HikMicro Alpex PRO A50PL Digital day & night scope - VERSUS - DNT ZULUS 4K Digital day & night scope - VERSUS - NocPix NITE D70R digital day & night

[Alhamander]

I've been toying with the idea of a digital scope for a year or so but all the reviews don't fit the criteria I need.
I'm not bothered about daytime use but it would come in handy sometimes.
I've used a night force nxs with an archer
on the rear for over 20 years.
my question is, how good will they be compared to my set up?
I shoot on 12 power and alot of my shots due to the terrain are over 200yds out to 350yds.
I'm shooting from a good restaurant most of the time though.
has anyone any footage of 200yds to 300 yds at 12 power they could post please.View attachment 461071

Now that is a set-up I now want to replicate! Off to the shed...

 

[Phil fox man]

Now that is a set-up I now want to replicate! Off to the shed...

in your shed you'll need.
old coffee table frame.
bit of sheet wood.
bit of old carpet.
and an adjustable clothes prop.
optional extras are an old patio umbrella to keep the rain off.
a sheet glass suction carrier and an aerobics arm weight for the bag rest.

 

[Alhamander]

in your shed you'll need.
old coffee table frame.
bit of sheet wood.
bit of old carpet.
and an adjustable clothes prop.
optional extras are an old patio umbrella to keep the rain off.
a sheet glass suction carrier and an aerobics arm weight for the bag rest.

It's brilliant...I intend to burst out of the shed like the A-Team, off to find a zeroing spot! Thanks

 

[JackDavis]

Not seen many YouTubers look at the nocopix at the shooting show? Was looking forward to seeing a comparison against the new Hik offering

 

[ShotKam 0]

Not seen many YouTubers look at the nocopix at the shooting show? Was looking forward to seeing a comparison against the new Hik offering

I think we just have to patiently and these 3 scopes everyone is talking about will get extensive night time reviews at range for us all to see.

 

[tarponhead]

Sorry if this sounds a little harsh ...its nice to be able to shoot out to 400 yards at night but in most cases its possible to get a lot closer, so possibly use the 2 things attached to your arse and walk closer.

The furthest fox I shot was 395 yards with a Pulsar N750A and it was nice and clear (albeit the PIP mag was 11x). I have an Alpex 4K A50E and that is fine out to 250+. I think this expectation of sub £1k scopes having daytime optics like £3k glass are somewhat unrealistic as is having crystal clarity at 20x zoom at 400 yards at night .

Just saying

Completely agree - and then factor in the weather - just a bit of moisture and the detail disappears on thermals and is much reduced on day/night scopes. Last night I had to wait for about an hour for the moisture to reduce so zi could see anything again.

 

[Drum123]

I had an n470 , sold it to upgrade to an Alpex and an Atn x sight 5 . I wish I'd not sold it. It was better than both in the dark.

 

[Boomerang]

When I purchased my last analogue scope, I paid a lot £££ but was pretty happy that a massive improvement was not around the corner. I like the idea of digital/IR scopes and the greater flexibility in shooting they can facilitate - but it brings back Moore's Law. Each of these OEMs is producing a new product or upgraded product in quick succession. Not being an early adaptor and managing my FOMO (which I definitely have) has been the right decision so far. Admittedly the price point is about 1/3 of great analogue glass, I think the HIK Alpex Pro is now on pre-order - will be interesting to see how that compares.

 

[MTheaded but happy]

Let's be honest, we're being drip fed , they're not going to kill the fattened calf . The technology already exists to make a fantastic digital night vision unit , big objective , more sensitive sensors , high def' display , lrf and internal ballistics calculator .

 

[One on top of two]

I have got to the point i just cant really be arsed with it anymore
I have gone back to the drone pro for certain jobs

 

[Steve O'shea]

Using .223 I just wish to have the scope out of the 3 listed, that performs the best at night out to around 200 mts, when I can't get closer for whatever reason. Pro's and cons for each unit but nightime clarity at distance nightime will be the deciding factor. Spoke to a man from Nocpix who came to the Show to support a major Nocpix retailer, So to dispell the rumours, they actually delayed release because there was a very minor glitch with one setting in the menu that the average user would never encounter. Nevertheless they decided to ensure this was resolved before launch, even though they would loose sales to other brands in the meantime. Some retailers put out other incorrect messages why there was a delay. I am happy to wait.

I have been in the same boat for a while, I've had several different scopes from dnt and hicmicro and been searching for "the one". Been watching and waiting for these scopes to come out and seen them at the shooting show etc.
My Alpex 4k, I sold to help fund a rifle at the time but now I've just purchased another one.... AE50lrf model. For a 223 foxing set up, I've decided it's currently the best dedicated scope that's easily available, and isn't going to be beat at night by anything newer yet.
To prove this, watch sone new YouTube footage that's out comparing the Alpex 4k and pro at night. (Bang to bite) Is the channel name. The pro is built for day use and does ok at night, but the 4k I believe was created for the night. No ai algorithm can compete with the larger lens when darkness really falls.
I still may get a pro-model for a stalking rifle in time. But for foxing I'd advise you stick with 4k.
I had been using the previous alpex 4k on the 223 in the past, but then changed for the lighter Zulus V2. It is certainly a great little scope, it's now going to try out life on the 308 next. It's superior to the Alpex 4k in daytime, brighter images, doesn't struggle with the contrast of a shady hedge row below a brighter sky above etc. But at night it's inferior overall, yes it can yield cracking images out to 150/200 yds and beyond if conditions are perfect. But so often conditions aren't perfect and the larger lens of the Alpex just does a better job at longer range work especially when there's a bit of moisture/ humidity in the air. It makes better use of the IR and doesn't get washed out so easily. I use the Sirius IR and it is very good.
Yesterday I could of ordered a Zulus 4k, I could have pre-ordered an Alpex pro, instead I ordered a replacement Alpex 4k. All the new ones I believe share the same 50mm f1.8 lens as the Zulus V2, a good all rounder but the f1.2 of the Alpex 4k wins at night.

 

[ShotKam 0]

I have been in the same boat for a while, I've had several different scopes from dnt and hicmicro and been searching for "the one". Been watching and waiting for these scopes to come out and seen them at the shooting show etc.
My Alpex 4k, I sold to help fund a rifle at the time but now I've just purchased another one.... AE50lrf model. For a 223 foxing set up, I've decided it's currently the best dedicated scope that's easily available, and isn't going to be beat at night by anything newer yet.
To prove this, watch sone new YouTube footage that's out comparing the Alpex 4k and pro at night. (Bang to bite) Is the channel name. The pro is built for day use and does ok at night, but the 4k I believe was created for the night. No ai algorithm can compete with the larger lens when darkness really falls.
I still may get a pro-model for a stalking rifle in time. But for foxing I'd advise you stick with 4k.
I had been using the previous alpex 4k on the 223 in the past, but then changed for the lighter Zulus V2. It is certainly a great little scope, it's now going to try out life on the 308 next. It's superior to the Alpex 4k in daytime, brighter images, doesn't struggle with the contrast of a shady hedge row below a brighter sky above etc. But at night it's inferior overall, yes it can yield cracking images out to 150/200 yds and beyond if conditions are perfect. But so often conditions aren't perfect and the larger lens of the Alpex just does a better job at longer range work especially when there's a bit of moisture/ humidity in the air. It makes better use of the IR and doesn't get washed out so easily. I use the Sirius IR and it is very good.
Yesterday I could of ordered a Zulus 4k, I could have pre-ordered an Alpex pro, instead I ordered a replacement Alpex 4k. All the new ones I believe share the same 50mm f1.8 lens as the Zulus V2, a good all rounder but the f1.2 of the Alpex 4k wins at night.

A great review thankyou of real life experience. I am not desperate so I will wait for the Nocpix D70R and will give the feedback after some night sessions.

 

[Cyres]

I looked at the D70 at the Stalking show and was v impressed. Dot of death was tiny .
My 204 wears a N470s but durring the summer months it would be good to have a scope that made the most of the long evening light.
With a Blade the N470s is transformed. I use the on board IR for close stuff but if over 150 yds then the Blade comes into its own.
D

 

[ShotKam 0]

I looked at the D70 at the Stalking show and was v impressed. Dot of death was tiny .
My 204 wears a N470s but durring the summer months it would be good to have a scope that made the most of the long evening light.
With a Blade the N470s is transformed. I use the on board IR for close stuff but if over 150 yds then the Blade comes into its own.
D

I was considering getting the blade for the D70R but I need to do more research 1st.

 

[Pellet Pinger]

I was considering getting the blade for the D70R but I need to do more research 1st.

Thats an easy one, ask anyone that has used a Blade and Wraith ESL side by side and you will have your answer.

 

[ShotKam 0]

Thats an easy one, ask anyone that has used a Blade and Wraith ESL side by side and you will have your answer.

Seems the blade comes in 1st place.

 

[Pellet Pinger]

Seems the blade comes in 1st place.

Nope it really doesn’t, the Wraith ESL is a far cleaner, brighter, more adjustable IR than the Blade.

 

[Cyres]

Not so sure about that. For a start the Wraith is about twice the size and weight of the blade.
When I get a spare moment I will test my Wraith V3 with my N470s and report back.
D

 

[Pellet Pinger]

Not so sure about that. For a start the Wraith is about twice the size and weight of the blade.
When I get a spare moment I will test my Wraith V3 with my N470s and report back.
D

I think you may be talking about the full sized Wraith with the big Yukon lens bottom of the two in first image.

I’m referring to the Wraith ESL (Extra Small Laser) its far more compact and lighter than those type of torches, Sirrius, DFK, PBIR etc.
Having owned both and tested together without doubt the Wraith ESL performs better than the Blade with dedicated NV.

 

[seedawood]

I have been using the DNT4k a lot the last fortnight but almost mostly in daytime and in the last hour of legal deer shooting light. In those conditions, I have been super impressed. It is doing everything I wanted it to do with great clarity (relatively speaking) and ease of use, great LRF and Ballistic calcs etc and weighs very little.

However, last night I did the first extensive test in proper pitch black night. Conditions were perfect. The sort of conditions with lots of stars visible, not much cloud, low humidity and the thermal showed those lovely cold clean crisp images. There would be no excuses in these conditions.

It is clear this scope is miles behind my out and out night time shooting gear (which is a Vulpine Mk3, Solaris torch and March compact scope)

Don't get me wrong, you can still shoot in anger and ID stuff out to 250-300yds but the image is grainy and poor. If you like shooting on higher mag at night, it is even worse. In my view, x 6 and below is ok but anything above, whilst being usable, is really quite poor image wise. I was using a Solaris on various power settings and going through all flood to spot options. I used 4k and HD options on the Zulus. I used enhanced mode, natural modes, adjust focus and diopters and just could not resolve the sort of quality image at night that I have been used to for the last many years of night shooting.

The only benefit I can see of using the Zulus at night is that you have the LRF and ballistic thingy, so if you were shooting from a static point out the ranges where you need the holdover adjustments, then it will be functional. For literally every other scenario I would 100% be grabbing my Vulpine and March. I am not joking when I say it can resolve a better image at 400yds on x 20 mag than the Zulus can do at 150yds on x 6 mag.

If you want a middle distance day time pest control scope (out to say 350yds) and a last light tool for those wary/twitchy fallow without needing any additional IR, this scope is bloody awesome. At night however, I was very underwhelmed.

When I got home, I went on to Youtube and checked out lots of footage from DNT users and HIK Alpex users to see what sort of footage they were producing when recording fox shooting. You can see how grainy the images are and that most seem to be using quite low magnification settings. x4.5 mag at 30yds for rats looks awesome but as soon as you get out to 100yds+ on anything more than 6 mag, they all look pretty crap to me. I can only imagine the sensor set up that allows it to be so good in day time and last light, means it cannot cope under the cover of proper darkness. Maybe the new Nocpix and Alpex pro will sort this out.

So in a nutshell, the DNT4k is brilliant for daylight and last light but seems pretty pants, at least relative to what I am used to, in proper pitch black conditions. And from the footage online, the Alpex 4k seems similar if maybe slightly better. Neither are close to the ballpark quality of the Vulpine and optical scope combination.

I have been put off using a rear add on by the voices that say "rear NV does not work with quality glass coatings", March are a 'quality' scope, do they behave differently, is it a feature of the Vulpine, or can I successfully use a new gen. Pard on my S&B scopes?
I don't want to go full digital for the little night shooting I do, (except rats, which I found was the original Alpex best use) don't want to be constantly switching scopes if I can avoid it and have been equally put off front thermal by the cries of "Add ons shift zero".
So I would much appreciate the views of someone who has used a rear nv successfully (or otherwise) on quality glass.