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I have been on a Bino search for the last while and have narrowed my search down to three options:
zeiss conquest HD 10x42
meopta MeoPro10x42
Maven B.2 11x45
I have tire kicked the conquests a few times, great glass and have the rep etc for longevity and quality but am quite intrigued by the other two especially the Mavens.
Anyone been running the Meopta or Mavens listed above for a season or two?
I know they have a demo program but if i am paying shipping I’d thought I’d try here first.
cheers
I have owned the conquests and was absolutely happy with them. You dont see the other two models around as much. I have no experience with either.
I have the conquest and they are excellent. I bought my ex wife meopros a few years back and they are very good, not quite up to the Zeiss but very very close.
I have a pair of Meopta’s in 8x32 Outstanding ! Bought from WF He’s a great guy to deal with !
Arctic Lake
I'm looking at upgrading and have been looking at some swaros's. While I was looking, I picked up a set Zeiss conquest. Very nice and they have me thinking.
Anyhow, they are on sale at Cabelas right now for $1169(22% off).
https://www.cabelas.ca/product/37904...-hd-binoculars
So I have the sig Sauer 11x45s which are the twin to the mavens. They are excellent
I had maven c1s previously and the sharpness drop off at the edge was very noticeable.
The 11x45s are sharp edge to edge.
I am into photography and I have pentax prime lenses which are sharp. I was concerned that the maven/sig Sauer were being overhyped but when I got them and played with them I was very happy.
I know someone with the meopta and the zeiss and they are also very happy.
In regards to field of view, maven/Sauer understate their true FOV. I was reading birding forums and one of the members had run comparisons and measured it.
I like the extra reach of the 11x for when I eventually go north.
Thanks everyone. Decisions decisions
For anyone interested, I decided to take advantage of the Maven demo program. Im ok eating the shipping to return them if they dont have the wow factor. Want to try them before removing them from consideration. Solid reviews all around especially for the price range. Ended up super caught between the Maven B2 9x45 and the new Meopta Meopro Airs. Same price range, but saw a few reviews that people were not loving some aspects of the new Meoptas with the focus and tunnel effect.
Ordered the 9x45 B2 Mavens, going to compare them against a set of Conquests. If they dont hold up Ill either go for the Meopro airs or go for the Zeiss. Ill throw up some thoughts once I have used them for a bit.
Looking forward to your review of the B2's.
Well put the Mavens to work for the last week and a bit or so.
my thoughts (not an optics expert whatsoever)
- they are bigger and heavier than the zeiss by a noticeable amount. Get used to them pretty quick, but takes a bit
- very clear and sharp. Nice edge to edge. Great glass
- wasn’t the biggest fan of the rubbery exterior coating
- very buttery smooth focus wheel, very easy to focus/use.
- FOV was lacking, felt a bit of tunnel vision when held side by side to the conquests. Too much to look past
- conquests seemed brighter.
overall great binos, wouldn’t have a problem owning them but have settled on the Zeiss Conquests. The Meopta’s in this range were just to far out of budget for now.
FYI - the loaner program is cool, but didn’t consider having to wrestle my sales tax back from customs now. Stupid oversight on my part, something to consider for anyone thinking about it.