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Choosing 12X's

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DesertMuley

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Joined
Jul 30, 2018
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Hi all,

Had a question hoping to get some input from some more experienced outdoorsmen.

I'm in the market for some 12X Binos. I'll be hunting in the West (Arizona mostly) for Mule deer, Coues deer, Elk, Javelina, Turkey, etc. I don't have a large budget at the moment so my plan was to purchase a spotting scope to complement a pair of 12X binoculars. I also have a pair of 8x42 Diamondbacks that I would probably take out for quick scanning (hence why I don't really want 10x's).

To the meat of it... I am currently demo'ing a pair of Maven C.1 12x42's and they seem very well put together although I haven't used them for multiple hours of glassing yet. The absolute top end of my budget would be to purchase some Vortex Viper 12x50's, HOWEVER, that's a $200 price difference. From all reviews I've read, noone has regretted buying the C.1's (especially for the price), but most of the reviews are on the 10x42's.

Do you think the 50mm objectives and the extra brightness are worth the $200 markup? It's very hard to find reviews on ANY 12x42's made by any manufacturer so i'm wondering if that's for good reason.

Link to C1's and specs: https://mavenbuilt.com/c-series-binoculars/

Thanks!
 
For me 12x binos are in no mans land as they require a tripod for glassing and offer little in the way for upside compared to your 8x which will have better light transmission, wider FOV, etc..

I'd recommend you sell the vipers and buy the best 8x or 10x binocular you can afford.


U was told Maven will be coming out with a 50mm c series binocular sometime in the next year. Might be worth waiting for.
 
I am of the belief that 12x binos are a fantastic choice if you can handhold them (some can, some can't) especially in Arizona. They're particularly useful for coues deer hunting as the extra magnification I've found helps immensely off a tripod. Those little ghosts are hard to find with lower mag sometimes!

I own C.1 10x42s and have had Viper HDs in both 10x42 and 12x50. I was personally not a fan of the 12x50 Viper HDs and sold them rather quickly. They lacked the glass quality at 12x for me and gave me headaches, which the 10x42s did not. The Maven C.1s are a fantastic pair of binos but I've only used the 10x42s. I prefer them to the Viper HDs. Glass quality to my eyes is a significant jump up from Viper HDs, and in some ways better than Razor HDs even.

If Prairie is right, a 50mm C series bino sounds like the ticket. I would personally buy the C.1s in 10x or 12x since they're a small investment and then sell them if/when a 50mm version comes out. Based on the reviews and Mavens transferable warranty I would guess selling a pair of C.1s wouldn't net you a huge loss.
 
Hey guys, thanks for your input!
@Wannakill - glad you're having a good experience with the Mavens. I'll probably end up keeping these because you're right, it's a small investment compared to other glass options. Hopefully the 50mm comes out soon! But I will definitely start saving for a "B" model as well... need to get those customized options! P.S. What kind of spotting scope do you run?
 
I was at a show up in Cody earlier this year and was able to try every pair of maven binoculars they had.

I was originally interested in the b4 15x but for some reason just could not get comfortable with them. I then moved down to the B2 models. Again I expected that I would like the 11x as opposed to the 9x, especially because the 11x pair had custom camo. I ended up taking both the 9x and 11x out on Saturday and Sunday for direct comparison. I simply found that I could not hold the 11x pair steady enough to make use of the higher magnification. The 9x has a wider FOV,birghtness, eye relief, etcc which sold me.

I almost bought the 8x42C series but really wanted something with a bigger obj. I tried to pre order a pair of 10x50 C series but they were not ready to do that. So I ended up with B2 9x45 in plan black. You can't go wrong with c series as I really liked them, especially for the $. My favorite c series was the 8x42. If you can find them at a show it's a great chance to try every model, I went outside and compared head to head. And they offered a 25% discount at the show I was at so I was at.

I run a Pentax PF80 ED spotter. I did a ton of research and really like the ability of some scopes to use standardized 1.25" eye pieces. That's where the real difference lies in most sportters is the eye pieces. I found that the improved light transmission and FOV through XW fixed eye pieces was amazing. Adjustable eye pieces are great but you give up a lot as far as view to have that flexibility. And most are manufacturer specific and not standard 1.25" so you have almost no choices.
 
For my upcoming hunt I plan to just rent one. However, I'm pinching pennies to try and spend 1K and under in the future.
 
DesertMuley said:
For my upcoming hunt I plan to just rent one. However, I'm pinching pennies to try and spend 1K and under in the future.
Click to expand...

There are spotters that will be serviceable in that price range for sure. During my coues deer hunt two years ago I was running a Vortex Razor HD 11-33x50 and was watching a coues buck from 1600 yards and could tell he was 90"-100". Close enough for me. There's better glass out there for sure but even a spotter like that Razor, which you can get used for $500ish, did the job well enough for me. I've since went to a bigger spotter, though.
 
I'm oggling either the Maven b1 10*42 or the 9*45 b2. I'm thinking more the former because it is about an inch smaller all around. I'm using Leupold bx1 now and they work but I figured instead of spending money on something that won't really matter like fidgeting with my rifles I should get myself a truly good set of binos. It's good to hear even the c series are quite good. Perhaps I'll just go with those.
 
shaffe48 said:
I'm oggling either the Maven b1 10*42 or the 9*45 b2. I'm thinking more the former because it is about an inch smaller all around. I'm using Leupold bx1 now and they work but I figured instead of spending money on something that won't really matter like fidgeting with my rifles I should get myself a truly good set of binos. It's good to hear even the c series are quite good. Perhaps I'll just go with those.
Click to expand...

If you’re concerned about optical quality, the 9x45 B2 is better than the 10x42 B1
 
Well I'm just not sure how much better. To my understanding the b2 have a different prism which increases light transmission from 90.9 to 93.7. Of course they are only 3.5 oz more.

I just wish I knew how much better they would really be and whether they are worth being bigger. Ugh.
 
shaffe48 said:
I just wish I knew how much better they would really be and whether they are worth being bigger. Ugh.
Click to expand...

You know, that's exactly what Maven's demo program is for. Are you familiar with it? Order demo pairs of both binos you're interested in and send the pair back that you don't want within two weeks and you get your money back.
 
wannakillabigbull said:
You know, that's exactly what Maven's demo program is for. Are you familiar with it? Order demo pairs of both binos you're interested in and send the pair back that you don't want within two weeks and you get your money back.
Click to expand...

I might do this but I'm leaning back towards the b2 anyways. While it seems they should be the same as the b1 except the slightly higher light transmission, in reality they are completely different binoculars and many seem to think the b2 turned out to be something really special when I research online.

I was a little reticent to send Maven $2k for two weeks but I guess if I get half of it back when I choose then it's not actually a big deal (just hurts my mind to think about it).

Either way I will probably keep a demo version to save the 10 percent unless they send me a cruddy one, which I doubt they would.
 
Here's a question that might be more related to the op and make up for my thread hijack.

For people who have upgraded from a reasonable quality budget bino such as the op diamondback or my bx-2 Acadia to something like a Maven c or b series, did you find you became significantly more successful at glassing as in you saw animals you would not have seen before? Or were they more a nice to have as in they gave a more pleasant view and didn't tire your eyes as much?

Maybe I should start another thread, but I rarely do that.
 
shaffe48 said:
Here's a question that might be more related to the op and make up for my thread hijack.

For people who have upgraded from a reasonable quality budget bino such as the op diamondback or my bx-2 Acadia to something like a Maven c or b series, did you find you became significantly more successful at glassing as in you saw animals you would not have seen before? Or were they more a nice to have as in they gave a more pleasant view and didn't tire your eyes as much?

Maybe I should start another thread, but I rarely do that.
Click to expand...

I definitely want to go sit on a ridge and compare and contrast my 8x42 Diamondbacks to the 12x42 C1's. I used the C1's this weekend while on a fishing trip - both on and off a tripod. I don't have a ton of glassing experience, and plus I wear glasses which makes glassing slightly more difficult for me... but they seemed to work great. Tested them out at first and last lights and had no visible issues. Probably going to keep this demo pair. :D
 
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