mfunnell
Registered Confuser
I recently acquired a set of Maven B.3 6x30 binoculars and thought I should provide my impressions.
Before I get started I'll note a few points:
...Mike
Before I get started I'll note a few points:
- I have other, very nice, compact bins with higher magnification, so with these I was specifically interested in lower magnification. This was intended for comfort of veiw and ease of eye position through a large exit pupil and for a broad depth of field (also, I wanted as wide a field of view as possible and that should be so with a lower-mag bin, all else being equal).
- The primary, if not only, use I have for such lower-mag bins is when photographing birds in close country (something I do in the bushland along the creek opposite me). High magnification doesn't matter much in these circumstances (I have a big long stabilised lens for close-up views) - what does matter is the ability to scan along and through trees and bushes looking for birds (especially the small, fast-moving ones). I need them to work well with glasses - I want to switch more-or-less seamlessly between broad scan by eyeball, closer scan with bins, then up-close and personal through camera and long lens. I don't need to be messing with glasses-on/glasses-off in the middle of all that. I also like that the large exit pupil means that eye position with glasses isn't so critical, aiding ease of use.
- I need compact and light-weight for this - my camera gear is big and heavy enough.
- Specs for all Maven's bins are here (scroll down). They seem to have a few, um, infelicities and innacuracies - but they also do seem to be getting better as Maven updates them.
- Good apparent sharpness on centre extending to about 80% of the (wide) field of view. The drop-off from there is gradual, not distracting, and seems mostly due to field curvature in that it can be focused out.
- Their real field of view is very wide. I'd guesstimated it at about 150m@1km, while Maven's (now updated) spec sheet says 446ft@1000yards - which seems close enough to my guess. I've no reason to doubt Maven's (new) figure. The apparent field of view is not so expansive - which isn't surprising in a 6x binocular. I never get the feeling of tunnel-vision, though - perhaps because the real field is so large.
- Their apparent balance between wide field and slight pin-cushion distortion works well, giving me not a hint of the "rolling-ball" effect when scanning nor making the pin-chushion distortion appear obvious (unless specifically looking for it at the outer edges of the field against some straight object).
- As expected for 6x bins, their depth of field is wide. That makes for easy scanning without too much need to re-focus (especially as my eyes have good focus accomodation).
- Their small size and weight - they are small and light enough to sling around my neck or pack in my camera bag without any inconvenience.
- Good contrast and saturation, giving the impression of good clarity of view.
- Chromatic aberration is low on centre, changing to moderate further out - but not distractingly so. Do note that I’m not especially sensitive to CA, so others’ experience may differ. Still, these seem better than most for CA control - something I confirmed comparing with some of my other bins against my standard "torture test target" for CA assessment.
- They are quite comfortable to hold, with plenty of ‘real estate’ to grip and no feel that they’re ‘fiddly’ despite their quite compact size.
- The objective covers and rain guard are simple, fit well, and are functional and secure.
- Decent flare control. Neither the best nor worst of my bins. Flare is seldom distracting.
- Close-focus seems decent enough, and seems to match the specified 8.2ft. Without glasses I can focus closer (about 5ft) but that's down to my nearsightedness - and consistent with the way things work for me with other bins.
- Solid-seeming construction, giving an impression of ruggedness (I guess only time will tell how justified this impression is). The rubber armour has a nicely "grippy" texture without seeming "sticky". Some have made a fuss over their polymer construction - that doesn't bother me as they feel well solid enough.
- Eye relief is good for me, and the 4-position eyecups comfortable, both with and without glasses. In my intended use with glasses, and the eyecups in the 3rd position (2 clicks out), I can see the full FOV and get no blackouts. The eyecups seem a little insecure in the intermediate positions, but that hasn't proved problematic in practice (at least so far).
- The gearing on the focus adjustment is pretty good for me. I like a fast focuser, and these are (just) fast enough for me - which may be too fast for some.
- Direction of the focus wheel is clockwise to infinity, anti-clockwise to focus more closely. I've previously said I have no preference - but perhaps I'm forming one. My most-used bins are Zeiss and Nikon (clockwise to infinity) so perhaps that's giving me a preference where I used to have none. In any event, these surprised me, pleasantly, by focusing the same way - reviews of other Maven models have noted them as anti-clockwise. It seems slightly odd to me that Maven would mix this up within their range - perhaps this indicates that Maven is selecting already-existing designs they think are good, rather than feeding specifications to manufacturers.
- The strap, while good quality, seems way too large for such small binoculars. On the other hand, it is comfortable for my specific (carry with camera) usage. The fittings are compatible and interchangeable with OpTech camera strap connectors etc. (I have tested that, and it works) if I should want to change things. If I used these bins the way I use others I'd want a longer strap, which would be easy with the appropriate OpTech extenders, as would be interchanging the strap with something compatible and narrower. (All, though, at extra expense for a not-especially-cheap set of bins.)
- Value for money? At US$500 I wouldn't call the Maven's inexpensive, but good 6x30ish roof bins seem rare as rocking-horse, um, output. Are they better than the Vortex Viper HD in 6x32 (US$380 @ B&H)? I don't know, not having compared them except on paper. The FOV of the Vortex at 140m seemed a little narrow for the format, to me, and they're a little larger and heavier. Somehow I never went for the Vortex yet did for the Maven. Who said I was rational, anyway?
- Maven's much-publicised ability to customise/personalise your binocular's appearance doesn't do much for me one way or the other. I ordered mine with everything black. Boring, I know.
- There’s no case provided. These aren't cheap bins, and economising by not supplying one feels a bit unnecessarily mean. (I probably wouldn't use the case if it came with one, though, so there's no practical effect for me.)
- No other negatives occur to me (which is probably a positive).
...Mike
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