Originally Posted by
Aries144
The AEMS does have some forward signature, but it's comparable to the Aimpoint Comp M2 at two brightness settings higher. Using a filmless NV unit with a 36 SNR, near absolute darkness, and with the AEMS set first to the lowest NV setting and then the next setting up, the forward signature was dimmer than scintillation from the NV device, undetectable beyond about three feet, and only visible when looking down a specific, narrow, angle through the sight.
Evaluating the AEMS more closely with a Comp M2 for light transmission near absolute darkness, the two are very close in performance. The Comp M2 has a slight edge over the AEMS with naked lenses, but is slightly worse than the AEMS when the Comp M2's killflash is fitted. The AEMS has fewer issues with lens reflections in the sight picture and has an overall thinner housing that blocks noticeably less field of view around the sight.
Evaluating the AEMS more closely with a Comp M2 for dot brightness, the AEMS' lowest brightness setting is in between the Comp M2's "off" and first setting. (For reference, the Comp M2 has no true "off" setting, but rather emits most dimly at that setting.)
The more I use the AEMS, the more I like everything but the buttons. It needs a NV button that switches back and forth between the last selected day setting and last selected night setting.
The solar panel and associated modes are useless. The circle dot reticle is not ideal for use with NV, as the ring contributes to bloom.
My example shows more fisheye effect than the Comp M2, somewhat comparable to the Trijicon MRO. I don't find it to significantly hamper acquisition time or cause any weirdness with both eyes open and targets at ranges from point blank to 300 yards.
The AEMS weighs 5.55oz with the included 1/3 cowitness mount and flip covers, or about 6.1oz with an ADM 2.33" NV height mount and flip covers. The Comp M2 weighs 11.3oz with flip covers and an ADM absolute cowitness mount.
The next test will be parallax. I found Holosun's 403R to fare better than my Aimpoint micro R1 there, so this should be interesting.
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