Maven C3 12x50 or Leupold BX-2 Tioga 12x50?

[cody21peterson]

Has anyone had experience looking at both these binos? The tioga are about $100 cheaper. Do you think it’s worth saving some money or going with the maven?


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[cody21peterson]

Or the Leupold Alpine 12x52 which is a newer version of the tioga?


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[Boo Radley]

I’d like to send this one back to the top. I’m on the brink of jumping on a set of the c3 12x50’s. I’ve had my hands on a set of the tioga 12x50’s and they seemed fine. But I’ve been looking through a pair 10x42 monarch’s for 11 years and those baby’s have had a tough life.

 

[cody21peterson]

Yeah I think the mavens would definitely be better glass, I’m just wondering if it’s worth an extra $100. I had some vortex crossfire and went to the vortex viper. Honestly there wasn’t that much of a difference for the price.


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[IdahoHntr]

I'd say the Maven C3's are definitely worth the extra money. I have used the Tiogas and own the maven C.1 12x42. I wouldn't really even put them close. Honestly, I've had better views in a vortex diamondback or crossfire than the tiogas. If you wanted to save even a little more money off the C.3s go with the 12x42 C.1s. I know everybody worries about the lower exit pupil and low light performance, but in real world application you are not losing much low light glassing, if at all. I have ran them against 12x50s and its mere seconds of low light glassing time, but you are gaining a lighter and smaller bino at a lower price. The exit pupil on a 12x42 is still bigger than the 18x56 binos that everybody is so high on these days. Just a thought!

I love my 12x42s and can't say enough good about them for the price.

 

[Boo Radley]

Man, great review. Thank you for that. I believe my mind is made up.

 

[cody21peterson]

I'd say the Maven C3's are definitely worth the extra money. I have used the Tiogas and own the maven C.1 12x42. I wouldn't really even put them close. Honestly, I've had better views in a vortex diamondback or crossfire than the tiogas. If you wanted to save even a little more money off the C.3s go with the 12x42 C.1s. I know everybody worries about the lower exit pupil and low light performance, but in real world application you are not losing much low light glassing, if at all. I have ran them against 12x50s and its mere seconds of low light glassing time, but you are gaining a lighter and smaller bino at a lower price. The exit pupil on a 12x42 is still bigger than the 18x56 binos that everybody is so high on these days. Just a thought!

I love my 12x42s and can't say enough good about them for the price.

Did you compare to the C3 12x50? I’m thinking about ordering both the c1 12x42 and the C3 12x50 in the demo. I think it’s the same shipping charge as one binocular and then I can look side by side and see what is best.


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[IdahoHntr]

Did you compare to the C3 12x50? I’m thinking about ordering both the c1 12x42 and the C3 12x50 in the demo. I think it’s the same shipping charge as one binocular and then I can look side by side and see what is best.


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Yeah. I didn’t notice a lot of difference. Except for size and price! Even in low light I felt there was little to no difference. The 12x42s actually have little bit bigger field of view, so that was another perk in choosing the C.1. I think it’s definitely not a bad idea to try them both though. Then you can know for yourself that you made the best choice.

 

[binoman]

I'd say the Maven C3's are definitely worth the extra money. I have used the Tiogas and own the maven C.1 12x42. I wouldn't really even put them close. Honestly, I've had better views in a vortex diamondback or crossfire than the tiogas. If you wanted to save even a little more money off the C.3s go with the 12x42 C.1s. I know everybody worries about the lower exit pupil and low light performance, but in real world application you are not losing much low light glassing, if at all. I have ran them against 12x50s and its mere seconds of low light glassing time, but you are gaining a lighter and smaller bino at a lower price. The exit pupil on a 12x42 is still bigger than the 18x56 binos that everybody is so high on these days. Just a thought!

I love my 12x42s and can't say enough good about them for the price.

Just to add to this - I haven't looked through the Mavens but I did have a Tioga 8x32. Build quality seemed cheap but the view turned me off. It had an overall greenish hue to everything. I also noticed in shadows and dark areas I could not see everything well when compared to looking through a vortex viper Hd which offered MUCH better views. The Tioga line was discontinued in Jan of this year (wonder why!). I sent mine back for repair due to a defect in the focus knob and they replaced it with a BX-4 8x32 which is a much better binocular and I am happy with it.