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Posted: 2/23/2012 1:36:21 PM EDT
| I've been seeing a whole range of prices for 3x PVS 7/14 magnifiers. Are there differences or things I should be looking for when contemplating a purchase of one of these? |
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Quoted:
I've been seeing a whole range of prices for 3x PVS 7/14 magnifiers. Are there differences or things I should be looking for when contemplating a purchase of one of these? As long as it is a milspec lens the difference is non existent or minimal. These lenses were sold in bulk surplus so that is why you see many for sale on eBay. At one time I had an entire case of sandbox milspec 3X lenses. Problem is the Chinese now make them and the glass is not even close to the milspec ones. The Chinese fakes are getting very good. I used to be able to spot them easily and now it is much harder unless I look through it.Many are true milspec lenses but some are not. Buy from a dealer to be sure or gamble and buy used. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I've been seeing a whole range of prices for 3x PVS 7/14 magnifiers. Are there differences or things I should be looking for when contemplating a purchase of one of these? As long as it is a milspec lens the difference is non existent or minimal. These lenses were sold in bulk surplus so that is why you see many for sale on eBay. At one time I had an entire case of sandbox milspec 3X lenses. Problem is the Chinese now make them and the glass is not even close to the milspec ones. The Chinese fakes are getting very good. I used to be able to spot them easily and now it is much harder unless I look through it.Many are true milspec lenses but some are not. Buy from a dealer to be sure or gamble and buy used. i think the non milspec unit has a blue tint to the objective lense..... |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I've been seeing a whole range of prices for 3x PVS 7/14 magnifiers. Are there differences or things I should be looking for when contemplating a purchase of one of these? As long as it is a milspec lens the difference is non existent or minimal. These lenses were sold in bulk surplus so that is why you see many for sale on eBay. At one time I had an entire case of sandbox milspec 3X lenses. Problem is the Chinese now make them and the glass is not even close to the milspec ones. The Chinese fakes are getting very good. I used to be able to spot them easily and now it is much harder unless I look through it.Many are true milspec lenses but some are not. Buy from a dealer to be sure or gamble and buy used. You want to educate people what to look for? |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I've been seeing a whole range of prices for 3x PVS 7/14 magnifiers. Are there differences or things I should be looking for when contemplating a purchase of one of these? As long as it is a milspec lens the difference is non existent or minimal. These lenses were sold in bulk surplus so that is why you see many for sale on eBay. At one time I had an entire case of sandbox milspec 3X lenses. Problem is the Chinese now make them and the glass is not even close to the milspec ones. The Chinese fakes are getting very good. I used to be able to spot them easily and now it is much harder unless I look through it.Many are true milspec lenses but some are not. Buy from a dealer to be sure or gamble and buy used. You want to educate people what to look for? Sure, but I don't know all the tricks. I have learned a few. All three of these lenses are ITT ones. I used to have some Litton but sold them because I like the ITT ones better. The Litton lenses are smoother and don't have the sharp step down edges in the body like the ITT lenses. The Litton ones are a bit lighter though. Both are nice and I just prefer the ITT ones. In this first picture you will find a serial number if you pop off the lens cap from the housing. I have never seen that on a Chinese clone. Many don't even know a serial number is under the friction fit lens cap assembly. 
In these next two pics you will see two little holes filled with some type of sealant. I surmise this is where the milspec lenses are nitrogen purged at the factory. I believe (from memory) the Litton lenses actually have a purge screw. I don't find this on the Chinese clones. The milspec stickers are easily faked so I give that little weight. 
The Chinese get better and I am sure can copy these things I pointed out. The glass they never seem to copy well and if they did there would be no need to even talk about this topic. Chinese glass is not even close to as fast as milspec ones and have horrible distortion around the edges. I used to have a Chinese clone but I gave it away. I actually bought it on eBay thinking it was real. I just thought it was a horrible reject of some sort and never used it. One day many months later I inspected it closely and found it to be missing many features of known milspec lenses. Using a loupe I found much debris and shavings inside because of poor quality control during assembly. |
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