Thoughts about selling 12x50 els for Mavens

[AZBULLCRAZY]

I am kicking around selling my 12x50 els and going with two pairs of Mavens, one in 10x42 and the 18x56. My thought is I have heard a few here talk about glassing with 18s are easier on the eyes than a big spotter. Yes my spotter will stay in use. But has anyone hear used the Maven 18x56? Do you feel its worth it over the 12x50 els? Stepping down to 10s as well due to steadier in the hand. What are your guys thoughts? My only other solution is to keep the els and buy a light 65 swaro spotter as my 85 is heavy. Or selling and going to 10x50 els and a 65 spotter. Has anyone done this and regretted it or liked it? Thanks

 

[justin davis]

I wouldn’t give up the ELs

 

[ElkNut1]

X2 Justin.

ElkNut

 

[mighteywhitehunter]

Right now I run 10s 15s and an 85 spotter all Swaro. If I was going to try and lighten the load i would go to 12s and a 65 spotter. I say run the 12x50s and the 85 spotter. You would probably be adding weight by going to 10s, 18s and a 65 spotter. But it is up to you.

 

[AZBULLCRAZY]

Right now I run 10s 15s and an 85 spotter all Swaro. If I was going to try and lighten the load i would go to 12s and a 65 spotter. I say run the 12x50s and the 85 spotter. You would probably be adding weight by going to 10s, 18s and a 65 spotter. But it is up to you.

Im starting to lean towards keeping them and buying the 65 spotter with the 25-50 lense. I like the 12s alot just have a slight tremor and at times hard to freehand with them. But love them on a tripod too

 

[mighteywhitehunter]

Yeah, you will definitely get the most out of the 12s on the tripod. Over the last 2 years i sold my Vortex Razor 65mm Straight spotter and went to the 85mm Swaro with the STX and BTX eye pieces. The upgrade in glass and increase in light transmission has really helped when trying to look at critters in low light but it did add a little weight. I think if you got a 65 swaro spotter along with the 12s it would be a good lightweight system. Personally i like the straight eyepiece for spotters because to judge an animal after spotting it with the 12s you just slide the binos off and slide the spotter on and you are going to be close to where the animals was. It is faster and easier than an angled spotter in my opinion.

 

[sndmn11]

I have 10x SLCs, 18x B5s, and an Opticron 60mm Spotter that is very light weight. My wife generally runs around with her 8x B1s and the 18x. She does better than me usually using the wide FOV of the 8s to find neat things, and then swapping to the 18s to figure out what she saw. She prefers it over the spotter because it shows vibration less.

I don't think any of them could replace the others for how we use them. I think you could find some 18s used on here and try them for a month and either sell them for what you paid or know for certain you need to move the ELs. To my eyes, I always had a better view with SLCs vs ELs so I don't have a frame of reference for the 12x ELs compared to an 18x and a 10x.

 

[hflier]

I have tried several pairs of Maven's just never hit the spot for me. Always seemed a little off in color, like a gray haze. That could just be me though.

 

[jolemons]

I ran the 18x Mavens for a few weeks before selling. I feel like the higher magnification just emphasized any issues with a lower quality optic vs an alpha. The heat mirage and distortion made them worthless for what I was hoping to achieve. I traded for 15x Swaros which was night and day.

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[TexaninSconny]

Hunting Arete has some YT videos about the B5 18x, I believe. But nothing replaces having them in front of your own eyes. Demo program perhaps?


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[willfrye027]

I was not a fan of the 18x mavens. They were just not as easy to glass with. I prefer the 15x.

18x for me is not enough magnification to leave the spotting scope behind.

15x was better for “finding” animals with more FOV and relaxed view, less shake on the tripod.

just my opinions.

 

[sndmn11]

18x for me is not enough magnification to leave the spotting scope behind.

I am agreement on this with eye balls. I do have to admit that 18x with a phone skope zoomed in on your phone can make some neat things happen if you need to confirm or check something out closer for a minute.

 

[307]

I have put together a great multi-use setup:

8x30 b3
9x45 b2
15x56 b5
25-50x80 s1

Mix and match depending on the use.

I dont like handholding any bino above 10x. I CAN do it, but it seems harder than it should be. I prefer the versatility of multiple options.

Maybe Swarovski is a percent or two, maybe 5, better, but I dont feel like Maven glass is a limiting factor for me.

 

[AZBULLCRAZY]

Thanks everyone. After thinking it over I am going to either keep the 12s and run with a swaro 65 spotter or the kowa 77 as my razor 85 to me just isn't that great. Or I might sell the 12s buy some 8s or 10s with a 15slc and a spotter. I like the 12s except freehanding. I wonder since im not steady with them if im missing some stuff even off quick glances.

 

[AndyB]

/\ I have 8's and 15's slc, and an ats 65 spotter, 25-50.
I would'nt take the spotter over my 15's, try as I might I cant see any benefit in image in all but the absolute clearest conditions. At some point I will go with an 85 atx.
Others mileage may vary.

 

[Steve O]

I’d go with option 2. Keep the ELs and add the 65mm spotter. There is not much I would give up any EL for.

 

[nobody]

Following

 

[CApighunter]

I’m not a fan of 12x binos, so I’d sell, get the 9x mavens and some flavor of 15s. Keep the 85mm Swaro and you won’t have the lightest optics set up but it’ll cover your bases well. I run the 9x mavens, 15x meoptas and a kowa 883.

 

[BluMtn]

I have the 12EL's and if I need a rest I use my trekking pole as a rest. I have glassed for hours doing that. I have my 884 on my tripod.

 

[Marbles]

You could keep the El's. Add an 8x25s (like the Zeiss Victory Pockets). Then get a Kowa 554.

Use the 12 El's on a tripod to find animals. Use the small Kowa to judge what you have found. Use the 8x25 for quick free hand looks.

The small Kowa and Victory pockets still come in lighter than a 65mm Swaro.

That said, if you like searching for game with a spotter, you probably want to ignor the above and just get a 65mm Swaro or a Kowa 770 series due to FOV.

Keep in mined, that advice is worth about what you payed for it. I have a Kowa 554 and really like it, but it is pretty new to me. I use Zeiss Conquest 8x42s and have been happy with them. Other than a Friends 10x42 Razors, that is the limit of my personal experience with optics.