Maven c1 vs Meopta Meopro vs Vortex diamondback

[Daddy]

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Ok guys, I finally got done with my review. I had a pair of Vortex diamondbacks, Meopta meopros, and Maven c1 all in the 10x42. I spent hours behind each and side by side to compare differences and wanted to pass it on to those who are looking at a midrange priced binocular. It's been a 2 month process because I tested them in the desert, the mountains, at home, low light, hot days, anything I could think of. The Meoptas I had happened to be out of collimation so I sent them back to meopta and then had to wait to continue testing. Here's what I found:

First off, as expected the vortex diamonbacks are not in the same quality class as the meopta and Maven. In every test they were last. That being said, they perform well for their price point. If a guy only has $150 to spend on a pair of binos, then I would recommend he waited for a sale on the diamondbacks because they do get the job done and I've seen them for $99 on black Friday. If a guy is willing to go anything over $150 though, I STRONGLY recommend saving up a little more and getting one of the Mavens or Meoptas.

Low light and shadow test winner was the Meoptas
Desert and mountain terrain winner was Meopta
Moving targets test was a tie between Maven and Meopta but the Meoptas have a much larger field of view
Sunny hot days test winner was meopta because of the FOV and edge to edge clarity
Tripod, freehand, one handed tests all went to Meopta because of clarity and FOV

Here's the catch though- The only test that Maven was the best in was the eye fatigue test. The maven's biggest drawback is that the FOV is small and edge to edge clarity just isn't there like the Meoptas. But you can comfortably look through the Mavens all day long, where as the meoptas have something that just bothers my eyes after 10 minutes. It doesn't make sense though because they are so clear and sharp. After trying two pairs of meoptas I wonder if it's just my eyes.

I chose the Meopta Meopros because the 10x usually stays on my chest and i mostly only use them in short bursts and then use 15x for longer sessions. They are well built, the glass is AMAZING, supposedly schott glass which is same as swarovski. If you are the kinda guy who sits on a mountain and stares through binos all day long, then the mavens will be alot easier on your eyes. But if you take breaks or glass in 20 minute intervals, then the meoptas are much clearer, more FOV, brighter, perform better in every area other than eye fatigue. The mavens are a great buy at $350, I can recommend both of these binos. It was hard for me to choose because of the eye fatigue part, but the clarity of the meoptas was impressive for the $430 I spent on them. Give doug at cameralandny.com a call and mention rokslide for the discount. The Mavens were a close 2nd in most tests, but the small FOV and no edge to edge clarity made me choose the Meoptas. Pick one and don't feel bad and just enjoy your gear is the biggest advice I can give. Do the research, buy a product and then use it and don't look back because there will always be something more shiny and seem to be better. Good luck guys

 

[bmanb940]

Very nicely done review. I have been a fan of Meopta bino's since I first took a look through a pair. Impressive at all levels. I have put my MeoPro bino's through a lot of hunting/scouting days and love em. For a sub $500 bino they are sure tough to beat. There are a number of Rokslide Sponsor's here who carry the Meopta bino's and it is definitely worth supporting those who support this site.

 

[idahohikker]

This strikes me as a weird take. Maven C1s have warts but the near-unanimous take over dozens of reviews is that the optical clarity is superb. I haven’t worked with Meopros and I believe they are probably in the same ballpark as C1s in quality.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Newtosavage]

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Here's the catch though- The only test that Maven was the best in was the eye fatigue test. The maven's biggest drawback is that the FOV is small and edge to edge clarity just isn't there like the Meoptas. But you can comfortably look through the Mavens all day long, where as the meoptas have something that just bothers my eyes after 10 minutes. It doesn't make sense though because they are so clear and sharp. After trying two pairs of meoptas I wonder if it's just my eyes.

Nope, not just you. I had two pairs of Meopros at the same time - 8's and 10's - and I had several other bins to compare them to. I found the same thing - the distortion was too much for me. I got eye strain within 2-3 minutes, where I never experienced that with the C1's.

binoculars free from eye strain are invaluable to me in the mountains, as I spend hours behind my bins daily. I don't care how bright or sharp or how wide a field of view, if the distortion is more than my eyes can handle comfortably for hours, I won't use them.

The binoculars I've used that have the least amount of eye strain - for my eyes - were my old Nikon LX-L's, my Cabelas Outfitter HD's, Conquest HD's, Meopta Meostars and Japanese-made Razors. Even the Swaro SLC's tended to bother my eyes after a long session.

 

[IdahoHntr]

Nope, not just you. I had two pairs of Meopros at the same time - 8's and 10's - and I had several other bins to compare them to. I found the same thing - the distortion was too much for me. I got eye strain within 2-3 minutes, where I never experienced that with the C1's.

binoculars free from eye strain are invaluable to me in the mountains, as I spend hours behind my bins daily. I don't care how bright or sharp or how wide a field of view, if the distortion is more than my eyes can handle comfortably for hours, I won't use them.

The binoculars I've used that have the least amount of eye strain - for my eyes - were my old Nikon LX-L's, my Cabelas Outfitter HD's, Conquest HD's, Meopta Meostars and Japanese-made Razors. Even the Swaro SLC's tended to bother my eyes after a long session.

It's not just the two of you. I was researching both these binos heavily and in my research it is a very common issue people have with the Meopros. I eventually went with Mavens because of those reviews. Since then, I have been able to have some limited time with the Meopros and they honestly don't bother me too bad, but I didn't see any performance edge over the Mavens and didn't want to take the risk of eye strain. The Mavens are definitely comfortable glass to sit behind all day and so I'm sticking with those.

Good review to show that it all depends on what matters to you and that everybody's eyes are different.