C h r i s
Well-Known Member
A couple of years ago I sold my 2 DronePros and invested in thermal, the amazing Pulsar XP50 pro. Its served me well, and I considered it a huge step up from traditional digital NV scope. However, with a low base magnification and relatively low sensor resolution I was starting to realise that there is still a place for non-thermal scopes, as its often hard to differentiate between a rabbit and a hare at 100 yards etc.
So when Pard released the DS35, with in built range finder for 5 times less money than the XP50 I was immediately sucked in. Was a little concerned that it might need some fancy mounts to bring ocular lens close enough to my eye, because this scope was going to be for my Sako A1 in .17 Fireball, no picatinny rail so I have to rely on Optilocks. However it turns out that it mounts just fine, head position as good as my traditional glass scope.
Two minutes to skim read the manual and I was out to zero at 100M, obviously I didn't actually really read the manual, shouldn't be too tricky to work out...... Anyway, zeroing was easy and the same routine as most other digital NV scopes (the 17 FB didn't fail to impress, well under 1", some 4 shot groups at 1/2" which cant be bad considering its a digital image). Image quality at 100 is excellent, and I mean crystal clear, the inbuilt IR is more than enough (out to 300). Messed about with the LFR and went back to 200, however having not bothered to input the ballistic data for my rounds meant that the predicted fall of shot wasn't quite there, but I'll fine tune and come back to that another day. Image quality at 300 is also very clear, rabbits are viable targets, unless its raining again - like now.
Being a new user of inbuilt range finders it took me a few minutes to realise that the distance to target is measured to one side of the cross hairs (its obvious really), so if your tiny target is 5M in front of a large tree stump then your distance will be calculated to the tree, not the target, once the penny dropped it was plain sailing (I have since found some instructions on an Australian Pard sellers website that shows how you can align the LRF target box with the LRF laser).
Overall, really pleased with this, not much to improve on. Love the higher than average base magnification, the focus adjust lever is excellent, build quality seems solid (other than * below), buttons responsive, menu easy to navigate. The FOV isn't too bad, this was one of my concerns, but needn't have been.
Some small niggles though.
The USB-C port* doesn't feel the most secure of things, wobbles a bit so take care when plugging the lead in, the manual states that this is a charging port, however the Ozzy Pard website advises not to use this port to charge... who knows.
Most buttons are easy to access in the dark, however the LRF button really should be something physically different as its next to 2 other similar pads that can be pressed accidently instead.
You cant adjust the aim of the IR, or the aim of the LRF, however the IR is so bright it floods enough of your target area - BUT can then generate white out in the lower half of the viewfinder, especially if shooting prone, this can be sort of compensated for via the exposure control.
And unless I'm doing something wrong, I'm not seeing the LRF adjusted aim point in the PIP box - think I read that this is a known bug.
Anyway, good investment!
So when Pard released the DS35, with in built range finder for 5 times less money than the XP50 I was immediately sucked in. Was a little concerned that it might need some fancy mounts to bring ocular lens close enough to my eye, because this scope was going to be for my Sako A1 in .17 Fireball, no picatinny rail so I have to rely on Optilocks. However it turns out that it mounts just fine, head position as good as my traditional glass scope.
Two minutes to skim read the manual and I was out to zero at 100M, obviously I didn't actually really read the manual, shouldn't be too tricky to work out...... Anyway, zeroing was easy and the same routine as most other digital NV scopes (the 17 FB didn't fail to impress, well under 1", some 4 shot groups at 1/2" which cant be bad considering its a digital image). Image quality at 100 is excellent, and I mean crystal clear, the inbuilt IR is more than enough (out to 300). Messed about with the LFR and went back to 200, however having not bothered to input the ballistic data for my rounds meant that the predicted fall of shot wasn't quite there, but I'll fine tune and come back to that another day. Image quality at 300 is also very clear, rabbits are viable targets, unless its raining again - like now.
Being a new user of inbuilt range finders it took me a few minutes to realise that the distance to target is measured to one side of the cross hairs (its obvious really), so if your tiny target is 5M in front of a large tree stump then your distance will be calculated to the tree, not the target, once the penny dropped it was plain sailing (I have since found some instructions on an Australian Pard sellers website that shows how you can align the LRF target box with the LRF laser).
Overall, really pleased with this, not much to improve on. Love the higher than average base magnification, the focus adjust lever is excellent, build quality seems solid (other than * below), buttons responsive, menu easy to navigate. The FOV isn't too bad, this was one of my concerns, but needn't have been.
Some small niggles though.
The USB-C port* doesn't feel the most secure of things, wobbles a bit so take care when plugging the lead in, the manual states that this is a charging port, however the Ozzy Pard website advises not to use this port to charge... who knows.
Most buttons are easy to access in the dark, however the LRF button really should be something physically different as its next to 2 other similar pads that can be pressed accidently instead.
You cant adjust the aim of the IR, or the aim of the LRF, however the IR is so bright it floods enough of your target area - BUT can then generate white out in the lower half of the viewfinder, especially if shooting prone, this can be sort of compensated for via the exposure control.
And unless I'm doing something wrong, I'm not seeing the LRF adjusted aim point in the PIP box - think I read that this is a known bug.
Anyway, good investment!
