Thermal Monocular advice?

[SurfwormJim]

I'm looking for advice on a suitable thermal monocular. I will predominantly use it for deer stalking, but only really to identify a heat source in long grass, cover, woodland, etc. up to around 300yds. I don't need it to identify species at long range, as the binoculars will be used for this. I'm new to thermals so my main question is, is a low price monocular going to cut it (such as the Hikmicro Lynx 10mm) for what I need, or am I still better off going for a bigger lens, better sensor, etc? Any advice greatly received!

 

[Blackwood Outdoors]

Identify a heat source upto 300yds ? You will need a lot more than a 10mm Lynx model to do this...

Best to stick with 640px minimum and 35mm lens minimum , obviously bigger lens and sensor will improve things again...

 

[Jim Hutton]

The only trouble with the longer distance lens version is the field of view gets smaller. I have the hikmicro le10 and it’s works well. Some of my pals have the longer distance versions and have compared it with mine and came to the conclusion they had overspent on a thermal that doesn’t give them a useful field of view. Go to the stalking show if you can wait til April and try them to see what works for you.

 

[Jim Hutton]

Just checked and the hikmicro le10 has a range of 500 metres per the manufacturers site. More than adequate for your needs.

 

[Blackwood Outdoors]

The only trouble with the longer distance lens version is the field of view gets smaller. I have the hikmicro le10 and it’s works well. Some of my pals have the longer distance versions and have compared it with mine and came to the conclusion they had overspent on a thermal that doesn’t give them a useful field of view. Go to the stalking show if you can wait til April and try them to see what works for you.

Jim, theres a lot more too it than just lens size..

What defines FOV is pixel pitch alongside focal length of the lens and physical sensor size.

Hence larger resolution sensors retain detection range whilst also bringing much wider fields of view and better resolution.

As an example a 50mm 640px 12um combination has equal detection to a 50mm 1280 (HD) 12um setup , BUT the 1280 sensor increases FOV by a massive margin, whilst also providing double the resolution and retaining the same detection range...

Small low cost sensors like 256px and 384px options, reduce FOV dramatically and need to be paired with smaller lens to increase FOV, which in turns reduces there detection range, so the balance is not ideal...

 

[Blackwood Outdoors]

Just checked and the hikmicro le10 has a range of 500 metres per the manufacturers site. More than adequate for your needs.

Detection range fool's people...

You have detection, recognition and then identification..

Detection is normally based on only x3 horizontal pixels of a man size object showing on the screen.. Trust me a 10mm 256px resolution thermal is bottom of the bin and about as much use as a chocolate fire guard for everything bar on extreme close range work out to 50yds.. NO WAY in this world could you do anything at 500yds with it, you would be very lucky to tell what something is at 50yds with it !

 

[jb1]

These questions can be answered easier depending on budget. I looked though dome very cheap thermal spotters that made me ender what was the point.
I went for pulsar axion rf, gits in your pocket, range finds and you can spot deer 1k away.
But if you only have a budget of £500 your just window shopping.

 

[SurfwormJim]

These questions can be answered easier depending on budget. I looked though dome very cheap thermal spotters that made me ender what was the point.
I went for pulsar axion rf, gits in your pocket, range finds and you can spot deer 1k away.
But if you only have a budget of £500 your just window shopping.

The budget isn't really an issue, its more a case of not wanting to spend £3k+ on something if its completely unnecessary for my needs, but at the same time not wanting to spend £500 if its not going to do the job. Lower end models tend to claim "range" of 500m-1000m but in reality this probably isn't the case. But i haven't used them before hence the advice. I'll have a look at the pulsar, thanks for the recommendation

 

[SurfwormJim]

Detection range fool's people...

You have detection, recognition and then identification..

Detection is normally based on only x3 horizontal pixels of a man size object showing on the screen.. Trust me a 10mm 256px resolution thermal is bottom of the bin and about as much use as a chocolate fire guard for everything bar on extreme close range work out to 50yds.. NO WAY in this world could you do anything at 500yds with it, you would be very lucky to tell what something is at 50yds with it !

This is interesting, as a lot of the cheaper models claim "range" of 500m which is typically further than I'll be shooting. I guess this isn't actually the case in the field?

 

[bennyblanco]

I wanted thermal and haven't really got the budget needed, I didn't really want to risk 2nd hand either as they do seem to be fragile in terms of reliability.
I bought the pixfra m425 from Blackwood Outdoors (fantastic service ) and it's been fantastic, pretty detailed under 100m, happily good enough for species and sex.
At 200m and beyond they are just heat blobs which you can get an idea whether it's a Muntjac or Hare.

Downside, fairly small field of view.
I wish I could buy a better one but can't justify it right now, also quality seems to be increasing rapidly when you see what mid range stuff looked like five years ago

 

[Blackwood Outdoors]

This is interesting, as a lot of the cheaper models claim "range" of 500m which is typically further than I'll be shooting. I guess this isn't actually the case in the field?

This is detection, it can pickup a few pixels of heat of something around man sized, others use vehicles as an object...

Yeh pretty much ignore this, not a cat in hells chance you could tell what somthing is with a bottom end thermal at these distances...

 

[WW.]

If you're really tight on funds, look at the Infiray T2 Pro, there are android/iPhone versions. Otherwise get the best you can afford. You'll find you want to watch more than you expected once you have it, better resolution matters.

 

[Cyres]

You could get a SH Helion off here for £600.
It will do everything you need to do and more.
My XQ38 ptedates the Hellions and is decades old and still soldiers on.
D

 

[Jim Hutton]

Jim, theres a lot more too it than just lens size..

What defines FOV is pixel pitch alongside focal length of the lens and physical sensor size.

Hence larger resolution sensors retain detection range whilst also bringing much wider fields of view and better resolution.

As an example a 50mm 640px 12um combination has equal detection to a 50mm 1280 (HD) 12um setup , BUT the 1280 sensor increases FOV by a massive margin, whilst also providing double the resolution and retaining the same detection range...

Small low cost sensors like 256px and 384px options, reduce FOV dramatically and need to be paired with smaller lens to increase FOV, which in turns reduces there detection range, so the balance is not ideal...

I'm just a layman when it comes to the details so thank you for the clarification. I only know what works for me. I may use my thermal differently from others as I simply use it to determine where the deer are located. I use my binos for identification. I had the budget for something more exotic but felt I couldn't justify for my needs and so I have been happy with my bottom of the bin modest price purchase. I know it may not be for everyone and I fully understand that.