Maven 7x45 and 6x30 binoculars (1 Viewer)

[Chosun Juan]

Alpha owners talk about 'immersion', 'presence' and' being there'. Are these sensations related to AFOV or to the angle subtended from the eye to the objective stops, or what?

"being there", typically refers to an 'absence' of 'distractions' (or de-tractions) from the view. I find that even the best dielectric mirror prism coatings of over 99% efficiency provide some distraction in comparison to the 100% internal reflectivity of Porro prisms and A-K prisms, which exhibit a 'teleport' 'being there' 'clarity' and 'transparency' (at least in the centre field in the absence of other aberrations), provided that other things such as brightness, glare control, colour neutrality, aberration control and distortion interference etc are taken care of, and less importantly, along with a non-restrictive Fov. The Swift Audubon 8.5x44 ED Porro, the Zeiss x42mm HT's, and even later 8x30 and 10x40 Swarovski Habicht Porros (though with less AFov than the Swift), are some that come to mind with this quality, (the Swarovski 10x50 SV is a standout in that it is also imperceptibly close to this trait with its 'Wow' view despite its dielectric S-P prisms). It will be interesting to get Steve's take on this quality of 'clarity' with the A-K Mavens .............. :cat:

Other things that influence "being there" are indeed the AFov (sufficient not to be a distraction), and it is a major factor in the 'walk-in view' or 'immersive' experience along with a weird and esoteric influence by the true (Real Fov) field, and other oddities like the extent of the stereopsis effect, and dof etc. To get the whole kit and caboodle of 'clarity'/'transparency' and a well corrected 'walk-in' wide 'immersive' view is something of a holy grail :king:


Chosun :gh:

 

[Steve C]

"being there", typically refers to an 'absence' of 'distractions' (or de-tractions) from the view.
...

To get the whole kit and caboodle of 'clarity'/'transparency' and a well corrected 'walk-in' wide 'immersive' view is something of a holy grail :king:


Chosun :gh:

I suppose the above portions of your post pretty well define the draw I find with both the 7x and 9x45 B2. Sometimes a different take from another source is needed to clarify some things.

While the 7x45 is not so apparently wide as its older 9x brother, the increase of dof in combination with the offset objectives and their 3-D effect make the 7x nearly on par with the 9x. This would be something with a 9* eye piece.

Everyone goes gaga over the SV EL 10x50. Leaving aside my distaste for the rolling ball phenomena that ruins that line for my personal use, I highly doubt I'd take the SV stationary view over the 9x45 B2. There are some things in the image presentation the SV does better, but in some ways the B2 is better. Both of these have the same sort of, instantly relaxing, easy to look at image presentation. Contrast, sharpness (the SV may have an ever so slight edge there), and color are pretty similar. However it is somewhat an apples to oranges with 9x vs 10x. Having said that, it is pretty much the same story with the SV EL 8.5x42. Throw in the B2 and its superb balance, the SV gets left in the dust for me on the basis of ergonomics. Now, I'd not argue with anyone who wants to nominate the SV 10x50 as the best binocular there is, I would never make the motion, second the motion, nor cast my vote in favor.

Both the SV, the SLC, and the B2 series have a nearly equal sensation of just getting up however much closer to your subject. The B2 series has a nearly porro like 3-D aspect the Swarovski's lack. I am not trying to say the B2 is a better binocular. It will be for some, not so much for others. The Swarovski seems to get accolades for what it is, ie, European alpha. Extra points seem to be added to the pot even before the binocular gets up to the viewers eyes, just because it is a Swarovski. To be sure you have a pretty decent chance of having a pretty good binocular in hands...even before you look through it. The Maven line, B1. B2, and B3 will be judged mostly for what they are not, ie, not European alpha, rather than for what they are.

 

[typo]

In my dining room there are two windows looking out on the garden. One is roughly 3' wide the other 6' wide. If I stand 3' from the smaller window the view is 53° and feels adequate. Get 7" closer and it's a more pleasing 65". Sanding twice those distances from the 6' window gives exactly the same angle of view but somehow feels better. More involving? I have three binoculars with about a 60° AFOV with eye lens diameters ranging fro 22.5mm to 25.5mm. It might be illogical, but bigger just feels a bit better. There again, the exit pupils are also increasing with this particular three.

I'm sure several other factors are involved, but maybe the bigger 'window' and exit pupil somehow offer more 'space' to look around the view? Just speculation. I know nothing about psychology.

David

 

[Troubador]

I know nothing about psychology.

David

Hmmm. But you post regularly on BF and engage with other posters and this is not possible without an empirical grasp of psychological conditions such as:
Obsession
Compulsion
Collecting impulse
Detachment from reality
Wishful thinking
and other more sinister syndromes :eek!:

Lee :-O:-O:-O

 

[jgraider]

SteveC, what's your take on this? Never heard of such a thing. Thanks.

My one ginch with the Mavens is that they don't resist folks idly fiddling with them. Put a bunch of people in a vehicle, binos all closed but on a long trip and bored and the B2, at least, can wind up having the objective cell unscrewed and the nitrogen purge bleed out.

Most of the binos I know of have a shroud that covers the entire body. The Maven have a ring at the base of the objective cells and customizing the trim seems to mean they don't want to cover that ring in rubber.

I wish they'd offer that as an option, though. Idly fidget with the Maven objective cell, and it can start to unscrew - the armor over it is independent of that on the main body. Idly fidget with an objective cell on a bino that's fully covered, and nothing happens as the armor over the cell is continuous with that on the main body would.

Fortunately in my instance, the sound of the gas escaping was evident long before anyone had managed to actually open the glass and put their noise and the view is not affected. If they need to go for service, I'll have them re-purged as well.

 

[Steve C]

SteveC, what's your take on this? Never heard of such a thing. Thanks.

I have no idea at all what he is getting at either. That is some other binocular than a Maven he is talking about. You'd need to be equipped with a good strap wrench and a dose of motivation to remove the objective rings on any of my Mavens. If you were ever able to get those off, then of course the customizable color rings will fall right off. However it will require some concerted effort to get there. Idly fiddling won't get there. Neither will idly fiddling ever vent the nitrogen gas used to purge the interior.

I have Bushwhacker covers on my 9x45. If you are really concerned about that, get black rings instead of colored ones, or just use the supplied tethered covers, or another OEM style of your choice.

 

[birdrousta]

I have no idea at all what he is getting at either. That is some other binocular than a Maven he is talking about. You'd need to be equipped with a good strap wrench and a dose of motivation to remove the objective rings on any of my Mavens. If you were ever able to get those off, then of course the customizable color rings will fall right off. However it will require some concerted effort to get there. Idly fiddling won't get there. Neither will idly fiddling ever vent the nitrogen gas used to purge the interior.

yep, these are Maven B2s. They are very, very nice binoculars but the body covering not being continuous from the main part of the body to the objective cells means the cells can be subject to rotation easily. In a design where the skin of the binocular covers the objectives and the main body in a single sheet, you'd need to deform the skin over the body to rotate the objectives, or even try to.

The force here was nowhere near strap wrench force level, more like idly peeling a beer bottle label instead of smoking or otherwise faffing around with one's hands type of behavior. (I have a strap wrench, which I have used on occasion as a come-along for stuck tripod components.)

Also, I'm speaking of the objective cells, not the rubber rings over them. Those are glued down, but the whole assembly will rotate, and when mine did, both my partner and I immediately looked at the twist-er, who looked shocked as well - the person's not an idiot and all of us heard some kind of pressure equalize.

Here are photos I took this morning and posted in the other thread. You can see that it's not the rubber alone moving but the cell assembly, since can see the marks in the metal rings inside are rotating in synchrony with the yellow paper markings I put on the outside for visibility.

don't get me wrong - I like the B2 and am glad I decided to try a pair, despite the B3 being rather tetchy for my taste as far as eye placement goes.

However, the first thing out of my mouth when this happened was "that's amusing. maven pitches these as heirloom optics. Not much of an heirloom, if the inheritors are able to dismantle them that easily."





Fortunately, the sound of the pressure release was enough to indicate that continuing to unscrew the cell was a Very Bad Idea, and I don't expect this to happen on its own.

 

[mfunnell]

The Maven binoculars, while some will always place a notch below the top tier glass simply because of what they are not, are seriously good optical instruments. They are good enough to have caused me to spend my money on them, and I do not hesitate to recommend them. If you are really interested in a seriously good full size binocular with a large EP, then the 7x45 is certainly worth the effort to get some time with. If you need a small glass and would like a 6x specimen, ditto the 6x30.

I just picked up a copy of the Maven B3 6x30. I'd concur with your conclusion - while I haven't had enough time to get properly used to them, "seriously good" matches my initial impressions and everything I've seen so far is in accord what you've said about them in this thread. I'm pretty sure I'm going to like mine a lot.

...Mike