Maven s1.a 80mm vs swaro atx 65mm

[Willhoffman101]

Howdy. I currently have a maven 80mm spotter and I would like to get into a 65mm spotter because I don’t love packing around my 80. I was thinking of going to the 65mm swaro atx. I’m wondering if this will be a noticeable upgrade or not… obviously the swaro glass is an improvement, not going to argue that. My concern is the smaller objective.

I’d like something a little smaller and lighter to pack with me on hunts, and obviously I’d like maintain or improve the optical quality of whatever it is that I end up going with. If it’s not an huge improvement, I will just sack up and continue packing the 80 around.

The swaro is about 10 ounces lighter than the maven. Not a huge weight savings but it’s an improvement. Is it worth the cost to jump into the swaro and shave the 10 ounces, or will the smaller objective make them about even in terms of what I can see in low light?

 

[DoubleAron]

I had a viper 65 then got the S1A mainly for around the truck or close hikes. I ended up using the S1A in my pack more often as the weight and size was negligible. The quality however was a lot better with the S1A. Then I picked up an S2 and now they both feel heavy and huge. The S2 has drawbacks (max zoom and low light performance) compared especially to the S1A but man is it small and light.

 

[Willhoffman101]

I had a viper 65 then got the S1A mainly for around the truck or close hikes. I ended up using the S1A in my pack more often as the weight and size was negligible. The quality however was a lot better with the S1A. Then I picked up an S2 and now they both feel heavy and huge. The S2 has drawbacks (max zoom and low light performance) compared especially to the S1A but man is it small and light.

Yeah, after using an 80mm for so long I’m worried that dropping down to anything smaller is just going to feel like a downgrade. I think something tiny like the S2 would be hard for me to fall in love with, kinda hoping a 65 would be the perfect balance for my needs. I had a razor hd 65 before I got my maven and the maven was leaps and bounds better than that setup.