Kowa BDII XD 6.5x32 OR The Maven B.3 6x30 ?? (1 Viewer)

[mwhogue]

I was thinking the same thing yesterday when I was comparing my Maven B3 6x30 to my Meopta B1.1 8x32 .... the Maven seemed to provide a larger magnification than 6x. To be honest, I would not even know how to actually test an optical instrument for its magnification accuracy. I wonder if ones personal eye characteristics as well as our age has anything to do with this after our brain interprets the view it receives.

Gcole,

First, I am not an expert. This perception of magnification probably does have a lot to do with individual physiological characteristics, age, accommodation, et.cet., as Troubadour Lee explained to me in response to an earlier question on the subject. I asked because when I first got the Kowa 6.5x32 just using it in rotation but not directly comparing to other 6, 6.5 and 7X, the Kowa magnification seemed closer to 7 than other 6.5's and definitely greater than 6X.

Then Gjs published his findings, including the 6x, not 6.5x of the Kowa. I assumed he was right and so did a direct comparison with seven or eight other 6, 6.5 and 7x bins to try to understand why or how the Kowa appeared to me greater than 6 and even greater than 6.5. This only resulted in more confusion because it sometimes appeared the Kowa was either 6, 6.5 or 6.5+. While I can't recall which, this impression of more or less than 6.5X seemed to definitely change depending on whether my wife and I were looking at natural or man made objects to compare.

Then WJC/Bill posted an explanation with a couple of helpful pictures (in a different thread- can't find it now) illustrating that when comparing two bins of identical x, the one with a wider FOV could create an impression of greater magnification.

All this helps me understand my subjective experience in the 6x to 7x range, although it may not directly address your perception/comparison of a 6x with an 8x.

Mike

 

[Wolf Beam]

Hi everyone,

Nice thread. Winter is approaching and the dark time of the year is here.
Are the Kowa 6.5x32s noticable brighter than most 8x32s? At dusk or in dark forests?
Or pretty mych the same?

Wolf

 

[Gijs van Ginkel]

Wolf Beam, post 22,
The Kowa has a larger exit pupil than an 8x32 and combines it with fairly high light transmssion values of arond 90%, so one may expects the Kowa to be brighter than an 8x32.
Gijs van Ginkel

 

[Wolf Beam]

Thank you Gijs

Yes, theoretically, they should be brighter. However, I did not experience my former binos, Vortex Fury 6.5x32, as very bright.

Cheers
Wolf

 

[fotbg]

Wolf Beam, post 22,
The Kowa has a larger exit pupil than an 8x32 and combines it with fairly high light transmssion values of arond 90%, so one may expects the Kowa to be brighter than an 8x32.
Gijs van Ginkel

I agree with this. I have the kowa and find it’s image very bright...noticeably brighter when I compare it with my 8x32 leupold bx-4. It could be due to a combination of larger exit pupil and higher light transmission in the kowa.

 

[eitanaltman]

Outside of low light conditions you’re not going to notice extra brightness as a consequence of the exit pupil. The transmission / coatings have more impact during “normal” viewing in daytime.

I had the 6.5x32 BDII and the 10x33 Genesis which have the same C3 coatings but obviously a huge difference in exit pupil size. They looked identically bright and had essentially identical color balance during daytime viewing. At dusk in fading light however the difference was apparent.

 

[Blue72]

I have both of these

it depends what you want in binoculars

kowa are

• sharper in the sweet spot, definitely notice it at very long distances
• better FOV
• much brighter in dusk
• better then the maven for astronomy
• better AFOV
• the extra .5x magnification is nice.

Maven are
-slightly better color saturation

• the optics are pretty decent to the edge were the Kowa have slight distortion in the outer edge
• more compact binocular, almost as small as my Nikon monarch 7 8x30

 

[ZDHart]

Well my CPOS got the best of me. Now with me having the Maven B3 6x30 in hand, I wished now I had went with my instincts and put my custom order in months earlier. If I had I would not have purchased the Kowa BDII XD 6.5x32 , better late than never.

Gwen... you have found the Maven B3 6x30 clearly superior to the Kowa 6.5x32?

If you would elaborate on the differences which were significant for you, the information would be good for others to know.

 

[Cest]

I have the Kowa and like it a great deal. It's sharp, wide fov, bright. I love Maven's and rather wish I had their 6x30, so I would be interested as well.

 

[gcole]

Gwen... you have found the Maven B3 6x30 clearly superior to the Kowa 6.5x32?

If you would elaborate on the differences which were significant for you, the information would be good for others to know.

Yes I did but my opinion is just my personal opinion, one based on …. Comparing the two on build construction, my ability to customize the color scheme, comparing both when handling and lastly how my eyes interpreted the Optical view between the two. When I sold the Mavens to a member here, they more or less agreed with my assessment of the Mavens but there are members here who after purchasing the Maven 6x30 who did not share my opinion. Some of these members had issues with Mavens glare, others with not enough eye relief to quality control issues with their eye cups to the armor material. Glare with 30-32 mm binoculars has been mentioned on this forum many times and many factors contribute to this problem. For me personally glare was never an issue with the Mavens but neither were the Kowa’s. As far as the eye relief between the Maven or the Kowa, both worked good with my glasses and facial characteristics. The Kowa with glasses being easier to get that center full view upfront but their eyepiece design was different having a larger ocular lens. Again here personal preferences come to play. Bringing up quality control issues, is for some just that … again what might be a issue with an eye cup might not be an issue to someone else. As to the way a particular binoculars armor texture feels tacky or even smells, again personal. I have said all this because the Maven and Kowa only have one definite thing in common … both are roof prism binoculars. One is Japan sourced the other China. The Maven costing a few hundred dollars more or less depending when they are purchased and whether you choose to build/customize a pair. I am not going go into much about their optical differences but for me it was noticeable but that should not take anything away from Kowa’s. The Kowa 6.5x32 provide a very sharp/clear very impressive view. The build quality of the Kowa, at least for the pair I had I saw no issues. Are the Mavens that much better just based on their cost, absolutely not. Should one buy a Kowa over a Maven and save a few hundreds dollars, again that is a personal preference. After my sister-in-law purchased the Kowa(I talked her into it), l let her take a look thru the 6x30 Maven’s. She then looked again thru the Kowa, she acknowledged that she would rather have the Maven but would not pay the xtra cost … again a personal choice. My Mavens were a custom build, ordered just after the Covid shut downs started. If my memory is right, most if not all the people who had expressed dislikes here on this forum with their Maven 6x30 were stock issue and not a custom build. Maybe a custom build has better quality control over standard stock issue, my pair did not disappoint …. then again this is just my opinion.

 

[ZDHart]

Yes I did but my opinion is just my personal opinion, one based on …. Comparing the two on build construction, my ability to customize the color scheme, comparing both when handling and lastly how my eyes interpreted the Optical view between the two. When I sold the Mavens to a member here, they more or less agreed with my assessment of the Mavens but there are members here who after purchasing the Maven 6x30 who did not share my opinion. Some of these members had issues with Mavens glare, others with not enough eye relief to quality control issues with their eye cups to the armor material. Glare with 30-32 mm binoculars has been mentioned on this forum many times and many factors contribute to this problem. For me personally glare was never an issue with the Mavens but neither were the Kowa’s. As far as the eye relief between the Maven or the Kowa, both worked good with my glasses and facial characteristics. The Kowa with glasses being easier to get that center full view upfront but their eyepiece design was different having a larger ocular lens. Again here personal preferences come to play. Bringing up quality control issues, is for some just that … again what might be a issue with an eye cup might not be an issue to someone else. As to the way a particular binoculars armor texture feels tacky or even smells, again personal. I have said all this because the Maven and Kowa only have one definite thing in common … both are roof prism binoculars. One is Japan sourced the other China. The Maven costing a few hundred dollars more or less depending when they are purchased and whether you choose to build/customize a pair. I am not going go into much about their optical differences but for me it was noticeable but that should not take anything away from Kowa’s. The Kowa 6.5x32 provide a very sharp/clear very impressive view. The build quality of the Kowa, at least for the pair I had I saw no issues. Are the Mavens that much better just based on their cost, absolutely not. Should one buy a Kowa over a Maven and save a few hundreds dollars, again that is a personal preference. After my sister-in-law purchased the Kowa(I talked her into it), l let her take a look thru the 6x30 Maven’s. She then looked again thru the Kowa, she acknowledged that she would rather have the Maven but would not pay the xtra cost … again a personal choice. My Mavens were a custom build, ordered just after the Covid shut downs started. If my memory is right, most if not all the people who had expressed dislikes here on this forum with their Maven 6x30 were stock issue and not a custom build. Maybe a custom build has better quality control over standard stock issue, my pair did not disappoint …. then again this is just my opinion.

Thanks for the commentary, Gwen. Both your Kowas and Mavens have since moved along to new owners.

What have you settled in with, to use in place of either of those two?

 

[gcole]

Yes I did but my opinion is just my personal opinion, based on …. Comparing the two on build construction, my ability to customize the color scheme, comparing both when handling and lastly how my eyes interpreted the Optical view between the two. When I sold the Mavens to a member here, they more or less agreed with my assessment of the Mavens but there are members here who after purchasing the Maven 6x30 who did not share my opinion. Some of these members had issues with Mavens glare, others with not enough eye relief to quality control issues with their eye cups to the armor material. Glare with 30-32 mm binoculars has been mentioned on this forum many times and many factors contribute to this problem. For me personally glare was never an issue with the Mavens but neither were the Kowa’s. As far as the eye relief between the Maven or the Kowa, both worked good with my glasses and facial characteristics. The Kowa with glasses being easier to get that center full view upfront but their eyepiece design was different having a larger ocular lens. Again here personal preferences come to play. Bringing up quality control issues, is for some just that … again what might be a issue with an eye cup might not be an issue to someone else. As to the way a particular binoculars armor texture feels tacky or even smells, again personal. I have said all this because the Maven and Kowa only have one definite thing in common … both are roof prism binoculars. One is Japan sourced the other China. The Maven costing a few hundred dollars more or less depending when they are purchased and whether you choose to build/customize a pair. I am not going go into much about their optical differences but for me it was noticeable but that should not take anything away from Kowa’s. The Kowa 6.5x32 provide a very sharp/clear very impressive view. The build quality of the Kowa, at least for the pair I had I saw no issues. Are the Mavens that much better just based on their cost, absolutely not. Should one buy a Kowa over a Maven and save a few hundreds dollars, again that is a personal preference. After my sister-in-law purchased the Kowa(I talked her into it), l let her take a look thru the 6x30 Maven’s. She then looked again thru the Kowa, she acknowledged that she would rather have the Maven but would not pay the xtra cost … again a personal choice. My Mavens were a custom build, ordered just after the Covid shut downs started. If my memory is right, most if not all the people who had expressed dislikes here on this forum with their Maven 6x30 were stock issue and not a custom build. Maybe a custom build has better quality control over standard stock issue, my pair did not disappoint …. then again this is just my opinion.

I forgot to say what was the main differences I liked about the Maven 6x30 over the Kowa 6.5x32 … overall build Quality and the Optical View. The Kowa is a really nice binocular with a Optical view very close to the Maven but the Mavens Japan sourced Quality puts it above the Kowa in my opinion.

 

[gcole]

Thanks for the commentary, Gwen. Both your Kowas and Mavens have since moved along to new owners.

What have you settled in with, to use in place of either of those two?

Sadly due to my eye sight now, all of the binoculars I have owned since and after have all gone on to other owners. I have a family member who has purchased a Meopta Meostar 8x32 from me. Another family member who I recently purchased a Opticron 7x35 for here from the classified, I have access to use both but that’s it. My significant other has her recent purchase of the Kowa Genesis 10x22 and we have the Opticron Monocular for sale in the classified section here. I am resisting my significant others urge for me to purchase the new Swarovski 7x21 so she can compare it to the 10x22 Genesis, I’ll leave that for another discussion.

 

[Blue72]

I do not see the build quality difference between the Kowa and the maven, if anything the Kowa feel slightly better built with a very smooth focus wheel

both are a slight step down from my meopta as far as build quality (not optically)

something I didn’t mention earlier but the Kowa are easier on the eyes and I can see the North American nebula which I can’t in the mavens. But I don’t think anyone would be disappointed owning either or

 

[ZDHart]

Sadly due to my eye sight now, all of the binoculars I have owned since and after have all gone on to other owners. I have a family member who has purchased a Meopta Meostar 8x32 from me. Another family member who I recently purchased a Opticron 7x35 for here from the classified, I have access to use both but that’s it. My significant other has her recent purchase of the Kowa Genesis 10x22 and we have the Opticron Monocular for sale in the classified section here. I am resisting my significant others urge for me to purchase the new Swarovski 7x21 so she can compare it to the 10x22 Genesis, I’ll leave that for another discussion.

Gwen... I'm very sorry to hear of your failing eyesight. Perhaps (I hope) there may be some help for that, but in any event... I'm sad to hear that news.