I received my Optical Doubler from Maven yesterday and had a chance to take it out and test it glassing deer on a hillside. I've repeatedly read that these doublers are not effective and that if Swaro's is bad, then no other doubler should even be considered... So I was a little nervous about risking $200 but was pleasantly surprised.
The conditions were definitely not low light. It was evening, about 6 p.m. and I was glassing a west facing hillside at about 1.25 miles.
I had B2 9x45, B2 11x45, and S1A 25-50 with me. Unfortunately, I forgot to order the adapter ring to attach the doubler to the S1 but I could evaluate it with the 9x45 and 11x45.
My purpose for the doubler was to take on backpack hunts where I wouldn't have the spotter due to weight, primarily during archery elk season. At 6 oz, it's not much of a weight penalty and if it worked very well at all it would be well worth carrying it for the occasional closer look.
I found some critters at 1.25 miles through the 9's. I was thinking they were mule deer due to location but they could have been pronghorn does. I placed the doubler on the right barrel of the B2's and could immediately and easily tell that they were mule deer and that one of them may be a buck. The focus is very sensitive with the doubler attached but I mostly expected that. Also, there is a pretty significant tunnel effect. FOV isn't much at all. The nice part is that I could "aim" with the left barrel of the binos and then switch to the doubled right barrel and I didn't have to do any searching for my target.
RESULT:
The view was crisp, clear, and bright.
The FOV was very small, focus was very sensitive, and I suspect that low light performance would be poor as the 45 mm objective lens, even through an AK prism, likey can't deliver enough light at 18x to be very good in lower light conditions.
All of this was done off a tripod. Trying to handhold an 18x45 "scope" was very challenging. I tried briefly, but found that I had to lean against something in order to make it serviceable.
I also tried the doubler on the the 11's and while they did double the magnification, the FOV, focus, and I suspect low light performance were even more of a challenge. I think the doubler is going to work on the lower magnification, higher light transmission optics the best. I'd like to see it on a 10x50 or 8x56 but mostly for entertainment purposes.
Verdict, I think the doubler is very good and does exactly what it claims to do. There are definitely limitations to its performance, but for 6 oz, I think it's a very valuable piece of my optics system.
When I get the adapter for the S1 spotter, I'll update this thread.
The conditions were definitely not low light. It was evening, about 6 p.m. and I was glassing a west facing hillside at about 1.25 miles.
I had B2 9x45, B2 11x45, and S1A 25-50 with me. Unfortunately, I forgot to order the adapter ring to attach the doubler to the S1 but I could evaluate it with the 9x45 and 11x45.
My purpose for the doubler was to take on backpack hunts where I wouldn't have the spotter due to weight, primarily during archery elk season. At 6 oz, it's not much of a weight penalty and if it worked very well at all it would be well worth carrying it for the occasional closer look.
I found some critters at 1.25 miles through the 9's. I was thinking they were mule deer due to location but they could have been pronghorn does. I placed the doubler on the right barrel of the B2's and could immediately and easily tell that they were mule deer and that one of them may be a buck. The focus is very sensitive with the doubler attached but I mostly expected that. Also, there is a pretty significant tunnel effect. FOV isn't much at all. The nice part is that I could "aim" with the left barrel of the binos and then switch to the doubled right barrel and I didn't have to do any searching for my target.
RESULT:
The view was crisp, clear, and bright.
The FOV was very small, focus was very sensitive, and I suspect that low light performance would be poor as the 45 mm objective lens, even through an AK prism, likey can't deliver enough light at 18x to be very good in lower light conditions.
All of this was done off a tripod. Trying to handhold an 18x45 "scope" was very challenging. I tried briefly, but found that I had to lean against something in order to make it serviceable.
I also tried the doubler on the the 11's and while they did double the magnification, the FOV, focus, and I suspect low light performance were even more of a challenge. I think the doubler is going to work on the lower magnification, higher light transmission optics the best. I'd like to see it on a 10x50 or 8x56 but mostly for entertainment purposes.
Verdict, I think the doubler is very good and does exactly what it claims to do. There are definitely limitations to its performance, but for 6 oz, I think it's a very valuable piece of my optics system.
When I get the adapter for the S1 spotter, I'll update this thread.
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