Yukon photon 6.5 x50
- Thread starter J DAVISON
- Start date
The Photon XT 6.5x50 is the best "bang for your buck" night vision scope, the 6x50 RT, slightly less so
Pros:
Price - nothing comes close in terms of price v performance
Very sensitive camera, so not much additional IR illumination needed, although the onboard IR is unlikely to be much use at typical foxing ranges.
With the right additional IR, you'll be able to shoot foxes well over 200 yards with it
It runs on 2 x AA batteries, and they last long enough for a decent night's shooting - rechargeable batteries recommended to keep long term running costs low.
Available new for around £390 and for less than £350 second hand
Cons - but IMHO, none of these are a deal breaker
You will need to buy an additional IR illuminator - plenty available from around £30 upwards depending in the range you want.
It's not a replacement for a day scope - the image quality is way too poor for that.
Depending on your rifle, a forward reach scope mount (fitted backwards) might well be required to get the ocular close enough to your eye to be able to shoot comfortably
Cheers
Bruce
Pros:
Price - nothing comes close in terms of price v performance
Very sensitive camera, so not much additional IR illumination needed, although the onboard IR is unlikely to be much use at typical foxing ranges.
With the right additional IR, you'll be able to shoot foxes well over 200 yards with it
It runs on 2 x AA batteries, and they last long enough for a decent night's shooting - rechargeable batteries recommended to keep long term running costs low.
Available new for around £390 and for less than £350 second hand
Cons - but IMHO, none of these are a deal breaker
You will need to buy an additional IR illuminator - plenty available from around £30 upwards depending in the range you want.
It's not a replacement for a day scope - the image quality is way too poor for that.
Depending on your rifle, a forward reach scope mount (fitted backwards) might well be required to get the ocular close enough to your eye to be able to shoot comfortably
Cheers
Bruce
nun_hunter
Well-Known Member
I'll second the above comments and echo that for the price there isn't really much that comes close. A downside for me is the narrow field of view so a separate spotter is really needed to search a large area effectively (not that you'd be spotting with the scope on a loaded rifle) but then can be a bit tricky to locate something in the crosshairs especially if it is sub 100m.
My photon XT 6.5x50 is great for night vision for the price, but as I was advised on here knock out the middle disk on the lens cover, an additional source of IR is better than the onboard one and helps battery life when in the field.
Shot 2 foxes under the full moon without any IR the other night.
Shot 2 foxes under the full moon without any IR the other night.
Bavarianbrit
Well-Known Member
The original model fitted with turrets had the option of an external power supply the XTs RTs can only use the 2x AAs so get the best batteries available.
reloader54
Well-Known Member
If you intend to dedicate a rifle purely for night shooting it will do the job reasonably well once you have it set up,[this can be a problem with some rifles,, but not insurmountable]. In my case I decided to go with the tried and tested ward 800, it fits on all my rifles from rimfire to 243w in seconds and saves having to swap daytime ,,, night time scopes around and re zeroing.
Use one on my 22.250 for exactly the same job. Pretty much exactly as has been said. Good performance for price and good useable range with an external IR (Ledray F900 + 70mm head), and that’s full ident - not just eye shine. As with any NV that’s mounted to your rifle, makes it a bugger to scan (notwithstanding the safety issues of a barrel waving all over the place!). I therefore use a thermal for detection (although this obviously negates any savings on the IR!) and the IR for final quarry ID and shot. Only other snag I had was really bad glare from my moderator which no amount of tape etc cured. Finally fixed it as per Red Dragons post when someone pointed out that inner disc of front flip up cover is removable - reduces fov but no glare! On the whole i’m more than happy with mine for the price and a mate has also binned his more expensive add on to get one as he preferred it to his. Oh - one more thing..... get it set up as centrally as possible prior to using the one shot zero (most need a 20moa mount for some reason) as the cross hair remains offset after zeroing I.e. it doesn’t electronically reset to centre of screen, which is a bit weird. Hope it helps.
victormeldrew
Well-Known Member
I'm also contemplating investing in digital nv & the Photon is one of the units I'm considering. However I have a couple of questions ref the Photon XT:-
1) A while ago I read (either on here or the nightvision forum) that there were problems with the cameras not being properly centred in the unit (from the factory), resulting in zeroing problems. In fact a chap from Sports Match told me that lots of guys were buying adjustable mounts in order to solve this problem.
Is this still an issue on the XT? Perhaps this is what Smelly Yeti was referring to in his post?
2) Currently i don't have a rifle which I can use for dedicated nv, so some type of QD mounts would be required if I went the route of a Photon or similar. Does any one have any recommendations regarding QD mounts & how repeatable is the POI. I plan to mount the Photon on a .223, possibly, but unlikely a .270.
Thanks
Victor
1) A while ago I read (either on here or the nightvision forum) that there were problems with the cameras not being properly centred in the unit (from the factory), resulting in zeroing problems. In fact a chap from Sports Match told me that lots of guys were buying adjustable mounts in order to solve this problem.
Is this still an issue on the XT? Perhaps this is what Smelly Yeti was referring to in his post?
2) Currently i don't have a rifle which I can use for dedicated nv, so some type of QD mounts would be required if I went the route of a Photon or similar. Does any one have any recommendations regarding QD mounts & how repeatable is the POI. I plan to mount the Photon on a .223, possibly, but unlikely a .270.
Thanks
Victor
Hi Victor, hadn’t heard about the screen centreing issues but will need to look in to it more as scope is still under warranty? With regards to QR mounts I was originally using Leupold QR to swap between Photon and Zeiss Duralyt and, whilst it was never a big difference, you definately seemed to get a POI change. Nothing bad enough to make a difference in the real world for an average shot but it still always left a nagging doubt in my mind and my OCD won out so went to dedicated night rifle. I suppose the answer is to check zero after every swap but I certainly don’t have the time to do this.
If, after the rifle is zeroed, the reticle is not in the centre of the screen (and it almost certainly won't be) then you have 2 options:
1. if it's not too far away from the centre of the screen, then simply live with it - you'll get used to it
2. If it's a long way off centre, then you physically have to adjust the position of the scope, either by using adjustable mounts or if it's only a vertical position issue, by shimming one of the mounts.
The 6.5x50XT (but not the RT) has 2 semi-circular clamp rings that hold the camera assembly to the tube. Slackening these clamp rings will allow you to adjust the position of the camera on the scope tube allowing the reticle to be more closely centred on the screen.
Cheers
Bruce
1. if it's not too far away from the centre of the screen, then simply live with it - you'll get used to it
2. If it's a long way off centre, then you physically have to adjust the position of the scope, either by using adjustable mounts or if it's only a vertical position issue, by shimming one of the mounts.
The 6.5x50XT (but not the RT) has 2 semi-circular clamp rings that hold the camera assembly to the tube. Slackening these clamp rings will allow you to adjust the position of the camera on the scope tube allowing the reticle to be more closely centred on the screen.
Cheers
Bruce
I set up the mounts to swap my Photon 6.5x50 XT between rim and centre fire, but was not impressed by the return to zero so always re-zero each time...great thing is that it only takes one shot to do it with the electronic reticule shift (and maybe one shot to confirm you went the right way!) Take the shot, set the cross hairs where you aimed and use the adjustment to centre the reticule over the actual POI...simples.
As far as the alignment of the camera housing with the eye tube goes, you may be lucky. I did not buy adjustable mounts because I wanted a one piece extended reach picatinny mount for ease of swapping between rifles. The first time I swapped it back to the rimfire I was outside the electronic zero adjustment by a couple of clicks. So I slackened the clamp bolts on the camera body mounting gimbal and rotated it to align it better.
I too have found it best night or day with the centre of the lens cover popped out. Night time up to 90 metres it is okay with the built in IR. But it is great from 15 to 150 metres with the dimmable Deben F900 which came as a bundle from Scott country. I can see and identify much further than 150 metres with the F900, but on my ground and with my lack of night shooting experience/confidence I would not shoot over 100 at night. Reading the difference between undergrowth, hedge and tree is challenging for me although you can still see individual leaves at that distance. Maybe to do with the flattening effect caused by lack of side light with the rifle mounted illumination source.
I did buy one of the adaptor rings to mount a 42mm thread camera lens for the so called "extreme version" but have not found it necessary to faff with.
I would have tried the Ward 700/800 system but neither rim nor centre fire rifle have parallax adjustable scopes which I gather are required.
Alan
Ive had 2 units that have had to be replaced under warranty due to not retaining zero, both have lasted only 9-12 months before the fault. Both were only on the .222. consequently i have lost confidence and have moved on to something else. They may be ok for ocational foxing but im out twice a week, so need the reliability. But as bruce says they are the best bang for your buck and i never had any other issue with them while out in the field, other than fog!!
Garfy
Garfy
victormeldrew
Well-Known Member
Thanks for all the replies guys.
Victor.
Victor.
2130martin
Well-Known Member
As far as the alignment of the camera housing with the eye tube goes, you may be lucky. I did not buy adjustable mounts because I wanted a one piece extended reach picatinny mount for ease of swapping between rifles. The first time I swapped it back to the rimfire I was outside the electronic zero adjustment by a couple of clicks. So I slackened the clamp bolts on the camera body mounting gimbal and rotated it to align it
Alan[/QUOTE]
Are you referring to the four screws around the tube body where it attaches to the camera housing?
Cheers
Martin
Alan[/QUOTE]
Are you referring to the four screws around the tube body where it attaches to the camera housing?
Cheers
Martin
Are you referring to the four screws around the tube body where it attaches to the camera housing?
Cheers
Martin[/QUOTE]
Yes, there are two semi-circular/"C" shaped pieces with two screws in each...the screwheads were filled with a blob of paint on mine. Slacken the screws and you have a little bit of swivel movement.
I couldn't get all the adjustment I wanted but elected to get the windage correct, and reckoned on just modifying the elevation holdover for various ranges.
Alan
2130martin
Well-Known Member
Yes, there are two semi-circular/"C" shaped pieces with two screws in each...the screwheads were filled with a blob of paint on mine. Slacken the screws and you have a little bit of swivel movement.
I couldn't get all the adjustment I wanted but elected to get the windage correct, and reckoned on just modifying the elevation holdover for various ranges.
Alan[/QUOTE]
Cheers
Took mine off my hmr and just zero’d it on my 243. It was a bit tricky with the sunlight tonight but i’m There now and waiting for mr fox to arrive. Will let you know how I get on but you can s a fair distance with the right ir lamp. As has already been said they are hard to beat for the money.
nothing wrong with thr photon , was waiting up by a den 170 yards away. I spotted the fox as he emerged the only problem being that he ran back as I chambered a round. So my fault not the photons
Scotty99
Well-Known Member
+1 for the Ward 800 they are a brilliant piece of kit. If you can afford one get one. You will need additional IR but you will need that anyway. I use mine on my .22 PCP air rifle for rats and rabbits right through to my .308 for Boar.
I was using it the other night for ratting and with a BS20 IR light it was like shooting in daylight, albeit in black and white.
Last edited:
Similar threads
