Are Alpha Binoculars worth it?

[AkMtnRunner]

Don't worry if you can't afford the best binoculars. Some of my most memorable and successful hunts were with $300-400 binos. With that said, when you do have that disposable income at some point in your life, you'll probably be glad you stepped up.

 

[Tmac]

Ok thanks all this information makes me lean towards the mavens and save the rest for future trips.

Where are you in OR? If close to Cabelas, etc. buy the Mavens from a place you have 30 days or so to return them. Take them to Cabela’s, local dealer with Swaro/Zeiss/Leica, etc. and compare them, outside in full light, then in failing light till you can’t see. Decide if the extra $ are worth it. If you are close to PDX, I’ll drop by with a pair of Meopta Meostar’s, if you like and I can make it. The Meopta’s are about $1,500 retail class glass, I think just a few 100‘s more than the Maven’s you referenced. Zeiss Conquests and GPO HD glass is also worth a look if available, in that 1,000 - 1,500 range. Let me know.

 

[Moserkr]

Looking at a 360” (guessing) bull a mile away, friend with new 10x42 NL pures, me with newer 10x42 SLCs - we could both see it was clearly a big bull. Couldnt tell exactly how big it was until we pulled out the spotter - friends ats swaro 65mm. Then there was no question. But we glassed elk for days side by side and I never felt under glassed. He has naturally better eye sight than me and had better glass - I spotted more elk. Why? I glass harder and have hunted longer? Who knows.

I picked up a used maven cs.1 spotter off this site so I could confirm animals I find with my binos. Before i bought the SLC’s I was looking at the maven b.2s 9 or 11x45. Was leaning towards the 9x so i had a wider fov and then add on the spotter for confirmation. Got the SLC’s at close to the price of the mavens ~$1250.

Id love a pair of NL pures, sure they are a bit better but at almost triple the cost. If you’re counting points and rings for a living then I could see the value. For a regular hunter like me, Im plenty happy with the lower end of the alpha spectrum. Spotter not included - cs.1 is midgrade glass but im only losing out on a little first/last light, and a little clarity. Again, $1,000’s to go up a step. Dont be afraid to buy used. Id look at kowa too. Im heavily drawn towards them by what ive read from many people.

Big bull, off hand through binos on a tripod at a mile. Definitely use a tripod, even with cheap binos…

 

[Flogger]

I own 10x42 Swaro EL’s. I came from Vortex razor. The Swaro’s are so much more refined and enjoyable to use. I’m glad I went with the EL’s but if I’m being honest, I’m not going to kill anything with the EL’s that I couldn’t have accomplished with the razors.
Maven makes a great product that will serve you well. Will you eventually wish you had chosen the Swaro’s instead? Possibly.

I don’t think there is a wrong answer here. You just have to weigh everything out and make the best decision for you.

Good luck and stay safe.

 

[mtwarden]

definitely do as much hands on comparisons as possible; as mentioned Maven makes it pretty easy to try their optics out; w/ Mavens in hand, find a sporting good store that offers alpha glass- go in the evening and do some side by side comparisons

you should have a very good idea which way to go after that

 

[Novahunter]

I've had my Swaro 15x SLC's for a couple years now and they have changed how I view binoculars. Definitely worth the investment, and as others have said the more you use them the more you will appreciate them.

 

[Tahoe1305]

That is obviously a very individual question that depends on what you value and how much disposable income you have.

I’ve done a handful of comparisons on this forum comparing alpha to sub $1k glass. I’ll save you the reading and say that IMO the biggest difference I have found is $2k+ glass will have better edge to edge clarity among a few other things. The edge to edge is what I value most as it allows me to view more and more clearly.

IMO everything else is pretty close outside of preference in hues and warm tones and stuff I could care less about.

Is another 20% clear FOV worth $1k?

I own 12x50ELs (previous 12x50 viper HD, Razor UHD 12s, Meostar 12, Nikon HG..still have, also have Maven B3 8x) . A patient buyer can find used for under $2k.

 

[Ridgerunner7]

You do not need alpha glass to be an alpha hunter. But are they worth it? I think so. Fatrascal

Agreed the best muley hunters I know run vortex and maven. Never owned alpha glass but have been able to use it side by side with my glass and although better I didn’t at all think it was “make or break the hunt” better. Not even close.


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[Colterw]

I've never looked through Mavens but when comparing my Swarovski Els with my Leupold guides and my Vortex vipers the biggest thing I notice it the field of view. They image is brighter and clearer through the Swarovskis but the field of view is my biggest benefit.

 

[Wetwork]

I finally got tired of wondering. Decades of Nikon, Fujinon, Leupold and many others. $100 here $200 there for years and years. I finally got to where I could afford good glass. After looking through Swar's and Zeiss I choose Zeiss. They just liked my old eyes better and after watching them on a video get shot off a stump with a shotgun went with them. Good gimick right? I should have bought good glass years ago, but then again I was really hard on gear as a younger lad. So maybe cheaper glass is a good idea 'til you get old and more careful.-WW

 

[roosiebull]

Ok thanks all this information makes me lean towards the mavens and save the rest for future trips.

where in Oregon are you? if on the coast, i'm sure i could meet up at some point, i have some SLC's, NL pures, and kowa genesis you could look through and compare on a tripod just to see the differences. of course i'm a huge fan of the NL, but the kowa genesis are the most impressive optics i have looked through when considering cost vs performance.... only binos i have looked through that truly perform above their price.

 

[Blue72]

Check out this guys YouTube channel. He reviews alpha and next tier binoculars. He is a professional photographer and hunter that has an eye for perfection

he will be the first to tell you that the difference is getting smaller and smaller these days

here he compares more affordable trinovids to alpha ultravides

 

[OregonHunter13]

Thanks all for the information I am located in Grants Pass in southern Oregon. Thank you though for the offer.

 

[Spiral Horn]

I have the Maven B6 10x50, and quite a few Alpha level and mid-grade binoculars of varying configurations.

Are Zeiss SFs, NL Pure, or EL better performing binoculars than the Mavens? Yes. But it isn't as immediately obvious as most would likely think. Let's take my SFs - the image is a bit more immersive, better FOV, and the colors are a bit more vivid - but the resolution is very close as the Maven is tack-sharp and very bright. The SFs are probably the best handling full-sized binoculars I've ever owned, and the focus is buttery-smooth. That's the crux of it = Alphas are just a bit more refined in most aspects - image, handling, focus mechanism, etc. Collectively, those subtle advantages add up to a smoother/nicer binocular. Whether or not that difference is worth 2x - 2.5x the $ is a personal choice.

Been using the B6 for the past few months and am really impressed with it. Maven did something very special here in building a 10x50 binocular in the form/weight factor of a 10x42. The B6 image is very crisp and bright, it is the best handling 50mm binocular I've ever used, and build quality is superb. The focus isn't as fast or smooth as my SF but it works quite well. Do I think it is as nice as my SF 10x42? No. But I'm very satisfied when using it and don't find myself pining for the SF with the B6 in hand.

Also agree with those who recommend a 10x vs a 12x - it is just an overall more useful glass.

 

[Hooknbullet2]

This is my experience, I saved up for a long time to buy Alpha glass. I went to a store that had Alpha glass as well as others. I spent a couple hours looking through all of them and I could not make out an appreciable difference between the Alpha glass and the others. In fact the lesser glass was better to my eyes than the alpha glass. So I left and went back a couple weeks later and looked through them all again. This time was a repeat of the last and the Alpha glass did not work as well for my eyes as the lesser glass. Let your eyes make the decision for you.

 

[Steve O]

Check out this guys YouTube channel. He reviews alpha and next tier binoculars. He is a professional photographer and hunter that has an eye for perfection

he will be the first to tell you that the difference is getting smaller and smaller these days

here he compares more affordable trinovids to alpha ultravides

he’s comparing Leica’s. Not Leica’s to Vortex!

 

[OregonHunter13]

Thank you all for the reply's, I am leaning towards just buying the Mavens when they come back in stock and saving the 1500$ for something else. And I am leaning towards the 12 power.

 

[StopMakingSense]

If you haven’t owned a 12 power before be careful. A lot of folks sing their praise but most can’t effictively hand hold them. The 10x42 does the most damage. If you intend on glassing with them 95% of time on a tripod then I’d go 12x all day.

If you don’t know what power range you want from practical IN FIELD experience then buy used and resell until you find that power and objective size you enjoy. Glass doesn’t lose value unless the manufacturer lowers the price. I’ve bought and sold lots of used glass on here and only losing out on shipping fees to try it out.

I read a few comments of folks not being able to discern in the store. Most can’t and the ones that can have been using alpha glass for years.

When you do decide on what power you enjoy I will tell you to buy the best you can get. Don’t skip a year of hunting but if it means just two hunts instead of three. Buy the glass. It will pay dividends later on when hunting.

I’m now going to predict the future.

You will eventually own alpha glass. Just mentioning it now means you’re interested. Save yourself the price of buying new a couple of times, reselling, then eventually buying the alpha glass you want. You’ll waste some serious money.

When I started my path down finding glass I also wasn’t wowed by the Swarovski or Leica. The Vortex Razors looked just as good to me. After using Alpha glass for over 5 years, my eyes have adjusted to the new view it provides and comes to expect the sharpness and clarity. Looking through anything less doesn’t work for me now. Eye strain, the effective FOV, the contrast in shadows, the picture you’re presented. The entire viewing experience changes after a season of using Alpha glass. Only then do I think people can understand how it really does separate them. You need to use them to really appreciate what they are.

Test all day with other nocs but until you have hard field use, you won’t be able to tell where the real difference is.

I tell everyone to find a used pair of Field Pro 10x42 EL’s studded. Easily found at $1,800 and it’s amazing value. Field pro just helps folks know they’re getting the latest version if they don’t know the many intricate changes of the EL over the last 20+ years.

Anyways, end rent on my Alpha glass soap box.

 

[fatrascal]

StopMakingSense makes a lot of sense. Many times when I see people on here say that they have compared cheaper glass to alpha glass at the store or they looked through their buddies alpha and compared while hunting for a few minutes and did not see a difference I shake my head. I was once that guy. I cant explain it but I do believe your eyes adjust. Once I went from 1st generation to second generation el's and I thought there was something wrong with my new el's because the old ones looked better but I had already sold the old ones to my brother n law. A month later me and my brother n law went hunting and we traded binos and I could now see a difference. I took my new binos back very happy with my purchase.
Here's an example I've used here in the past. You go to Walmart to buy a TV and compare them side by side and you don't see a difference. Take one home and watch it for a couple of months. Go back to Walmart and look at tv's and the differences jump out at you.
Another example. Your company hires a new employee and you really like them. But three months later you don't feel the same about them. You never know someone till you work with them or live with them. And you never really know a binocular until you've hunted with it for awhile. But we cannot all afford alpha glass every day of the week and there are some good sub alpha glass out there. Thats why I said in the beginning of this post that you do not need alpha glass to be an alpha hunter. But as you read over and over, everybody says get the most expensive glass you can afford because it truley does make a difference. You might not see it right now or in the store but it is there.
I love StopMakingSense's future prediction, you will one day owne alpha glass anyway, why not get it now and save yourself some future money, lol.
I've never pushed alpha on anyone but instead just let them find out the hard way. Because I've been there and nobody was gonna tell me any different. And seriously, non alpha glass is not terrible and you will find animals. Fatrascal.

 

[OregonHunter13]

Thank you all for the information. I ended up purchasing the Maven B.6's for a great price used here in the classifieds. They will be here later today and i will be out scouting and glassing for deer here locally this week and will be able to write a small review against friends Vortex Razors, and Leopold BX 4's. I am prone to glassing headaches so i will let everyone know how I do with the Mavens.