crinklystarfish
Well-known member
I’ve owned 2 x Nikon M7 10x30s (I still have one), a Swarovski CL Companion 10x30 and have spent some time with a Kite Lynx 10x30. I’ve found that all have (to me) significant shortcomings in terms of their control of errant light, which manifests in glare / flare in low-light and / or near-sun situations.
The glare I personally find most obtrusive is the ‘low light’ veil / milky / smokescreen type apparition (often in something of a crescent shape) that manifests most often when viewing a dark subject (or when viewing over open water) under a grey sky.
From various threads on the subject it would seem that the most probable cause of this low-light milky veiling glare is a poorly baffled objective cell. I personally see this very distracting and utterly bespoiling phenomenon in many binoculars but I speculate that in lower light, given that pupil dilation may exceed 3mm, the 10x30 format is particularly prone to throwing up this issue.
Simply then, does the Maven B3 10x30 address this low-light glare issue? Is the objective cell sufficiently baffled and does it succeed where all other ‘premium’ 10x30s currently fail? I understand the Maven is Kamakura sourced but that companies are free to specify tweaks to the basic design to optimise the instrument to their own ends. Does the B3 10x30 throw up a ‘smokescreen’ just like the M7 and Kite?
I’m aware some assert that eye placement and IPD settings can help but I’ve persevered with such things every-which-way and it makes little difference. In any event, when trying to quickly acquire a subject the last thing I want to be thinking about is placing my eyes to the last tenth of a millimetre.
I’m inclined to try a B3 but facing the prospect of heavy taxation and import duty it would be quite an expensive purchase given the company’s retail model. Have Maven cracked it?
Thanks in advance.
The glare I personally find most obtrusive is the ‘low light’ veil / milky / smokescreen type apparition (often in something of a crescent shape) that manifests most often when viewing a dark subject (or when viewing over open water) under a grey sky.
From various threads on the subject it would seem that the most probable cause of this low-light milky veiling glare is a poorly baffled objective cell. I personally see this very distracting and utterly bespoiling phenomenon in many binoculars but I speculate that in lower light, given that pupil dilation may exceed 3mm, the 10x30 format is particularly prone to throwing up this issue.
Simply then, does the Maven B3 10x30 address this low-light glare issue? Is the objective cell sufficiently baffled and does it succeed where all other ‘premium’ 10x30s currently fail? I understand the Maven is Kamakura sourced but that companies are free to specify tweaks to the basic design to optimise the instrument to their own ends. Does the B3 10x30 throw up a ‘smokescreen’ just like the M7 and Kite?
I’m aware some assert that eye placement and IPD settings can help but I’ve persevered with such things every-which-way and it makes little difference. In any event, when trying to quickly acquire a subject the last thing I want to be thinking about is placing my eyes to the last tenth of a millimetre.
I’m inclined to try a B3 but facing the prospect of heavy taxation and import duty it would be quite an expensive purchase given the company’s retail model. Have Maven cracked it?
Thanks in advance.