Maven vs leupold binos

[Badseed]

I had hoped Maven would have a black friday sale for their B6 line but they dont so my decision got tougher. I am looking to pick up some 12x50 binos and have narrowed it down to the leupold bx-4 and maven b6 based on price and feedback.

I already have tier 1 10x42’s but I am wanting to try something with a higher power. The leupold s are on sale for $599 plus a few extra discounts which get them closer to $525. The mavens on the other hand are still retail price at $1100.

For those who have tried both, are the mavens worth 2x the cost of the leupolds?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bigv]

Doubt it but i had 10x42s in each. I had both side by side. Really struggled with noticing a difference. I really like both but didn't need both. I kept the leupold just because higher resale if ever wanted to. But...thought the mavens were great. Very comparable

 

[TheBootBowhunting]

The BX-4s are great in their price range. I was in your boat. I had BX-4 12s, and bought the B6 12x50s. Had them in hand at the same time and I can tell you that in many cases it takes some time to notice differences in binoculars, sometimes even in different price ranges - Not with these 2 though. Ive done it recently in going from Maven B1.2 8x42 to SLC 8x42 - and honestly the B1.2 goes toe to toe with the Swaros in 8x.

But the BX-4 vs the B6 was a very noticeable difference. The field of view of the B6 makes the BX-4 look almost like tunnel vision (listed 289 to 251). Its is a pretty massive difference when comparing them side by side. Edge to edge clarity, overall clarity and sharpness, build quality, focus wheel, etc were alll pretty clearly going to the Mavens.

That said, I had the BX4 12s for a while and if Id have never looked through the Mavens I wouldve though they were solid binos. If you can swing it in this particular comparision, Id go with the B6. If not the BX4s will do the job.

Im back and forth with the idea of selling the B6s to grab a pair of EL 12x50s. Leaning to keeping the B6 because while the ELs are going to be a bit better, the B6s are pretty impressive on their own. I dont know if I am missing anything with the B6s. But this is a post from a guy with a good bit of binocular knowledge comparing the B6 and EL 12x50, a good read if youre considering the B6 and how it punches above its weight class.....

Maven B.6 12x50 vs. Swarovski 12x50 EL – What a Pickle I’m In - Page 2 - Binoculars - Cloudy Nights

Page 2 of 2 - Maven B.6 12x50 vs. Swarovski 12x50 EL – What a Pickle I’m In - posted in Binoculars: Thanks for the kind words DrJ1, and you are very likely correct on both points. Im hoping this is my last job before retirement, but who knows! I think (hope) my binocular journey has...

www.cloudynights.com

 

[Badseed]

Ive read mixed reviews on the optical advantages and most reviews I have seen seem to favor the Mavens but they are also more expensive which makes sense. At the end of the day it kind of boils down to whether or not the advantage is worth an extra $400. Its tough to guess without having them side by side.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Deadfall]

Those are different class binos. Apples to apples would be bx5.

 

[Badseed]

Ok, why do you say that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Deadfall]

every manufacturer has goo, better, best products. for instance in the leupold line the bx-4 are lesser quality then the bx-5. vortex its diamond backs are low end UHD are the higher end.
maven its the b series and c series.

so mavens equivalnt to the bx 4 would be a C series bino not the higher end b series.

pound for pound comparison for your eyes would be leupold Santiam BX5 and the maven B6

 

[Badseed]

Ok I guess I considered them similar in specs because those two binos were frequently referred to when people were evaluating non tier 1, 12x50 binos. I just bought some B6 binos from another slide member so I guess we will see if I have any complaints/regrets. The B6 has a better FOV than the leupold, is slightly lighter and slightly smaller which are three benefits in my mind. Looking forward to testing them out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bdloftin]

For what it's worth, I tried the Leupold BX-4 (12x50) vs Maven C3 (12x50) vs Tract Toric (12.5x50). The BX-4 were a bit darker than the other two. The C3s were the brightest, slightly brighter than the Tracts. Both the C3s and Tracts had similar clarity to me, slightly beating out the BX-4.

The Tracts were good, but had trouble focusing to infinity for me without glasses. I rolled the focus wheel all the way to the end, and it barely focused. Might have just been a fluke with that particular pair though.

I liked the ergonomics of the BX-4 a bit better than the Mavens, as well as the lens caps. But thought I'd probably regret getting a darker and slightly less clear pair in the end.

Curious about the B6's, I found a good deal and ended up getting those used for only a couple hundred more than the retail price of new C3s. The B6's have a much greater field of view, and are slightly brighter. I didn't take a lot of time to compare clarity, but I am very impressed with them. For me, they are slightly finicky with eye placement, but that can be fixed by adjusting the eye cups and the pupil distance/width.

The only issue I have with them otherwise is compared to a new pair I tried from Amazon, the used pair barely focused to infinity for me (similar to the Tracts, but slightly better) whereas the new Amazon pair easily focused and even rolled over infinity by quite a bit, giving a lot of wiggle room. I'm currently in discussion with Maven about the infinity issue.

How are you liking your B6s?

 

[Badseed]

I am pretty impressed with the B6s. Ergonomically they feel good to me and I like the extra mass of the mag body. They feel easier to stabilize off hand. I am mostly impressed with the glass. I have had a few other maven binos both B series and C series, and for the price point I haven’t seen anything else compare. The day I got the B6’s I was spotting cattle around 6 miles off hand with ease. I compared them side by side with my leica geovids 10x42 and although the lecia glass is better and the 10x42 is easier to stabilize off hand, the mavens cost less than half the leicas. I have zero regrets getting the mavens.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Luked]

Apples to Apples in my opinion would be the Maven C1 to the BX4.
I had some BX4 in 10x50
Have the Maven C1 in 10x42.
My eyes like the Mavens much better. To me they seem to have brighter colors and are just more sharp.

 

[Agross]

The b6 are on sale now.

 

[BlazerBeam]

Maven all the way

 

[bdloftin]

Wow, yeah! 20% off the C3 and B6. That's a solid deal for some brand new pairs! It says through the 15th though, so this might only last til tomorrow.

 

[Badseed]

Its a great deal for the B series!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bdloftin]

It is!

Yeah, looks like it's a flash sale so hopefully those interested in Mavens see this! I started another thread as well pending approval.

Holiday Flash Sale

Now through December 15th take 20% off C.3 & B.6 Binoculars. This is a flash sale so make sure to take advantage quickly. Additionally now through December 31st take an additional 15% off Spotting Scope and Riflescope bundles. Get set up before these deals run out.

mavenbuilt.com

 

[the1adman]

What about BX-5 vs B6?