Best 15x binos

Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
1,264
I get that, and that's why I shopped by price to my door.

This fudd seems to indicate Mavens are on par with SLC's, so if Vortex ever makes a 15 power UHD I'll give them a look. I don't have brand loyalty with optics.


How does shopping by price to your door get you value when comparing different binoculars? It doesn't work like that. You have no idea what's actually going into the binoculars.

I have used B5's on numerous occasions, they're are extremely nice and they compete with anything in their price range, but SLC's they are not. Sure everyone who buys that level below likes to compare them to SLC's though and say they're the same.
 

swavescatter

Pain in the butt!
Joined
Apr 3, 2021
Messages
1,326
How does shopping by price to your door get you value when comparing different binoculars? It doesn't work like that. You have no idea what's actually going into the binoculars.

I have used B5's on numerous occasions, they're are extremely nice and they compete with anything in their price range, but SLC's they are not. Sure everyone who buys that level below likes to compare them to SLC's though and say they're the same.

We’ll redneck bmxer, I’m an engineer that does photon transport and sensor design for a living, but I won’t claim to be an expert in bino design. Perhaps you can enlighten us all.

In scouring the web for reviews of 15X bino comparisons, the Mavens, Swaros and Meoptas all stood out as top options, with pretty close subjective evaluations. I didn’t see anything indicating one was head and shoulders above the other, therefore I went with an affordable option with the best explicit warranty.

If anyone in NM has another set of 15’s they want to compare side by side let’s do it!
 
Joined
Apr 11, 2019
Messages
98
I stand corrected. Got an email today after reaching out to Meopta. The damage was more severe than I thought and basically the entire left side needs to be replaced. It is going to cost me $250 to have it fixed. I spoke too soon and now I feel like an idiot. It could be worse I suppose. I’m ok with paying to have it repaired, as I got a pretty good deal. Hopefully I have them back before September.
 

JakeSCH

WKR
Joined
Jun 14, 2020
Messages
1,008
Location
San Diego, CA
I have owned NL12, SLC 15x, Maven B4 and B5 15x, B5 18x and looked through Conquest HD 15x quite a few times.

I was an adamant 15x user for many years and named my SLC's meat seekers. I even use to get annoyed when @Ryan Avery would say good 12x could do anything a 15x could.

Decided to get a pair of NL 12x "just to see" and after two years, I have officially converted and sold my SLC's 15x. They never left my house last year.
 
Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
1,264
I stand corrected. Got an email today after reaching out to Meopta. The damage was more severe than I thought and basically the entire left side needs to be replaced. It is going to cost me $250 to have it fixed. I spoke too soon and now I feel like an idiot. It could be worse I suppose. I’m ok with paying to have it repaired, as I got a pretty good deal. Hopefully I have them back before September.

You should look into a valuable personal property plan. I have $50K of coverage through USAA and it costs me less than $100/year. If all of my binos at the same time accidentally fell off a cliff USAA would cut me a check for the replacement costs. Thankfully I haven't had to use it, but it's piece of mind. That repair would have cost me zero since I have no deductible.
 

swavescatter

Pain in the butt!
Joined
Apr 3, 2021
Messages
1,326
I have owned NL12, SLC 15x, Maven B4 and B5 15x, B5 18x and looked through Conquest HD 15x quite a few times.

I was an adamant 15x user for many years and named my SLC's meat seekers. I even use to get annoyed when @Ryan Avery would say good 12x could do anything a 15x could.

Decided to get a pair of NL 12x "just to see" and after two years, I have officially converted and sold my SLC's 15x. They never left my house last year.

If Swarovski made 15 NL’s it would be game over. Even ELs.
 
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