Maven B6 10x50 - Imported into the UK (1 Viewer)

[Silent Observer]

Hi All,

This is just an introductory post where I'll be sharing my experience, of importing a Maven B6 10x50 into the UK, was it worth the hassle (there was none)...

The best part was that it is a birthday present...

and now that I've learnt to use them properly (took 3 weeks), I am feeling lucky to have such a binocular in my very small collection...

I could tell from my first interaction with Maven, that they put their customers first, and like to "take care of it"...

They provided a spare set of objective lens caps and rainguard for free ($5) and also bumped me up from USPS to UPS (apparently the difference is more than just an S between the U and the P) which was another $5, on the house...

they took care of it...

Although, when I received and opened the box, I saw a pair of binoculars that seemed oddly large....

I even convinced my girlfriend that yeah... its a bit bigger, but its ok....

and then I realised that Maven had sent me a B5 10x56 in error (BTW they got to me super fast... like ordered on Sunday night, and delivery was attempted Weds Evening)....

I informed Mollie@Maven about this who kindly dispatched another unit the very same day... which arrived in exactly 4 days from dispatch (again, amazing)

The return shipping for the B5 was £26 using UPS (done online, easy drop off at an access point), Maven refunded my original shipping cost which was £75 odd.. again, Maven took "great" care of it...

I will share more details as and when I can find time...

I'm glad I stumbled upon Canip's and Steve C's posts on these binoculars...

and that I got to pick my own birthday present

I'm sure enjoying my walks with these...

will keep you posted, thanks.

Silent Observer.

 

[Cest]

I have the 7x45 and 7x28. Both are excellent.

 

[dries1]

Silent Observer,

Congrats on the glass and IMO the black is more pleasant from a visual perspective than the gray with orange.

 

[Silent Observer]

Silent Observer,

Congrats on the glass and IMO the black is more pleasant from a visual perspective than the gray with orange.

Many thanks dries1, when we ordered it, only the black/grey was available as the grey/orange was out of stock. This worked out perfect for me as I wanted the black/grey. They went fully out of stock in a weeks time since I received em, they seem to be a popular product... and I can understand why... congrats to Maven for bringing a great product to the market.

 

[Patudo]

How are you getting on with these mate - be interesting to read your comments/observations. There aren't so many quality 10x50s out there these days, despite it being a great, classic format.

PS. did you look through the 10x56 before you sent it back?

I even convinced my girlfriend that yeah... its a bit bigger, but its ok....

There is a joke just waiting to be cracked in relation to what you said there - but it's late and my brain can't find the right words!

 

[Silent Observer]

How are you getting on with these mate - be interesting to read your comments/observations. There aren't so many quality 10x50s out there these days, despite it being a great, classic format.

PS. did you look through the 10x56 before you sent it back?



There is a joke just waiting to be cracked in relation to what you said there - but it's late and my brain can't find the right words!

Hi Patudo,

I was supposed to update this post with regards to my experience of using these bins properly however, I feel I still haven't had the chance to put some serious hours behind them (just too much going on, including a house move)...

but rest assured, I will be updating this post with some feedback in the coming months...

I did briefly look through the 10x56 before I sent it back, but found the ergonomics to not be well suited to my use case... (birding and handheld astronomy)

The 10x50 B6 is no doubt, a quality instrument, but again, I want to spend some proper time behind the binoculars before I put my thoughts down in words...

and yes, I can see the funny side of that statement now LOL

I will update you here as soon as I have legit feedback...

 

[Silent Observer]

Also, just wanted to say that the reason I put "Imported into the UK" in the post subject was so I could put down details of import duty e.t.c.

Just realised I hadn't shared any details...

The import duty was roughly £196 on these binoculars... which is kind of steep IMO... but it is what it is...

 

[Golden pheasant]

I saw this so looked into Maven. Apparently Maven are now offically being imported into the Uk and are on a website called NatureobservationUK. Nature Observation UK | Premium Optics, Clothing and Gear.

 

[Silent Observer]

Here is why I did not update this post in some time, the focusser on my B.6 10x50 had a problem that prevented me from being able to enjoy them...

I thought it would be fair for me to pencil my thoughts down once I had informed Maven of the issue.

Out of the box, the focusser felt like it got stuck on counter clockwise rotations...

Originally, I dismissed this as a new mechanism which will free up with use...

This however, progressively got worse where I was struggling to get consistently well focussed images that didn't strain my eyes...

Upon informing Maven, they immediately responded and were apologetic that I was experiencing issues with a new binocular and put me in touch with their warranty team who offered some diagnostic steps...

Long story short, they agreed that their is some issue with the focusser and agreed to replace the binocular with a new unit.

I received the new unit last week and have been very happy with it during the few outings that I've managed with them.

Maven was honest, helpful, and stood by their product... excellent customer support.

Things can go wrong, but what matters the most is what the manufacturer does to make it right, and Maven made it right for me.

The new unit has a very precise and smooth focussing mechanism.

The 6.5 degrees true field of view is easy to absorb and doesn't feel restrictive to me.

The image has that 3-d'ness that some people here have attributed to non field flattened binoculars.

CA performance for me is excellent... if the eyes are looking at the centre of the image, there is no noticeable CA for me...

The image has excellent contrast, with nicely balanced colours (colours pop nicely IMO)

Stray light performance is also excellent...

Even handling wise, these binocular fit my hands very well...

I was originally drawn to these by looking at the photo comparison (in another thread) of the Zeiss SF 10x42 with the Maven B.6 10x50...

Packaging a 10x50 into the similar form factor as a Zeiss SF 10x42 was very attractive to me...

I have handled a Zeiss SF 10x42 and I remember thinking that it felt very light and well balanced in the hands...

The B.6 has a bit more heft but I don't mind it as I carry it in a Vortex Glasspack Harness on long walks and on shorter walks, just hold them in my hands (neckstrap around my neck). It is still light for a 10x50 in my opinion.

All in all, a great binocular and I am so far, really happy with it.