Swarovski or Vortex

[Ryan Avery]

Everything can shit the bed.... But one seems to shit the bed more often!


Luke, IMO I would take these over the razors. NO BS!

C.1 Binoculars | Maven Outdoor Equipment Company

As you know from our many chats about it, I am just not a Razor bino or spotter fan. I do think the Razor and AMG scope line is legit.

 

[luke moffat]

Everything can shit the bed.... But one seems to shit the bed more often!


Luke, IMO I would take these over the razors. NO BS!

C.1 Binoculars | Maven Outdoor Equipment Company

As you know from our many chats about it, I am just not a Razor bino or spotter fan. I do think the Razor and AMG scope line is legit.

Sweet I will give them a whirl!! Thanks!

Mavens ordered up....these better fit my face better than those behemoth Mavens you toted all around Kodiak

 

[Ryan Avery]

Haha! Yeah let me know what you think of the C.1s. Good or bad! IMO, they are a steal and compete with anything under a $1000. But everyone’s eyes are different.


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[ckr117]

Don't skimp on the important stuff man, If you have the funds for Swaros, buy them. I use Euro HD's because I haven't quite committed to throwing the extra dough at EL's, but even those are so much better that Vortex. Don't get my wrong, I like vortex, I use their spotters, because I don't use a spotter enough to justify dishing out the money for a Swaro, and they do great. I own various other products they have, and their warranty is amazing, but there is better glass out there.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

Haha! Yeah let me know what you think of the C.1s. Good or bad! IMO, they are a steal and compete with anything under a $1000. But everyone’s eyes are different.


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In your opinion what do the B1s and/or B2s compete with? Is there a significant difference between them and the C1s?

 

[Ryan Avery]

The B.2 are one of the best bang for your buck IMO. They are super bright and crisp. Where they lose out to the SLCs is depth of focus and ergonomic. I would have a hard time buying the B.1s over the C.1s. Again these are my options. You need to test them for yourself, glass is much like boots. Everyone is a little different.


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[Ryan Avery]

People keep PMing me about the size difference between the B.1 and the C.1.

With the 10x42 ELs for reference.

 

[Steve C]

OK, I have had the Maven B1 (8x and 10x), B2 (9x), B3 8x30 and C1 8x42. I own the 10x B1, the 9x B2,and the 8x B3, and have review models from Maven for the 8x42 B1and C1. I will likely keep the C1. I have also had the 7x B2 for review and I have access to another privately owned 11x B2. When I got the 9x45 B2 for review, I had just ordered a Swarovski 10x42 SLC HD. Let me tell you what, that 9x45 B2 was an eye opener. I was truly surprised the Swarovski could not put the several hundred $$ less expensive Maven away, but it could not. I returned the SLC on a SV EL 8.5x42, knowing full well I was sensitive to rolling ball of the SV sharp edge design. Rolling ball aside I will say the SV is maybe a bit sharper, but unless you set them up side by side on a tripod, you will never tell them apart. I'm not going to say that the Swarovski SV is not better, it is. But for the price difference of $1,500, you get at most a $150 difference. I went from the SV 8.5 to both the 10x42 and 10x50 SV hoping to see if one of those would get me past the rolling ball, but they did not. So Ryan is spot on the money with his B2 bang for the buck comment. If the B2 had black armor and the blue Zeiss logo nobody would think twice about it not being worth every penny of $2k. Like all things your mileage may differ. But I have a two binocular combo of the Maven B2 and the B3 which will do whatever can be done with a handheld binocular. I no longer have a Swarovski.

The C1 is pretty amazing regarding what Maven got put under the hood in that binocular. Aside from the fov being noticeably smaller in the C1 as compared to the B1, it is a lot smaller and lighter, you don't need the pictures to tell, but they do tell the tale. If budget is a concern, it will be hard to tell somebody to double their ante for the B1. The B1 will hold its own against anything in the $1,000 class upwards a well.

 

[wind gypsy]

I feel like there is a big of a bias against vortex on here.. Maybe its because people are sick of hearing that they are as good as swaro for half the price from people elsewhere? To me they seem to punch about par the asking price but never really best at a given price point.

When I was shopping the $1k market for 10x binos a few years ago I compared the razors, Euro HD, and conquest HD handheld and went with the Zeiss based on ergos because I couldn't detect a difference optically.

Last year I compared the slc to my Zeiss on a tripod. I found the SLC to have a better depth of focus and they just required less strain to get a perfect image. Swaro eye cups were nicer but focus wheel was less refined feeling. Swaros might have been slightly crisper to the edges but i had a hell of a time picking out any difference in resolution. At the time I had enough cabelas bucks to cover most of the cost of the SLC but didn't feel they were enough of a step up to justify it..

 

[luke moffat]

Don't skimp on the important stuff man, If you have the funds for Swaros, buy them. I use Euro HD's because I haven't quite committed to throwing the extra dough at EL's, but even those are so much better that Vortex. Don't get my wrong, I like vortex, I use their spotters, because I don't use a spotter enough to justify dishing out the money for a Swaro, and they do great. I own various other products they have, and their warranty is amazing, but there is better glass out there.

It’s nit really skimping...I have owned 2 sets is Swaro SLC and a set of Swaro EL and Zeiss victories.....if I felt my 12x50s were giving up a considerable amount of difference to my eyes I would go back to alpha glass...as it is its not worth it for me. Many others it is and nothing wrong with that.

That said if these Mavens C1 I got coming best my Razors I will go that route too.

 

[dotman]

It’s nit really skimping...I have owned 2 sets is Swaro SLC and a set of Swaro EL and Zeiss victories.....if I felt my 12x50s were giving up a considerable amount of difference to my eyes I would go back to alpha glass...as it is its not worth it for me. Many others it is and nothing wrong with that.

That said if these Mavens C1 I got coming best my Razors I will go that route too.

If only they offered the C1 in 12's

 

[luke moffat]

If only they offered the C1 in 12's

That would be pretty cool. Fingers crossed the Mavens are good for sure. $315 for a set of binos is pretty good if they are as good as Ryan says.

 

[fasteddie]

Swaro for sure. I have had both and the Swaros are much better in hunting situations. At high noon or in a Cabelas, they are close; but when light is low the swaros win hands down. I am about to upgrade my wife to swaro too.
I would argue that if your eyes are bad, it's even more important to get Good glass. Compounding your eye problems with lesser quality glass is only going to make your experience that much worse.


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[mlevimadden]

I haven't ever looked through a set of razor binos, but I did own the little 11-33x50 razor spotter for awhile. It didn't have quite the contrast and depth of field as my SLC 10x42's in the afternoon, but it was probably a little sharper at the edge. At last light it wasn't even a contest, and the spotter was useless compared to the SLC's. I realize it isn't really an apples-to-apples comparison with a single objective zoom spotter versus fixed binoculars, but it's the only first-hand comparison I have.

As far as Swarovski goes, my experience is the same as wind gypsy. I have compared my SLC 10x42's to my buddy's EL SV 10x42's on several occasions. The ergonomics and quality of build definitely go to the EL's. Neither of us could tell any optical difference all the way to last light when we were hand-holding the binos. It's only when you get them on a tripod that you notice the SLC's being softer at the edges.