Oh, gee, you are becoming as informative and friendly as a tendentious thread over at CN. :asleep:Shorty Barlow wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2020 5:18 amYou're assuming they're clones, I bet you have no actual evidence.notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:32 amMissed the edit deadline so here goes again.Shorty Barlow wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2020 12:59 am
It doesn't matter where you buy them from. Vixen are either made in Japan or China. ........
Vixen zooms now are no better than the Chinese made Celestron and Meade zooms I own.
Well that is certainly not my experience. This particular eyepiece is made in China, the Vixen LV Zoom that is. The Meade and Celestron clones are clones of the Vixen design so QC at the factory might be identical. Your previous remark about PRC QC being superior to Japanese QC is quite silly for an eyepiece that is only made in the PRC.
I suspect that there may be difference in QA/QC depending on the details in the supply chain. The PRC often does not play nice on quality issues as is well known. I think one has a chance of an additional QC intervention passing through Vixen's own or a conscientious Vixen distributor. In the US I use https://www.vixenoptics.com and https://www.mrstarguy.com and never have an issue. Only with third parties have there been problems on PRC made Vixen goods. I'm going to continue to do business with Vixen in the manner I find useful from experience.
The evidence comes from the optical specs. 1) Identical focal lengths. 2) 7 lenses in 4 groups with a lanthanum element.
My LV's had Japan written on them, so I assumed they were made in Japan like the original Vixen LV's were.
My current example conspicuously lacks reference to country of origin.
Only if your logic is sloppy. Even if made in the same factory QC specs can be changed and products sorted accordingly.gibbering deleted
Anyway, if your LV is Chinese the odds are it is the same as, or very similar to, the Meadetrons anyway. Which proves my original point.
I have never had any mechanical issues with a Vixen eyepiece so your statement is only your statement. I'm not persuaded.So when I compared the new Japanese LV's to their PRC non-Vixen counterparts I couldn't detect any real difference in contrast and sharpness. I did find the PRC zooms were slightly brighter and had a larger maximum FOV. Which is why I preferred them. And like I said earlier, the new Japanese LV's all had the same mechanical issues.
I await breathlessly your next anti Japanese anti Vixen screed. NOT!*The phrase 'Turning Japanese' has a specific meaning in British English. I won't elucidate, but if you see Kirsten Dunst tell her I like her cover version (originally by The Vapors).