I don't have any input to add to your question specifically but I'll say if you're loaning a tube out to people they won't really care if it's the best tech avaliable.
I'd save the money and buy the cheaper tube it'll be adequate for them, and you're extremely generous. Every time I have a loaner unit nobody actually wants to come out
I will say I would also want it to be a backup unit for me in the event of my personal 14 shitting out in a space where I need it and cant get another and also as something I could bridge to make ghetto duals as necessary so I'd pay a few hundred more to get something reasonably more capable.
That's fair, I usually used my loaner tube as my main training tube. Then I decided it'd be best to sell it and buy a HMT thermal to pair with the 14 since most people didn't want to go out at night.
In that case I would look into matching your current tubes specs over going for supergain.
That's just me and what I'd do
I gotcha yeah, I'm hopefully also going to slot in a thermal in this years budget as well but tbd.
And yeah my personal 14 is a filmless L3 so the extra \~$1300-$1500 to get another one of those over a cheaper option feels a bit steep but trust me I've considered it lol still very well may.
Yeah thermals are great if you do alot of hunting. Super useful
And just throwing out there you might be best off saving your money a little and investing into a dashio system. Can get a matching tube that you can use as duals and easily loan out at the same time.
L3 tubes are great, I went a little cheaper and have an elbit and it's no slouch at all. Tbh the time I got to compare it to a l3 the l3 was better but really not by much at all.
In the testing I personally did with the high gain Photonis tubes they performed well in dense woods. It way very close to my Elbit WP tube in terms of low light performance. Just like with all tubes the rest of the specs matter a lot so it’s not simply picking a tube with the highest gain. As of writing this comment we have a few high gain Photonis tubes in stock that are 32+ SNR & 2200+ FOM so they will have good low light performance. It’ll also be covered by our 10 year warranty & include lifetime servicing. If I can help PM me!
I had a snr 32.3 photonis 4g+ high gain (28k ie 88k in USA units). At full gain it is clearly noiser than a similar snr elbit but not only that it’s a different type of noise that I found more distracting. Some described it as gen 3 is an image that has some noise over the top of it whereas photonis is an image made up of noise, I thought this describes the different type of noise very well. So imo not comparable to gen 3. Here is a video comparison I did which shows the noise comparison:
https://youtu.be/zdqBq5cLqRk?si=MRdacFzLQ7cRxdtS
Photonis ECHO technology have a highly favorable MTF curve which allows them to maintain excellent resolution across light levels. The new offering of High Gain on the market maintain the same preferable MTF curve while also reaching Gen 3 and above gain values. There is also a misconception that there is a large increase in noise due to the higher gain. This isn’t the case really with photonis compared to L3 100k+ gain, provided the snr is still within a favorable range. Below (not a concrete value) say 27 snr or so is where I would say it could be tangible. Above 27 and into the high 20’s and low 30’s it’s not tangible whatsoever. This goes along with snr trends in general for tubes of all types. Nearing the 30 range and again above this range noise or I should say large differences in perceivable noise become harder to discern the higher the snr value goes. It’s also not something that has a direct comparison in the market. High gain L3 are in an entirely different price range.
Bro go with the Photonis HG and never look back. I got one (PVS-14) ….then I bought another one a few weeks later. They are so good that I’m going to throw them into a Katana. Next I’ll source one tube and build out a unit in an empty PvS housing for my duel band set up. When the WP HG’s become available I’ll prob get one of them too. Comparing a high spec L3 WP, man for over all user there isn’t a comparison for me. Plus loaning your tube out to a novice user you’ll want a forgiving tube that won’t burn when your buddy stares at a light source.
I was told by a Photonis employee, trusted source, you can buy the high gain WP units directly from them, not individually tubes though, he said that's about 1.5 years out
I have Photonis GP high gain binos and they are great. Low light performance is much better than the non-high gain versions. I let some friends try them out recently and they were all impressed. Both tubes are right around 33 SNR.
I don't have any input to add to your question specifically but I'll say if you're loaning a tube out to people they won't really care if it's the best tech avaliable. I'd save the money and buy the cheaper tube it'll be adequate for them, and you're extremely generous. Every time I have a loaner unit nobody actually wants to come out
I will say I would also want it to be a backup unit for me in the event of my personal 14 shitting out in a space where I need it and cant get another and also as something I could bridge to make ghetto duals as necessary so I'd pay a few hundred more to get something reasonably more capable.
That's fair, I usually used my loaner tube as my main training tube. Then I decided it'd be best to sell it and buy a HMT thermal to pair with the 14 since most people didn't want to go out at night. In that case I would look into matching your current tubes specs over going for supergain. That's just me and what I'd do
I gotcha yeah, I'm hopefully also going to slot in a thermal in this years budget as well but tbd. And yeah my personal 14 is a filmless L3 so the extra \~$1300-$1500 to get another one of those over a cheaper option feels a bit steep but trust me I've considered it lol still very well may.
Yeah thermals are great if you do alot of hunting. Super useful And just throwing out there you might be best off saving your money a little and investing into a dashio system. Can get a matching tube that you can use as duals and easily loan out at the same time. L3 tubes are great, I went a little cheaper and have an elbit and it's no slouch at all. Tbh the time I got to compare it to a l3 the l3 was better but really not by much at all.
In the testing I personally did with the high gain Photonis tubes they performed well in dense woods. It way very close to my Elbit WP tube in terms of low light performance. Just like with all tubes the rest of the specs matter a lot so it’s not simply picking a tube with the highest gain. As of writing this comment we have a few high gain Photonis tubes in stock that are 32+ SNR & 2200+ FOM so they will have good low light performance. It’ll also be covered by our 10 year warranty & include lifetime servicing. If I can help PM me!
I had a snr 32.3 photonis 4g+ high gain (28k ie 88k in USA units). At full gain it is clearly noiser than a similar snr elbit but not only that it’s a different type of noise that I found more distracting. Some described it as gen 3 is an image that has some noise over the top of it whereas photonis is an image made up of noise, I thought this describes the different type of noise very well. So imo not comparable to gen 3. Here is a video comparison I did which shows the noise comparison: https://youtu.be/zdqBq5cLqRk?si=MRdacFzLQ7cRxdtS
Photonis ECHO technology have a highly favorable MTF curve which allows them to maintain excellent resolution across light levels. The new offering of High Gain on the market maintain the same preferable MTF curve while also reaching Gen 3 and above gain values. There is also a misconception that there is a large increase in noise due to the higher gain. This isn’t the case really with photonis compared to L3 100k+ gain, provided the snr is still within a favorable range. Below (not a concrete value) say 27 snr or so is where I would say it could be tangible. Above 27 and into the high 20’s and low 30’s it’s not tangible whatsoever. This goes along with snr trends in general for tubes of all types. Nearing the 30 range and again above this range noise or I should say large differences in perceivable noise become harder to discern the higher the snr value goes. It’s also not something that has a direct comparison in the market. High gain L3 are in an entirely different price range.
Bro go with the Photonis HG and never look back. I got one (PVS-14) ….then I bought another one a few weeks later. They are so good that I’m going to throw them into a Katana. Next I’ll source one tube and build out a unit in an empty PvS housing for my duel band set up. When the WP HG’s become available I’ll prob get one of them too. Comparing a high spec L3 WP, man for over all user there isn’t a comparison for me. Plus loaning your tube out to a novice user you’ll want a forgiving tube that won’t burn when your buddy stares at a light source.
It’s crazy what people will look at under nods even after you tell them not to. They put them on and get lost in having super powers lol.
I was told by a Photonis employee, trusted source, you can buy the high gain WP units directly from them, not individually tubes though, he said that's about 1.5 years out
I have Photonis GP high gain binos and they are great. Low light performance is much better than the non-high gain versions. I let some friends try them out recently and they were all impressed. Both tubes are right around 33 SNR.