Night Pearl thermal spotter

[S&L7x57]

At the Game Fair this year I looked at the 19mm Scops and was very impressed with its image in comparison with the outwardly similar iRay and very different looking Key XM30 Pulsar.
However, no one seems to be talking about the Night Pearl range and they are seemingly only available from continental outlets.
Am I missing something or are they thermal's best kept secret?!

 

[mealiejimmy]

They are rebranded IRay so I imagine Highland Outdoors (who are the Iray importer) might have something to do with them being unheard of in the UK.
Plus, Pearl claim to be a Czech company so Brexit won't be helping them either

Cheers

Bruce

 

[BrackenMoss]

I have the 19mm Scops pro. I’ve had it a while now and it’s been very good. Battery life usually covers me for at least 3 outings, so maybe 9 hours intermittent use. It’s the only thermal I’ve owned so I can’t compare it to anything properly, but I’ve looked through others and the image quality is pretty good. Mine can only toggle between 1x and 2x mag but it does everything I need. My local gun shop stopped selling them a while ago and I believe this was due to an importer buying a load of stock and selling them for less than the said gun shop could buy them for at trade.

 

[S&L7x57]

They are rebranded IRay so I imagine Highland Outdoors (who are the Iray importer) might have something to do with them being unheard of in the UK.
Plus, Pearl claim to be a Czech company so Brexit won't be helping them either

Cheers

Bruce

Are they simply rebranded iRay?
When I looked at both at the Game Fair the NP appeared to give a significantly better image and, as far as I was aware, I was comparing the 19mm NP with a 25mm iRay. The stand guy talked about improved software but this might just have been salesman's puff! Also a fair bit cheaper.
Also, I have read your comment elsewhere that daylight performance shouldn't be used to rate thermal spotters but my use is entirely stalking (during legal light) so 90% of my use WILL be in daylight. With a borrowed 15mm Hik thermal, I found it worked pretty well in dawn fog and mist and was certainly a huge advantage in woodland. Of course the image was little more than a white blob but with a very restricted budget and limited usage on accompanied recreational stalks, I would prefer to go cheap rather than best. Am I really wasting my time and money?

 

[mealiejimmy]

1. Are they available in the UK?
2. If not, and you buy from abroad, your £100 (and considerably more ) will be gone in shipping and the VAT you will have to pay to get it into the UK

Cheers

Bruce

 

[S&L7x57]

I have the 19mm Scops pro. I’ve had it a while now and it’s been very good. Battery life usually covers me for at least 3 outings, so maybe 9 hours intermittent use. It’s the only thermal I’ve owned so I can’t compare it to anything properly, but I’ve looked through others and the image quality is pretty good. Mine can only toggle between 1x and 2x mag but it does everything I need. My local gun shop stopped selling them a while ago and I believe this was due to an importer buying a load of stock and selling them for less than the said gun shop could buy them for at trade.

Thank you, you are the first person I have ever heard from who has one. Have you seen any that have made you regret your decision?

 

[S&L7x57]

1. Are they available in the UK?
2. If not, and you buy from abroad, your £100 (and considerably more ) will be gone in shipping and the VAT you will have to pay to get it into the UK

Cheers

Bruce

Sorry you beat me to my repost after editing!
You are quite right about the import costs etc. When I saw them on the NP stand at the Game Fair, I was unaware that they weren't IN the UK. Perhaps that was their plan and it never worked out.
It was the improved image that caught my attention rather than the price. That was just a cherry on top!

 

[BrackenMoss]

Thank you, you are the first person I have ever heard from who has one. Have you seen any that have made you regret your decision?

Not at all, I’ve looked through others that have a bigger screen and more magnification, but the field of view was as good on the NP and the image seemed better. I presume that keeping the screen relatively small and limiting the mag keeps the image sharp. Also the pixel count/density was higher than the pulsars available at the time. I bought mine in early 2020 from NiteSite.
I did do quite a bit of research at the time but have forgotten most of it. I do seem to remember that the NP used a vanadium oxide sensor where a lot of the others use silicon. What difference this makes, I can’t remember.
It does exactly what I need it to do: Indicate a heat source which can then be identified through the binos generally at up to 1000yrds (deer sized target).
No doubt there is more advanced kit available now, however the technology is essentially the same. I’ve not yet looked through another spotter that has made me think that I need to upgrade, however, my requirements are basic and I don’t really chase new technology.
Hope this helps.

 

[Antsinpants]

It’s great to hear decent feed back on the night pearl range as I’m in the dark about them to. I’m lucky enough to have just won a np marten 620 rifle scope but I’m unsure weather to sell it while it’s unopened or keep it. I’ve never been a fan of thermal scopes