Hands on with new Mavens (1 Viewer)

[jgraider]

Steve C......oddly enough, when I first looked at the pics of the new Maven spotter, I had a Nikon EDG flashback. I may be able to send you my S2 for a comparo if and when you get the new Maven.

 

[etudiant]

Steve - In my experience, aluminum prism mirror coatings are usually noticeably dimmer than their silver and dialectric cousins, sometimes by as much as 2 f-stops. With that as background, my v2 Brunton 10.5 x 43 binocular is as bright as any 10x glass I have used. Perhaps this is due to the excellence of the Kamakura optical lens coatings or the much touted but benefits never explained "SF Prism glass". As to aluminum prism coatings being more durable, I've never heard of prism coatings wearing out and therefore needing to be durable. Fortunately, my variable rate focuser on the Brunton is problem free and a delight to use.

Suspect the issue with aluminum coatings is that they eventually deteriorate from oxidation, even though they are protected by a sealant.
While the large telescopes have to get their reflector surfaces recoated every few months, that is because the aluminum coating is not protected from air.

 

[NDhunter]

Suspect the issue with aluminum coatings is that they eventually deteriorate from oxidation, even though they are protected by a sealant.
While the large telescopes have to get their reflector surfaces recoated every few months, that is because the aluminum coating is not protected from air.

I am not sure why you mentioned that. This is a binocular thread and those
comments about telescopes do not mean anything about how binoculars
are designed and sealed.

Jerry

 

[Steve C]

The way the aluminium mirror coating was explained to me when i called Brunton to ask them why they would coat the prism with aluminium instead of modern dielectric( when they were going at nearly $2,400 MSRP for the Epoch ) was that the aluminium was not as bright but kept its level of brightness longer than other mirror coatings. I let it go because I had no further knowledge at the time, but got the feeling that the guy was blowing smoke at me.

On anther note, I got my review samples of the B2 7x45 and B3 6x30 today.

 

[Steve C]

Steve C......oddly enough, when I first looked at the pics of the new Maven spotter, I had a Nikon EDG flashback. I may be able to send you my S2 for a comparo if and when you get the new Maven.

I'll take you up on that with gratitude, assuming I can swing a Maven spotter for review. I have heard too much good about the Meopta to let that chance pass. B

 

[Gijs van Ginkel]

Jerry, post 183,
Aluminium oxidizes fairly rapidly and if that is the case it looses a lot of mirror capacity, moreover if polished it still has a considerable lower reflection efficiency as dielectric mirrors and its spectral reflection characteristics shows a fair amount of wavelength dependence, influencing the color reproduction of the telescope or binocular, so the use of aluminium mirrors look kind of old-fashioned to me. That is also what textbooks tell us.
Gijs van Ginkel

 

[Nixterdemus]

That would probably be a good idea. The idea that Maven optics are simply a reboot of Brunton optics needs to DIE.

Henry being most knowledgeable, through decades of optical experience, his opinion highly respected, unbiased w/o prejudice to the outcome one way or another/let the chips fall where they may, and having the Bunton ICON at hand for comparison is just the right kind of hitman to wack your rebadge dilemma.

I would however be extremely interested in your comparison, so I will see what I can swing.

Swing it as a Louisville Slugger.

 

[Steve C]

Nix,

The dilemma is not mine!

Spotter sample for review is a done deal.

As to why Brunton was using aluminium mirror coatings, I no longer care about.

 

[FrankD]

Steve,

Are you going to share your field of view measurements with the new 7x45 and 6x30?

 

[Steve C]

Steve,

Are you going to share your field of view measurements with the new 7x45 and 6x30?

Yeah I will . Some things need to be confirmed and rechecked first. First check says these may be wider than advertised. That is a possible explanation of my wider than advertised impression of the 7x45.

First check saw me in the wrong spot for initial readings. Thought I had the proper spot marked, but initially I was off. Corrected distance narrowed the initial measurements some. Getting that all sorted is today’s project.

 

[hawken 12]

Steve, Have you had a chance to check out the field of view on the 6x30 yet? I am planning to buy one at a birding event in Ohio next week and would like your opinion on whether the stats on Mavens website are correct. Thank You

 

[John Cantelo]

I'm sure others more technically versed in these things than myself can make a more informed comment, but the Maven scope looks rather similar to the KSP 80 HD scope make by the Belgian firm Kite Optics and a brief perusal of their site suggests similar specifications
http://kiteoptics.com/en/products/type/81/KSP-80-HD

 

[hawken 12]

John, I was referring to the Maven B3 6x30 binoculars that are new on their website this year.

 

[John Cantelo]

John, I was referring to the Maven B3 6x30 binoculars that are new on their website this year.

I realise that, but there are references to the Maven scope a few post earlier on this thread & I'm not aware of an exclusive one just on the scope..

 

[Steve C]

Steve, Have you had a chance to check out the field of view on the 6x30 yet? I am planning to buy one at a birding event in Ohio next week and would like your opinion on whether the stats on Mavens website are correct. Thank You

I'm writing the review now. However I'll put a teaser in here. The 6x30 has a 460' fov. The B2 7x45 has a nearly 420' fov. The other Mavens are also similarly wider than advertised. I gave the data I had to Maven. I have not heard back yet, but this is all pretty recent. I'll get more detailed in the review.

 

[FrankD]

I am heading to the Biggest Week in American Birding for the weekend. Will check out the new configurations/scope as I see Maven is going to be there.