Sightmark Photon Night Vision Riflescope

[35Remington]

EDIT: this thread was originally about the old Photon S, which was replaced by the much-improved Photon XT in late 2014. Most posts on this thread concern the NEW model.

Sightmark PhotonS 35x42 Digital Night Vision Riflescope SM18006 | Night Vision | New Arrivals

Anyone have hands-on experience with this? I'm really tempted but I wanna hold one before dropping the coin.

Hunt TXhogs - Field Test Sightmark Photon 5x42mm 5x vs Doubler installed 100 to 500 yards - YouTube

 

[gdouthit]

how much are they?

 

[majormadmax]

how much are they?

$499.97 according to the link...plus about eight bucks for ground shipping (for San Antonio).

 

[FlashBang]

I have the 5x42 model. It is a good NV sight and I chose it after doing a hands on comparison between the Sightmark 5x42 and the Pulsar N550, N750 and the new DFA75. It has the video out port same as the Pulsars do and use the same battery pack as the Pulsars. It does not allow you to create your own reticules and upload them to the scope like the Pulsars. It is much simpler to use and the contrast, white balance, etc. is as good as the Pulsar as well.
On the negatives side, it does not have the rubber eye tube like the Pulsars which makes it difficult to see the screen when using it during a sunny day, and sighting it in for 100 yards was an interesting adventure. After hanging my targets I discovered that a sight such as this see's orange, blue, red, and yellow as white. Took me several minutes to figure out the sight was not defective.

All in all I am happy with the sight and it is a lot more affordable then the Pulsar. I have it on a Savage .308 and it has no problem with handling recoil etc.

 

[Watchdog]

Interesting. I have been looking at different NV setups. I am waiting for this one to come out the ATN X-Sight 5x HD digital NV scope, MSRP in the mid $700 there is a 3X version too that is MSRP of like $599.

 

[Vern1]

I have and use a Pulsar N750 and a Photon 5X.
The Pulsar is hands down much, much better but the Photon 5X does just fine.
I use the Photon on my backup 6.8 and introduce friends to night hunting pigs with it.

The onboard illuminator is good for about 125 yards which is the distance most folks hunt.
I added a Streamlight SuperTAC IR illuminator and you could easily shoot 300 yards if you wanted to.

308 is about the limit for recoil on the Photon.
The N750 lives quite well on my 458 SoCom.

When you were sighting in the Photon, did you use the cap during daytime?
It has a filter in the cap that acts like sunglasses for your sight and allows you to use it in the brightest daylight.

The ATN X-Sight has been promised for some time and hasn't shown up anywhere as far as I can tell....the rumors have been running around for a long time.

You can only change reticles on the N550 Pulsar, not the N750 but I don't care as it works well and has killed 67 pigs in the 2 years I've been using it on 6.8s and 458.
If you are using a DVR to capture your hunts, the reticle will show up on the Pulsar but is behind the electronics on the Photon and doesn't show up on your recording. Doesn't mean much but I like to watch the hunts on my PC afterwards and it's nice to see exactly where I was aiming.

The N750 is much clearer and sees further at native 4.5X than the Photon at 5X.
The N750 also has a 1.5X zoom but I hardly ever use it.

If you are interested in starting night hunting, the Photon is a good place to start.
UNV sells them and has an illuminator that is the BOMB for digital night vision.
The UNV 20 IR has adjustable brightness and focus so you don't over saturate your sight picture but can be turned up to easily make 300 plus yard shots at night.

My knowledge in use is limited to these two sights but I will answer questions if I can.
I spent quite a few years working with the TWS systems used by our Military but could not convince them to loan me one to test out on pigs....LOL!
I also use a Pulsar Recon 550 and Gen2 hand scanner in concert with the two digital sights.
It's much easier looking around with a hand held scanner than waving your rifle around!!

I shot this little pig in the eye from 115 yards with the N750 mounted on a 6.8x43 last September.
He only went 358 on the scales....

 

[Glockster69]

He only went 358 on the scales....

You should be embarrassed.


Thanks for the info all, particularly Vern.

Looks like the Sightmark Photon S has been replaced by the Photon XT, anyone have experience with one?

 

[35Remington]

Funny you should ask, Curtis. I bought the 4.6XT on Friday.

 

[Younggun]

Another expensive doodad to add to the wish list.

 

[Glockster69]

Funny you should ask, Curtis. I bought the 4.6XT on Friday.

It's Saturday, how many pigs have you slayed?

Talk to me Ben:
Initial thoughts?
What is the daytime reticle like?
How good is the NV?
etc. etc. C'mon, SPILL!

I recently concluded my AR scope needs to be upgraded. I've been eyeballing the Sig CP-1 @ $180 but don't have an issue adding NV if the overall package is a better deal. Lord knows I can't swing a 1000+$ scope. Looking forward to your comments.

 

[35Remington]

Bought. Haven't taken delivery. Hoping for next week. These things are so hard to find you have to preorder and wait in line. The store I'm buying from never had a single 3.5 Photon ever make it to a shelf. Every one was sold as a preorder. It's looking like this version will be the same.

He's a local Texas retailer and has done right by me. In fact, he's been amazing. PM me if you want his info.

 

[35Remington]

Here's something to whet your appetite:

 

[Younggun]

This thread makes my balls hurt.

 

[Glockster69]

You'll be quiet when you squeeze the trigger, to bad you can't see 'em.

Sit back and let the adults talk now.

 

[Glockster69]

Here's something to whet your appetite: Sightmark Photon XT 4.6X Fox Video - YouTube

Bought. Haven't taken delivery. Hoping for next week. These things are so hard to find you have to preorder and wait in line. The store I'm buying from never had a single 3.5 Photon ever make it to a shelf. Every one was sold as a preorder. It's looking like this version will be the same.

He's a local Texas retailer and has done right by me. In fact, he's been amazing. PM me if you want his info.

Whet? Didn't you recently start a thread on whiskey snobbery? lol

Video / NV looked good enough for my needs. Seeing the fox reminded me I haven't seen any around here for months. Did they give you an ETA on delivery?

If you don't mind, PM me his info.

 

[35Remington]

Whet is the proper term, as whet means to sharpen or increase (think whetstone and knife). And that is a whisky (not whiskey) DRINKERS thread, with no room for snobs (though I see they've made it under the gate). Ha!

My guy says the scope will ship Monday or Tuesday.

 

[Glockster69]

Haha! Looks like I got schooled.

Is the NV something that can be damaged / reduced life when exposed to sunlight is that thermal only?

 

[35Remington]

Got my unit it. I didn't have time to do any editing, so this is just shot straight through with a couple text annotations. Hope it's helpful to folks who haven't put their hands on one.

Here you go. I didn't have time to do any editing, so this is just shot straight through with a couple text annotations. Hope it's helpful to folks who haven't put their hands on one.

 

[Glockster69]

Thanks for the video Ben, I appreciate the effort.

I was impressed with the clarity in the fox video but the car/garage in yours was not so great, is it better in person? Would your video been more clear if using cables instead of TTL?

 

[35Remington]

Thanks for the video Ben, I appreciate the effort.

I was impressed with the clarity in the fox video but the car/garage in yours was not so great, is it better in person? Would your video been more clear if using cables instead of TTL?

Don't fault the Photon for that. It was unquestionably a mixture of my terrible filming (holding an iPhone freehand up to the screen) with the fact that the garage and car were completely washed out with light. Digital night vision cannot be "over illuminated" and still give a good picture. That's why the on-board IR has 3 brightness levels.

One of my hunting buddies spent close to $4K for his NV setup. It suffers from the same problem with bright lights. This will be a non-issue in the field.