Night Vision NVG Focus Covers: Phokus Hoplite vs Matbock Tastier Eclipse

[Cold_Bore_88]

I would like to get a pair of focus covers for my RNVGs. Anyone have experience with either of these? I like the Phokus Hoplit because it’s a full protective cover. However, I see that the Matbock are better for enhancing the focus.

Thoughts?

 

[Dogtown]

Phokus is nice because you can go from no aperture restriction to restricted with the flip of a cap. The old model had different sized aperture inserts, while the new model had preset sizes that can be dialed into place. Mattock charges an arm and a leg for the Tarsier, and while they’re well made, they annoyed me right off the bat because more often than not my gloved hand struggled to open/close the iris without also rotating focus. A lot of guys buy inexpensive camera irises off of Amazon that work well too.

 

[Cold_Bore_88]

Phokus is nice because you can go from no aperture restriction to restricted with the flip of a cap. The old model had different sized aperture inserts, while the new model had preset sizes that can be dialed into place. Mattock charges an arm and a leg for the Tarsier, and while they’re well made, they annoyed me right off the bat because more often than not my gloved hand struggled to open/close the iris without also rotating focus. A lot of guys buy inexpensive camera irises off of Amazon that work well too.

Thanks for the feedback. This is kinda what I was thinking. I have seen the DIY options but I just wanna buy something that fits.

 

[freedom71]

I tried the Amazon route and was not satisfied.

The best thing about Phokus is that you can move the aperture completely out of the way and not have any restrictions on your view. With the fixed aperture approach in some models, you can have the aperture wide open and still have your view restricted by the cap around the aperture.

I especially like the new model Phokus with the apertures dialed in place. I typically will set mine on my preferred aperture and either go on or off, rather than doing a lot of aperture rotations. But it's nice to have it when I need it.

The one advantage of the cheaper Amazon aperture models is that they have no glass, as opposed to the Phokus and Matbock Tarsiers. In humid environments, the in-between layers of extra glass can easily fog. I had this happen recently with my Phokus. Just had to remove them, wipe, and quickly re-install. That's why I don't otherwise use sacrificial lenses on my NODS.