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I bought a couple of LVW's round about 2001 or so and gradually build up a complete set with a few coming and going over the years. My impression is that the new coatings have slightly better light transmission, although I admit that I have not done a side by side comparison of the same focal lengths. As you say the older version has slightly longer barrels. An interesting point is that my early version 42mm has FOV 72 degrees printed on it, the newer ones have 68 degrees. I recall seeing a post somewhere where the poster had an email from Vixen stating that the 72 degrees was a mistake and all the LVW's were 68 degrees. I have an old Vixen catalogue showing the 42mm as having 72 degrees. One of these nights I may do a drift timing to satisfy my curiosity. Older versions have slightly different lettering which flakes off over time. Eye relief and weight are fairly consistent across the range. Eye relief is 20mm or so, but seems less because of the inflexible eye guards - I have a replacement set of lower flexible ones that make the LVW's comfortable to use with glasses. I think of the LVW's as being the Toyota of the eyepiece world, they don't lead the field in any one area, but as a package work nicely without any big compromises or glaring faults. Certainly overpriced new compared to what else you can get these days, but second hand can still be good value. The only real quibble I have is that a focal length between the 13mm and 8mm would be useful. I've often thought about selling mine but will probably hang onto them.
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