Pronghunter
Active member
I’ve been duped....ok maybe not really.
I’m sure I’m going to get all sorts of corrections from people and “you don’t know what your taking about” comments and so on. I’m not a professional. Just giving a brief review of my last two months observations with four different binoculars so maybe for some...relax. Feel like I’ve been overpaying paying a little here for optics. I guess the retailers have to make some coin too, but dang. I’ll keep this pretty short and to the point. Let me explain. So, in the last 2 months, I’ve spent no less than an hour and up to 2 hours behind 4 different bins. 2 solid months to be exact and not a day missed. 4 binos that I think are the absolute best on the market. I realize there are variations from each brand, newer and older models which some will argue an older model may be a “better” model and so on. I decided to go with each brand’s latest and greatest 2018 to keep “my” non professional amateur test somewhat even, and while I’m not an optics geek, I’m really trying hard to be one. I’m not that familiar with all the optic terminology, yet I’m learning and have became familiar with most.
The binos. Swarovski 10x42 EL. Zeiss 10x42 SF. Leica 10x42 Noctivids. Maven 11x45 B2’s. Yes, I realize there’s a slight advantage and disadvantage with the Mavens being 11x45.
I get there are many other brands out there; Vortex, Leupold, Nikon, Kowa, Meopta, etc. I’ve owned most and while all are wonderful and have a purpose, I don’t feel any of them compare optically to the four I tested.
Each pair have been observed setting on top of a solid Manfrotto tripod. I’ve stared through each during early morning sunrises glaring almost into the sun, away from the sun, high noon, sunsets, into shadows, bright snow, near and far, several star test, staring at a resolving chart at 45 yards, dark timber, high glare areas and so on. 2 month everyday. While I spent that much time doing all these amateur test, I knew after the first day how I felt. Without trying to sound like I know what I’m talking about, I tried taking note of pin-cushioning or distortion, contrast, brightness, resolution, glare and so on. The Swaros as expected were exceptional at everything but surprised me when staring at a star that was put at the very edge of the FOV or the last 15 percent of the outer edge....it became more distorted or blurred than I would have expected. Once on the edge, I would again try to focus but it never would quite come in clear. I also noticed it takes quite a bit of turning or revolutions to go from near to far and back. Changing the focus took some turning. A lot it seemed. I do much prefer the eye pieces on the EL’s vs all the others. To compare, the Leicas appeared about the same when doing the star test. All other test though, I would say the EL’s outperformed the Leica but ever so slightly. The Leica’s did seem a little bolder or had a “pop” at times when viewing darker objects. Maybe a false brightness if you will...but a very pleasant picture. At times seemed the best. I do enjoy the Leica’s feel and prefer the slightly quicker focus adjustment. With that said, I would say the Zeiss is just slightly behind the Leica in every test. Even more so in the star test. To be honest, I did not like looking through the Zeiss while viewing stars. It just never looked all that clear in the outer 20%, but was definitely bright enough. I also noticed that the Zeiss had the warmest picture. Not sure I cared too much for that. The focus was also quicker than the Swaros so that was a plus. For the most part, it was very hard to see a significant difference between the Leica’s and the Zeiss during daytime use. There was a noticeable difference between the Zeiss and Swaros though. The Zeiss also seemed to have a very slight blue hue on the edges as well. By no means do I want to sound like the Zeiss disappointed. They did not. Still exceptional in every aspect and wonderful glass. So in a nutshell in the order I see things from best to worst focusing mostly on the optics and not on fit, feel, function or overall build, the EL’s, Leica and Zeiss as far as these in that order. I will also mention, that it seemed like Swaros had the most glare when viewing in bright sunlight. I tried this particular test over and over with all four bins and each time it seemed like the Swarovski‘s had the most noticeable glare.
Now here I’m sure I’m gonna catch some flak. I know there are absolutely diehard Zeiss, Swaro, Leica fan boys out there with each of their own favorite. Mine being Swaros. I was no different.
The Mavens. Yes, they are an 11 power pulling the view in closer possibly giving a more detailed view of an object. Could also be a slight disadvantage due to the smaller FOV giving you the impression that they’re not as bright I guess. Yes, they are a 45 objective. They claim the 11x45’s are at about 94.80% light transmission. I’m not exactly sure of what each brands in-depth details means when explaining their optics on their websites, but I will say this. The Mavens through my young 20/10 vision as well as several others who had spent multiple days with me can attest. The brightness in every situation was as bright if not brighter than the Swaro EL’s. The contrast/resolution etc was every bit as good as the ELs. I’m not going to say better but there was zero difference in daytime use in all situations to my eyes. Where I noticed the biggest difference between the EL’s and the Mavens was on the edges. In almost every view especially at night staring at stars, the Mavens were pretty much as clear on the edge as they were in the center. The sharpest bins I’ve ever looked through without question. They surpassed the ELs on the star test and about every other test when it came to the edge sharpness. I also much preferred the very fast focus. Quarter turn or less from 10 feet to infinity it seemed. That may be a slight exaggeration but you get the gist.
With all that said, I’m also aware that there are different samples that leave manufacturers. For all I know, the Mavens that I received were the best that have left their production, and the other may have not have been their finest. Who knows. What I do know is this. If you haven’t put yourself behind a set of Mavens high end binos, you’re doing yourself a disservice. For $1100 they absolutely cannot be beat period. Heck, If they were $2500 they still wouldn’t. I may be wrong on this, but I am pretty sure they also have the same warranty as Vortex. So to me it seems you’re getting Swaro EL’s with a Vortex warranty and at a ridiculous price. From my time spent with each model and from what I could see, the Mavens are IMO at the top.
I’m sure I’m going to get all sorts of corrections from people and “you don’t know what your taking about” comments and so on. I’m not a professional. Just giving a brief review of my last two months observations with four different binoculars so maybe for some...relax. Feel like I’ve been overpaying paying a little here for optics. I guess the retailers have to make some coin too, but dang. I’ll keep this pretty short and to the point. Let me explain. So, in the last 2 months, I’ve spent no less than an hour and up to 2 hours behind 4 different bins. 2 solid months to be exact and not a day missed. 4 binos that I think are the absolute best on the market. I realize there are variations from each brand, newer and older models which some will argue an older model may be a “better” model and so on. I decided to go with each brand’s latest and greatest 2018 to keep “my” non professional amateur test somewhat even, and while I’m not an optics geek, I’m really trying hard to be one. I’m not that familiar with all the optic terminology, yet I’m learning and have became familiar with most.
The binos. Swarovski 10x42 EL. Zeiss 10x42 SF. Leica 10x42 Noctivids. Maven 11x45 B2’s. Yes, I realize there’s a slight advantage and disadvantage with the Mavens being 11x45.
I get there are many other brands out there; Vortex, Leupold, Nikon, Kowa, Meopta, etc. I’ve owned most and while all are wonderful and have a purpose, I don’t feel any of them compare optically to the four I tested.
Each pair have been observed setting on top of a solid Manfrotto tripod. I’ve stared through each during early morning sunrises glaring almost into the sun, away from the sun, high noon, sunsets, into shadows, bright snow, near and far, several star test, staring at a resolving chart at 45 yards, dark timber, high glare areas and so on. 2 month everyday. While I spent that much time doing all these amateur test, I knew after the first day how I felt. Without trying to sound like I know what I’m talking about, I tried taking note of pin-cushioning or distortion, contrast, brightness, resolution, glare and so on. The Swaros as expected were exceptional at everything but surprised me when staring at a star that was put at the very edge of the FOV or the last 15 percent of the outer edge....it became more distorted or blurred than I would have expected. Once on the edge, I would again try to focus but it never would quite come in clear. I also noticed it takes quite a bit of turning or revolutions to go from near to far and back. Changing the focus took some turning. A lot it seemed. I do much prefer the eye pieces on the EL’s vs all the others. To compare, the Leicas appeared about the same when doing the star test. All other test though, I would say the EL’s outperformed the Leica but ever so slightly. The Leica’s did seem a little bolder or had a “pop” at times when viewing darker objects. Maybe a false brightness if you will...but a very pleasant picture. At times seemed the best. I do enjoy the Leica’s feel and prefer the slightly quicker focus adjustment. With that said, I would say the Zeiss is just slightly behind the Leica in every test. Even more so in the star test. To be honest, I did not like looking through the Zeiss while viewing stars. It just never looked all that clear in the outer 20%, but was definitely bright enough. I also noticed that the Zeiss had the warmest picture. Not sure I cared too much for that. The focus was also quicker than the Swaros so that was a plus. For the most part, it was very hard to see a significant difference between the Leica’s and the Zeiss during daytime use. There was a noticeable difference between the Zeiss and Swaros though. The Zeiss also seemed to have a very slight blue hue on the edges as well. By no means do I want to sound like the Zeiss disappointed. They did not. Still exceptional in every aspect and wonderful glass. So in a nutshell in the order I see things from best to worst focusing mostly on the optics and not on fit, feel, function or overall build, the EL’s, Leica and Zeiss as far as these in that order. I will also mention, that it seemed like Swaros had the most glare when viewing in bright sunlight. I tried this particular test over and over with all four bins and each time it seemed like the Swarovski‘s had the most noticeable glare.
Now here I’m sure I’m gonna catch some flak. I know there are absolutely diehard Zeiss, Swaro, Leica fan boys out there with each of their own favorite. Mine being Swaros. I was no different.
The Mavens. Yes, they are an 11 power pulling the view in closer possibly giving a more detailed view of an object. Could also be a slight disadvantage due to the smaller FOV giving you the impression that they’re not as bright I guess. Yes, they are a 45 objective. They claim the 11x45’s are at about 94.80% light transmission. I’m not exactly sure of what each brands in-depth details means when explaining their optics on their websites, but I will say this. The Mavens through my young 20/10 vision as well as several others who had spent multiple days with me can attest. The brightness in every situation was as bright if not brighter than the Swaro EL’s. The contrast/resolution etc was every bit as good as the ELs. I’m not going to say better but there was zero difference in daytime use in all situations to my eyes. Where I noticed the biggest difference between the EL’s and the Mavens was on the edges. In almost every view especially at night staring at stars, the Mavens were pretty much as clear on the edge as they were in the center. The sharpest bins I’ve ever looked through without question. They surpassed the ELs on the star test and about every other test when it came to the edge sharpness. I also much preferred the very fast focus. Quarter turn or less from 10 feet to infinity it seemed. That may be a slight exaggeration but you get the gist.
With all that said, I’m also aware that there are different samples that leave manufacturers. For all I know, the Mavens that I received were the best that have left their production, and the other may have not have been their finest. Who knows. What I do know is this. If you haven’t put yourself behind a set of Mavens high end binos, you’re doing yourself a disservice. For $1100 they absolutely cannot be beat period. Heck, If they were $2500 they still wouldn’t. I may be wrong on this, but I am pretty sure they also have the same warranty as Vortex. So to me it seems you’re getting Swaro EL’s with a Vortex warranty and at a ridiculous price. From my time spent with each model and from what I could see, the Mavens are IMO at the top.
Last edited: