Chad E
WKR
After really looking at my optics setup after a couple hunts this fall and comparing them to what my buddies were packing I was on the same 12x50 quest. It started with being able to borrow a pair of razors for a few days. I then took advantage of the Maven demo program and ordered a set of the 11x45 b2s. At the same time I purchased a pair of 12x50 cabelas instinct euro(meopta's). They arrived within a day of each other and I spent the next two weeks packing both on some hunts, each one separately some days, and a bunch of head to head comparison on my back deck. This included a lot of time on a tripod as well as off hand. The conclusion I came to was both the mavens and the meopta/cabelas were better than the razors to my eyes. Both the maven and the meopta are amazing glass and I really had a hard time picking between the two. Going into it after hearing a lot about maven as a company I really wanted them to be the one I ranked higher and kept but in the end I ended up sending back the Maven and keeping the Meopta. The reason I did this is to my eye I can focus and get a clearer image out of the Meopta. For some reason I often struggled to get the super sharp focus with the Maven. I won't rule out the possibility that the Maven was a used demo model and they weren't perfectly brand new(like the Meopta) and maybe not a good representation. Another thing of note is I see a ton of guys talking about ergonomics and the meoptas being big and cumbersome. After using both on a couple of hunts I didn't feel that the Meopta's were that bad. All of the 12x options were considerably larger than the 10x42's I used as my main binocular previously, but the main purpose of a set of 12xs to me is for hunts where I plan to put them on a tripod a large majority of the time and to me when they are on the tripod I don't notice much about ergonomics. Make no mistake a 12x binocular is not a nice compact package. My previous optics setup was a pair or 10xs on my chest 100% of the time and I would pack a spotter for any hunt where I wanted to have more magnification. For hunts where I planned to do a ton of glassing I would bring 15xs as well. I would use both the 10xs and 15xs of the tripod when appropriate. When I initially decided I wanted to get a set of 12x50s I planned on it being my primary set and I would no longer have to own or bring a set of 10x on my chest and a pair of 15xs in the pack. After spending time behind multiple sets of 12xs I have decided that for a lot of hunts they will be a great bridge between my two previous optics but there will be some hunts where they are not a good primary setup. Because of this I will certainly hang on to my 10x42s(and even wish they were 8x) for hunts where more magnification is not necessary, I will not be packing a tripod/spotter, and a lighter compact package is preferred.
I listened to the Kifaru podcast where Aron gave the results posted above. I am certainly not going to dispute his knowledge or conclusions but judging from the optics reviewed I am pretty sure most of the models they looked at were 10x42s or similar. I don't think those results transfer over perfectly to 12x50 class binos but it is a great starting place.
I listened to the Kifaru podcast where Aron gave the results posted above. I am certainly not going to dispute his knowledge or conclusions but judging from the optics reviewed I am pretty sure most of the models they looked at were 10x42s or similar. I don't think those results transfer over perfectly to 12x50 class binos but it is a great starting place.
