing and some in the field birding experience.
Alan
