With a bright, crisp, and crystal-clear field-of-view; lightweight; highly intuitive zoom and focus rings; an unbeatable warranty; and easily packable contours; the Maven S.2 12-27X56mm Spotting Scope is an outstanding optic for field, range, or home use.
It has an Abbe-Koenig prism, fluorite glass, and it is waterproof and fog-proof. It is made from Japanese components that are assembled in San Diego, California,. The scopes then undergo quality control in Lander, Wyoming.
The S.2 was priced at $1,050 at the time of this writing. (Full Disclosure: Maven is an affiliate advertiser of SurvivalBlog.com. SurvivalBlog earns a modest commission on the sales of any items that are derived from visits to the Maven site from clicks on the affiliate ad link at SurvivalBlog ). This price is by no means cheap, but it is reasonable for an optic of this quality. If you are in the market for a first class spotting scope, then I recommend that you consider this one.
Background
I was wasting a lot of time at the range. At the outdoor range, I would walk back and forth, back and forth, to and from the target to assess where my shots were hitting. At the indoor range, I spent a lot of time running targets back and forth, back and forth on the overhead cables so that I could take a closer look. I decided that it was time to start looking for a good spotting scope.
I found MavenBuilt on the list of SurvivalBlog affiliate advertisers and decided to check them out. Their S.2 spotting scope looked like exactly what I had in mind. I asked if they could loan me a sample for testing and evaluation. They were kind enough to agree. A few days later the scope arrived via USPS Ground Advantage from 1042 Pronghorn Drive, Lander, Wyoming, 82520.
First Impressions
The first impression that matters the most was the one that I received when I first looked through the scope. I made a slight adjustment to the focus ring, and suddenly the tree branch that I was looking at through my kitchen window sprang into bright, crisp, and crystal-clear focus. I could quickly zoom from 12 to 27X with a twist of the zoom ring. I could see the veins on leaves 50+ yards away in exquisite detail. I was impressed.
But before I ever looked through the scope, I first needed to open the box. The 18x12x6.5 inch shipping box contained a 13×8.5×5 inch product box cocooned on all sides in a nest of crumpled brown paper and wrapped in a plastic bag. It also contained a Maven Product Catalog. The catalog had a couple of Maven stickers and a lens cleaning cloth slipped between its pages.
The product box consisted of a paperboard sleeve over a nesting double-egg-carton-like inner container. The inner container contained the manual and the scope.
The manual is 24 pages long including both sides of the front and back covers. Most of the information is quite intuitive. The information in the manual that most caught my attention was the unconditional lifetime warranty.
The Warranty
The warranty says, “If your optic becomes damaged or is at all defective contact us immediately for repair or replacement. We don’t care where or when you bought it or if it was your fault or not–if it says Maven, we will take care of it.” A warranty can’t get much better than that!
There were some minor caveats that I thought were fully justified: “Warranty does not cover loss, deliberate damage, or cosmetic damage that does not hinder product performance.”
Description
The S.2 is about 11 inches long, 2.75 inches in exterior diameter at the objective lens, 1.88 inches in exterior diameter at the ocular lens, and weighs 34.4 ounces. The eye cup is adjustable to allow for variations in eye relief between individuals or for the wearing or not wearing of eyeglasses. It is available in gray shades with orange trim, gray shades with black trim, or in custom colors.
There are lens covers for each end of the scope, and it comes in a neoprene case. A tripod adapter mount on the bottom of the scope enables it to be fastened to standard tripod mounting screws. The scope zooms from 12x to 27x.
Wildlife Watching
I mounted the scope on a tripod and placed it by our kitchen window. Our home is surrounded by forest and wetland. The area is rich in wildlife. Over the course of the next several months, my wife, our guests, and I enjoyed watching that wildlife through the scope.
We enjoyed watching deer feeding by our driveway. We enjoyed watching Wood Ducks swimming in our pond. We enjoyed watching a multitude of squirrels, turkeys, and other mammals and birds of assorted shapes and sizes feeding and playing and hunting and hiding.
We probably most enjoyed watching the activities of a pair of hawks that were nesting in a tree behind our woodshed. We enjoyed seeing their young peeping over the edge of the nest. We enjoyed watching one of the parents catch a frog at the edge of the pond. We enjoyed watching the pair sitting on adjoining tree branches, with every feather visible in exquisite detail.
With-Camera Use
On several occasions, I was able to successfully take photographs through the scope (digiscoping). That was pretty amazing, since I was using the scope in conjunction with the camera on my mobile phone without the assistance of any kind of adapter. An adapter kit is available from Digidadpter to make the scope more effective for use in conjunction with many types of cameras.
Unfortunately, I dropped my mobile phone and broke it. With the loss of the mobile phone came the loss of the pictures that were stored in its memory. Sometimes clumsiness can destroy the products of even the best equipment.
Range Use
I used the scope on a number of occasions on both the 25 yard improvised range behind my pole barn and the 100 yard indoor range at the local rod and gun club. In both settings, I found the scope to save me a lot of time. I could just glance through the scope to see where my shots were striking rather than walking over to the target at the outdoor range or drawing the target closer to me at the indoor range.
One detail that enhances the effectiveness of the scope at the range is using it in conjunction with an appropriate tripod. The first tripod that I tried was too small. It did not provide a wide enough base, so it tended to tip over too easily if bumped. The next tripod that I tried was too tall. When that tripod was set on a table or bench, it elevated the scope significantly above eye level even when adjusted to its lowest position. I tried using the scope without a tripod. It worked, but I spent a significant amount of time reacquiring the target every time I wanted to use the scope.
Finally, I broke down and ordered an appropriately sized tripod that could be adjusted from 12 to 25 inches in height and hold up to 6.5 pounds. It was just right.
An investment in an excellent spotting scope should be paired with an investment in an appropriate tripod, a good window mount if the scope is intended for use in a vehicle, or some other appropriate accessory for stabilizing the scope while in use.
About Maven
Maven was founded in 2013 by Brendon Weaver, Mike Lilygren, and Cade Maestas. They provide direct-to-consumer pricing to end users without any retail markup. Cutting out the middleman enables them to offer world-class optics at affordable prices.
Maven prides themselves on their mountain town location and roots. Their employees actually use the equipment that they produce in their own recreational pursuits. Their decisions are based on practical back-country experience.
Maven offers a broad line of products including binoculars, monoculars, range finders, rifle scopes, and spotting scopes.
They also offer an intriguing “Try before you buy” demo program. The customer can order a gently used demo optic to test for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, the customer can purchase the demo model, return the demo model to purchase a new or custom model, or return the demo model to receive a full refund minus shipping.
Conclusions
The Maven S.2 spotting scope is an outstanding tool for observing wildlife or checking targets at the range. It is light, compact, and provides a bright, crisp, and crystal clear image at all levels of magnification. I highly recommend it.
Disclaimer
Maven loaned me a sample of their S.2 12-27x56mm Spotting Scope for testing and evaluation. I tried not to allow their kindness to interfere with my objectivity, and I believe that I have succeeded. I did not receive any other financial or other inducement to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.
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JWR adds a note of clarification: Technically, fluorite lenses are not glass. Glass per se has no regular crystalline structure. In contrast, Fluorite is a true crystal, with a crystalline structure. But I suppose I’m splitting hairs by even mentioning this. Fluorite lenses are truly 21st Century state-of-the-art optics and have an optical quality that is amazing. If you can afford to buy the best, then this is it.
I should also mention that having a good spotting scope can be crucial to both long-range hunting and tactical use. Just add a deep objective lens hood (to kill any glare that can be seen by opponents) and some ghillie garnish to both your spotting scope and your tripod’s legs, and you’ll be good to go.