Pard NV007S testing performance

[Clive Ward]

Hi All,

I was very pleased with the performance of the new Pard NV007S on a less than ideal scope so was looking forward to testing it on something that was known to work well with add on night vision. In this case the MTC Mamba 4-16x50 RIR.

Along with the standard Dark Engine IR, this combination actually gets out to around 1000m, well the light from the IR does and the Pard NV007S will pick it up...but the scope has run out of useful resolution by then.

But for normal shooting ranges out to 400 yards it works extremely well. Considerably better than the old NV007 and NV007A.

Here's a bit of the recorded test footage:


The Pard is tiny and the Dark Engine is only 200g. Fitted length and resulting shooting position was unaffected on my .223


Cheers





Clive

 

[Sharpie]

But for normal shooting ranges out to 400 yards it works extremely well. Considerably better than the old NV007 and NV007A.

..

The Pard is tiny and the Dark Engine is only 200g. Fitted length and resulting shooting position was unaffected on my .223


Cheers





Clive

To what do you attribute the higher performance ?

I am asking for a friend, who is employed by a wildlife trust, and want's my opinion of current offerings, to be used as spotters. Which I think the Pard 7 series could do, with suitable IR, preferably stealth, 940 nm etc.

Could you give a recommendation for a suitable combination, not as a riflescope add-on, but purely for spotting with an appropriate base magnification, FOV, and recording to SD card as best as possible.

They would like thermals too, but budget is limited.

The purpose is to find, identify and monitor the wildlife over a wide area that they cover (Northumberland, and Cumbria), birds and mammals. Small ones, as well as the usual.

 

[Clive Ward]

To what do you attribute the higher performance ?

I am asking for a friend, who is employed by a wildlife trust, and want's my opinion of current offerings, to be used as spotters. Which I think the Pard 7 series could do, with suitable IR, preferably stealth, 940 nm etc.

Could you give a recommendation for a suitable combination, not as a riflescope add-on, but purely for spotting with an appropriate base magnification, FOV, and recording to SD card as best as possible.

They would like thermals too, but budget is limited.

The purpose is to find, identify and monitor the wildlife over a wide area that they cover (Northumberland, and Cumbria), birds and mammals. Small ones, as well as the usual.

Hi Sharpie,

The sensor is just more sensitive.

The NV007S or NV007V in 16mm would do the job, but I would hang on for the new NV008S for that application (version without the LRF) that will have a wider FOV than the current one by all accounts and the same higher performing sensor as the NV007S.

It will also be easier to mount accessory IR such as a Dark Engine Covert to as well.


Cheers





Clive

 

[Sharpie]

Hi Sharpie,

The sensor is just more sensitive.

The NV007S or NV007V in 16mm would do the job, but I would hang on for the new NV008S for that application (version without the LRF) that will have a wider FOV than the current one by all accounts and the same higher performing sensor as the NV007S.

It will also be easier to mount accessory IR such as a Dark Engine Covert to as well.


Cheers





Clive

Thank you Clive.

Any thoughts about timescale for the NV008S ?

 

[TChunt]

Unfortuntly seems that the new pard 008s will have the same base magnification 6.5x:

https://fccid.io/2A3OF-NV008S/Users-Man ... al-5627302

 

[Sharpie]

Unfortuntly seems that the new pard 008s will have the same base magnification 6.5x:

https://fccid.io/2A3OF-NV008S/Users-Man ... al-5627302

Thank you. ISTM that unless the eyepiece design has changed (i.e. to give a wider field of view of the 1024x768 screen), the focal length of the objective adjusted so that, at base mag. the wider screen still gives an apparent 6.5x mag. then the FOV cannot have increased. That's a lot of ifs and buts.

However, if the eyepiece has been expanded, then I suppose it could be an improvement.

AFAIK the eyepieces on the Pard 7 series are much the same. AFAIK the NV007S only comes in x4 base magnification which I presume is using a 16mm objective. or the V can have the 12mm objective giving a base mag. of x1. I must admit, I don't know what these mm figures represent, they can't be the actual focal length of the lenses, because that would not account for the x4 difference in magnification. I'd prefer some clarification of that point.

Then we have the sensor resolution. Both the S and V have 1920x1080 pixels. Although they can capture photos at 2592x1944, these are obviously an extrapolation from the basic sensor resolution, by at least x1.8, together with some cropping of the horizontal FOV (i.e. the sensor has an "full HD" aspect ratio of 1.777, but the photos are captured with an aspect ratio of 1.333. Handy for printing on e.g. 6x4.5" paper, but a bit of a waste of detail IMO, and the cropping seems pointless when mostly photos are viewed on e.g. a full HD laptop screen, where they won't go to the edges. Seems a waste.

I reckon that they may only be using at most 1080x1440 of the actual sensor pixels. That's about a 1.5 megapixel image, which is unimpressive, and hardly suited to "digital zooming" in later editing.

I'm assuming that the 1820x1080 30fps full HD video comes from the sensor at native resolution, if so that's good.

As I understand it, both the S and the V use the same "new and improved sensor". If this is correct, and I'm not missing something obvious, then it looks as if the NV007V in 16mm would be the best choice for her, the price saving over the S could be usefully put towards an illuminator, she will not need the extra sophistications of the S version.

Thank you @Clive Ward for your suggestions.

 

[The Singing Stalker]

@Sharpie. I dont think nv will be any use to her at all. Understand limited budget but I think a cheap thermal would be better. Spotting birds and small mammals will be almost impossible at night, imo.
a second hand thermal will be far better.

 

[Sharpie]

@Sharpie. I dont think nv will be any use to her at all. Understand limited budget but I think a cheap thermal would be better. Spotting birds and small mammals will be almost impossible at night, imo.
a second hand thermal will be far better.

I do understand, ideally she should have both, but she wants to record the details too, both day and night, she is very keen about this, and I've previously helped her with a home made basic bat detector too, and a lash-up to attach her 'phone to her spotting' scope, which I think gives her much better photos and video than a Pard could, in good light.

I think a Pard 007 series or even cheaper might help, particularly if attached to her Opticron 'scope, if the coatings on that might pass the IR. Should certainly work in daylight.

This is far away from e.g. hunting/rifle use, but I think there may be some overlap.

 

[Clive Ward]

Unfortuntly seems that the new pard 008s will have the same base magnification 6.5x:

https://fccid.io/2A3OF-NV008S/Users-Man ... al-5627302

The old unit was quoted as having a 6.5x magnification, but in reality was more along the lines of 8x.

The new version has a shorter focal length of the lens so will have wider FOV and less magnification than it's predecessor.


Cheers





Clive