maven 18s field experience?

[eoperator]

Thinking I "need" maven 18's, anyone out there that has time in the field with them willing to chime in with their thoughts/experiences?

 

[Pezboat]

I’m interested in this too. For how highly anticipated the 18’s were from Maven and Vortex, I really haven’t heard much about their performance.

 

[Kenn]

The Mavens are getting great reviews, but I'm afraid to jump in because of my experience with another new optics company; Zenray. They made great binoculars and I bought them and talked several friends into getting them. Long story short, more than half of them were returned for coming out of collimation and were promptly replaced, then Zenray went out of business. Also, has anyone else noticed that every binocular review sums up the performance with some version of, "Almost as good as Swarovski's at a fraction of the price"?

 

[Hatchet Jack]

Also, has anyone else noticed that every binocular review sums up the performance with some version of, "Almost as good as Swarovski's at a fraction of the price"?

Haha yeah and “good glass for the money”. The only reviews I’ve seen are from guys in bed with maven so I’m not sold yet. My brother is going to demo some for his December coues hunt so we’ll see how they compare to swaro 12s and 15s.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Established "Almost an SLC for less $$$" is a Meopta MeoStar and Meopta's been around for over 80 years

 

[eoperator]

Established "Almost an SLC for less $$$" is a Meopta MeoStar and Meopta's been around for over 80 years

Do you know/could you explain the difference between fluoride and florite glass please

 

[Kenn]

Established "Almost an SLC for less $$$" is a Meopta MeoStar and Meopta's been around for over 80 years

Talked to you earlier today Doug. May give the 15x56 Meostars a try. I'd be comparing them to Nikon 16x56, so no chance for, "almost as good as Swarovski’s."

 

[AkMtnRunner]

I've used the Meostar 15x56 and the Maven 18x56. I'll put it this way: the Meostars have just as great glass as Swaro SLC, they only lack a little in FOV and weight. The Maven's glass quality are a slight noticeable step down. My sample suffers from a bit of purple chromatic aberration on whites, but that is the only point against them. However, the Maven's make up for it, with 3x more magnification good FOV and great build quality.

They're both about the same price. If wanting 15x, I'd go Meostar. If you really want the most magnification with a 'still great' bino, go Maven.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Do you know/could you explain the difference between fluoride and florite glass please

To the best of my knowledge Florite is a type of glass and flouride is in drinking water and tooth paste

 

[eoperator]

To the best of my knowledge Florite is a type of glass and flouride is in drinking water and tooth paste

As listed on their webites;
meostar- fluoride glass
maven- florite- glass

double and triple checked

 

[gr8fuldoug]

You peeked my curiosity. So I went old school....Just checked Dictionary (I know I'm showing my age)

Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon.
The Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison, defines value 4 as Fluorite.
Pure fluorite is transparent, both in visible and ultraviolet light, but impurities usually make it a colorful mineral and the stone has ornamental and lapidary uses. Industrially, fluorite is used as a flux for smelting, and in the production of certain glasses and enamels. The purest grades of fluorite are a source of fluoride for hydrofluoric acid manufacture, which is the intermediate source of most fluorine-containing fine chemicals. Optically clear transparent fluorite lenses have low dispersion, so lenses made from it exhibit less chromatic aberration, making them valuable in microscopes and telescopes. Fluorite optics are also usable in the far-ultraviolet and mid-infrared ranges, where conventional glasses are too absorbent for use.

Fluoride glass is a class of non-oxide optical glasses composed of fluorides of various metals. Due to their low viscosity, it is very difficult to completely avoid the occurrence of any crystallization while processing it through the glass transition (or drawing the fiber from the melt).
Thus, although heavy metal fluoride glasses (HMFG) exhibit very low optical attenuation, they are not only difficult to manufacture, but are quite fragile, and have poor resistance to moisture and other environmental attacks.
Fluoride glasses' best attribute is that they lack the absorption band associated with the hydroxyl (OH) group (3200 – 3600 cm−1) which is present in nearly all oxide-based glasses

 

[blb078]

I'm interested in this too. I'm going back/forth between the Maven's in 18x or the Meopta's in 15x. I've looked through the Meopta and liked them but the 18x of the Maven's intrigues me. If Meopta had an 18x it would be a no brainer for me. I also kind of feel that Maven's pricing is a little high for "cut out the middle man" business model.

 

[Kenn]

I have the Nikon 16X56 and I like them a lot but I thought I should try the Meostar/Cabela's 15x56 because of the great reviews. Went to Cabelas today and took the 16X56's with me to compare. The Euro's were better than the Nikons and a big factor was the eyepieces are thin, which fit my eyes much better. I am apparently a freak who's eyes are too close together and the fat eyepieces on the Nikons made them difficult to use. I then made the big mistake of trying the Swarovski's just for sport. They are better. Not huge, and certainly not $1,000 better for any sane person, but I have to have them. I'm going to buy 10% off gift certificates at Cabelas, then wait for a sale to try to make it less painful but it's still painful.

I also know that whatever difference I see in the store will be magnified in the field. I have 8X32 and 10X42 Nikon SE's and they are spectacular, but you can't tell the difference inside the store.

 

[Ryan Avery]

Haha yeah and “good glass for the money”. The only reviews I’ve seen are from guys in bed with maven so I’m not sold yet. My brother is going to demo some for his December coues hunt so we’ll see how they compare to swaro 12s and 15s.

I guess I'm in bed with Maven??

I am only in bed with what my eyes tells me and @Tanya Avery

The Maven 18s are great and most people not in bed with me agree.

I do wish Swaro made EL's in 18s