Night vision, add on or straight scope

Leica Geovid Pro - Green
mealiejimmy said:
Unfortunately the lens coating on your Swaro mean that it's unlikely to perform well with an NV rear add-on
Swaro lens coatings are designed to optimise transmission of light from the blue end of the spectrum because that's what's dominant at dawn and dusk.
Those lens coating are good at transmitting blue light, but not at transmitting IR so performance with any NV rear add-on is compromised
Also, the minimum parallax on the Z8i is 50m
IR passing through a scope focusses at a different point than visible light.
This means that targets at say 100m need the parallax adjusted down to about 10m to get a focussed image
Since the Z8i won't focus below 50m it will be difficult to get a focussed image when using IR
If you really want an NV capability with your Z8i, then a front add-on might be worth considering.
However front add-ons also have their limitations and are considerably more expensive than a rear add-on (or a C50)
The major limitations are how much scope magnification can be used: x3 - x8 is about as much as you'll be able to use and there's always concern about the add-on retaining zero after it is removed and re-fitted to the scope

Cheers

Bruce
Click to expand...
Fortunately I have a spare M03 mount. I think I'll just bite the bullet and get a C50 as this has 30mm tube which will fit the mount. Hopefully I can zero the C50 and then simply swap the scopes over. At least that's the theory...
 
Can end up addictive, have thermal scope old tubed nv, for me nothing beats seeing a fox through good tubed nv, but for simplicity and ease of use (no ir) thermal out performs. If all I had was a thermal spotter and tubed nv still would be happy and vice versa.
 
In my view there is no better combo than a thermal spotter and a good digital scope and NOT the other way around.

The very simple reason is that you will spot more stuff with thermal spotters BUT a thermal will not necessarily see the fine crap in the way if the shot.

Had this only the other night. Out foxing but thermal spotted two deer. One quickly ID as a munty and the other couched - later ID as a roe.

Absolutely crystal clear image on thermal. But when the rifleman looked through digi - he couldnt see a thing due to the grass and low fine branches made worse by the IR bounce.

You could argue it would work the other way around but thermal as a spotter works 24 hours a day. Digi isnt ip to snuff yet imho.

Personally I hate rear add on kit. I had an RTA so messed up neck and I am really a great believer in setting up your rifle to fit exactly on closed eye mount to the point when you open your eyes - they are in perfect alignment. A rear add on messes with this totally.

Dedicated scope on the rifle.

Possible to argue for front mount but alignment can be an issue.

Or QD mounts but rifle and rings need to be top notch imho to make this work
 
Hi, I have pard nv007A and night saber wraith 3x 850 nm illuminator on a nightforce NXS 5.5-22x56mm. No problem to see at 300 yards and more.
only one question using night vision add on: To have crisp reticle and target image you have to set parallax about at 20-30yards if you are looking at 300 yards, so if the night vision add on is
not perfectly aligned with the rifle scope my I have parallax error??? The same shooting during the day (without night vision add-on) with parallax set at 20 yards shooting at 300 yards and with
eye not perfectly alingned with the eyepice of the riflescope?
 
What you are finding is perfectly normal
The parallax dial on the scope is correct when visible light passes through the scope
850nm IR focusses at different positions within the scope, so to get a focussed image of the reticle and the target, the parallax has to be adjusted to a much shorter range

Cheers

Bruce
 
Get a Blaser, a decent day scope and any dedicated night vision / thermal scope of your choice. Blasers always hold their zero when taking the optics off and putting them back on. Other than all of those clip-on solutions.
 
alled12 said:
Hi ladies & gents
I a mstarting to look at getting into night vision, what is the best way to go, i have used starlights system which seems to be a really good idea, just from what i can gather poor customer service, i am aware there are others, thats the only one i have played with, what are peoples experiences with this type of setup, any issues wtih zero shift for front mounted systems etc.?
Or do I go for a straight scope and zero every time i swap?
Alternatively another rifle and create a dedicated setup, if thats the case which calibre etc?
The floor is yours on this one, I have no budget in mind I am looking for the practical solutions and not an appendage measuring session, just honest experiences?
I look forward to your thoughts.
Click to expand...
As a starter what calibre and range will or would you be looking to use it out to

I'm using hawke scopes on the 22 rimmy, 22 hornet and 204 with the pard 007 V and these work fine I also use 2 thermal scopes as well on the 222 243 the difference being the price the 007V and hawke are very good for the price I shoot over 200 yds with pard on the 204 with external IR the thermals are good all round
 
Steff said:
Get a Blaser, a decent day scope and any dedicated night vision / thermal scope of your choice. Blasers always hold their zero when taking the optics off and putting them back on. Other than all of those clip-on solutions.
Click to expand...

Yep 100% that’s exactly what I have done , 2 scopes per rifle one decent day scope and a hawke with adjustable parallax combined with a 007V and external IR all works faultlessly and the change over is seconds same with the larger calibres but with the thermal scopes can’t beat the blaser system always accurate
 
Overlay said:
Yep 100% that’s exactly what I have done , 2 scopes per rifle one decent day scope and a hawke with adjustable parallax combined with a 007V and external IR all works faultlessly and the change over is seconds same with the larger calibres but with the thermal scopes can’t beat the blaser system always accurate
Click to expand...
When I said 'a dedicated NV / Thermal scope' I meant something like a Pulsar C50 rather than an assembly of a regular scope and an add on.
 
I have thermal monocular (falcon fq50), night vision is much better to identification at long distances; but i do not discuss about the preferecnces of everybody (someone prefer thermal, someone night vision riflescope, someone night vision add on...).
My question is if i could have parallax error if I set parallax at 30 yards and shoot at 300 yards. Thanks Bruce for your answer, I think there are two ways to be sure to have no parallax error: 1) install add on, shoot at the target, remove the add on, install add on again, shoot at the target, and see if the bullet hit in the same point or not. 2) put the rifle in a bench vise, aligne the reticle at the target, install the add on more times and see if the regicle is always aligned at the target. Doing this during the night with add on and Ir lamp, and even without the addo on lighting up the target with a visible light.
Or someone that use add on more than me (in Italy we can't use them as often as you in England/Scotland) have never have problem ( that means if the target and reticle are focused also the parralax error is negligible.




















@sassosassosassosasso5354
 
Over the years I’ve had, or tried most of the kit out there. I’ve done numerous Pards, Archer, dedicated pulsar nv scopes, pulsar xm and xp thermal units but have settled on a Vulpine Mk3. I mount it on a Meopta Optika 6 scope together with a Laser Wraith Ir. Honestly, I can clearly ID stuff way further than I could reasonably shoot it….the limiting factor will undoubtedly be the shooter and not the kit. As others have said, top notch coatings on high end scopes don’t always work well with nv kit and I’d agree, my stalking rifles are mounted with Swaro and Zeiss scopes, and although they’ll work, they aren’t nearly as good as the Meopta….in all honesty if I could have lived with the daytime short comings of the Hawke frontier I had mounted at one point, it was actually a touch better at night but about a third of the price!

Thermal is great for spotting but not so great for getting a positive ID, movement, shape and experience help considerably, but you simply can’t make 100% ID via thermal, with decent NV you absolutely can.
 
Hi, Flash9919. Is Vulpine Mk3 much better than pard add on (NV007A or NV007s)? For shoot at 300 yards pard is ok, but If i like to have a better and more crisp image (just for the pleasure to have a better image) is Vulpine Mk3 much better than pard?
 
RR60 said:
Hi, Flash9919. Is Vulpine Mk3 much better than pard add on (NV007A or NV007s)? For shoot at 300 yards pard is ok, but If i like to have a better and more crisp image (just for the pleasure to have a better image) is Vulpine Mk3 much better than pard?
Click to expand...
From my experience yes….although I haven’t tried the latest pard incarnations. The Vulpine mounts shorter than the V, for me that means that I can use my scope by day and still have suitable eye relief. Picture wise, at 300yrds you’re crisp even on rabbit and bird size targets, I can sex Roe at double that distance with ease and can count indervidual wheel nuts in the neighbours yard on the other side of the valley!….. Obviously, on a shitty misty night you’ll struggle to see bugger all the same as all the other kit out there that’s not thermal.
 
Thanks Flash9919. Which meopta optika6 riflescope do you have? I have nightforce nxs 5.5-22x56 and it works well with pard but I wont to buy a new riflescope on a lighter rifle to use during the night. Meopta optika6 works very well with Vulpine but i dont like their reticle (for day use too much thin for my eyes like my nightforce reticle "NPR2", expecialy at the beginning of the day and in the eveninig). I like delta optical 4-24x50 Di-moa or Di-mil reticle for low light day hunting, in this forum i find that delta optical works well with night vision add on, do you know if Meopta optika6 is better than delta optical using night vision add on?
 
Does anyone use Clive wards front add on digistalker?

I am awaiting pards front add on offering for a look see ,but Bruce has quashed this fairly early on....
 
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