On Thursday, over at the SightMark and Pulsar booths, the theme was definitely all about digital night vision. We got some time with the new SightMark Photon, a digital night vision rifle scope expected to be released for around $700 in April (or perhaps earlier, or fingers are crossed!) This NV Rifle Scope features a powerful CCD chip and an OLED display giving it about 200 yards in range, and comes complete with video out capabilities and a side Picatinny rail (in case you wanted to mount an additional IR laser.) The scope has been rated to handle recoil up to a .308. Not bad. It’s certainly an exciting new SightMark NV Scope that’s sure to make Spring and Summer fun!
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- SightMark Photon Side View
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- SightMark Photon
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- SightMark Photon with IR Illuminator
Pulsar was showing off an incredibly impressive clip-on unit called the Pulsar DFA 75. This unit clips directly on top of your day optics, and will be available in May for around $1999. Once again it has a powerful CCD chip and OLED display, but also comes with an external adjustable IR laser and supports a separate attachment that allows the clip-on unit to function as a 10x NV monocular (also available in May for around $300.) Depending on the riflescope you are using and ambient light conditions, you may be able to see and hit targets up to 300 yards away using this unit! That’s HUGE! 300 yards is a rare feat for a night vision rifle scope, so you’ll definitely want to give this another look when it’s released in May.
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- Simply attach the Pulsar DFA 75 in front of your daytime scope for an amazing view!
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- Pulsar DFA 75 Night Vision Rifle Scope
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- Pulsar DFA 75
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- Side view of the Pulsar DFA 75
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- The Pulsar DFA 75 comes with an IR Laser for more accurate shooting
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14 Responses to SightMark Photon Night Vision Scopes and Pulsar DFA 75 Co-Witness NV!
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interest in the pulsar DFA 75
I REALY NEED THIS IM DISABLED AND I CANT AFFORD THIS KIND IF SCOPE IT WOULD CHANGE MY LIFE I NEVER WIN ANYTHING THANKS EVERETT GUSTAFSON
Anyone ever actually used and mounted this unit while shooting it giving a real product review will be appreciated .
…..thanks
.
we need a youtube review on the photon and dfa75 in real use ?
I’ve just purchased the unit and straight out of the box these are my observations:
1.
Lets start again.
1. The unit whilst having a lens cover for the front, has no lens cover for the back to prevent dust getting into it whilst carrying it around in the field. I would have expected there to be one since most camera lenses come with front and rear protectors. It does come supplied in a very nice pelico type box.
2. I have fitted this unit to my 5-25×56 Schmidt & Bender Scope and currently I am unable to see the units menu options in the scope. I’m waiting for someone to get back to me as to how I achieve this. I know that the menu is there because it is visible when you remove the unit from the scope. I have been told to turn the magnification down on the scope, but this changed nothing. If magnification on the scope is the answer, it may transpire that you have to have a scope with 3 x magnification to see the menu. I’m currently a little lost on this one!
3. Yesterday under day light conditions I tried to focus on and object 53 metres away. I was unable to get a crisp image. It maybe that the unit comes into it’s own under night time conditions. I do hope so because if this is not the case, the unit is obviously not going to be capable of clearly showing objects out to 300 metres. The cross hairs of the scope were crystal clear.
In the next couple of days I intend to set the unit up and see how it performs under day and night conditions, so watch this space.
I have since tried the DFA75 fitted to a MTC 3-12X44 and although the image is a little better, it is still not as clear and crisp as the image I get from my N550 with Dr Bobb during the day. Again it may be the case that the unit comes into it’s own at night.
On the point of the menu screen which is supposed to be visible through the telescopic sight, I can still not see it through either of the scopes I have used. I have found myself manually holding the DFA75 over the end of the scope and trying to access the menu screen with one hand whilst looking through the scope. You do have to laugh because if I didn’t, I would get really annoyed at this point. I’ve not currently fired a shot with the rifle yet to see if the menu screen actually matters with respect to where the cross hairs show on the target and where the bullet lands.
The feedback so far is that I am not on my own and a number of other people are having similar problems.
Standby for further updates.
I have this evening placed the DFA75 onto two scopes just to see how it operates in the dark in an area which does have a degree of street lighting. During the course of the evening it’s been fitted to Schmidt & Bender 5-25×56 an MTC Viper 3-12×44 and another MTC 8-32×60.
The 3-12×44 provided the best image by far and I would say at this early stage that low magnification is best. The 5-25×56 SSchmidt & Bender provided a good image, but would have been better had I been able to take the magnification down. The 8-32×60 was a complete waste of time and I have to say that had this been the only scope available I would have been posting it back first thing in the morning. It does require a lot of fidling about with to get it set up and the IR does have the issue of sending a grainy image back through the sight. I found that turning the light setting down on the DFA and turning the the IR up tended to balance things out. I also turned the IR off and shone a IR800 Night Master around which provided a fantastic image, but again with the light source on the DFA turned right down.
So far where I was veiwing the images, there were quite a few additional light sources.
more to come
Obviously I can’t count as I tested it on three scopes not two. I also realise that it’s only supposed to fitted to a scope with an objective lens no larger than 56. The point I’m making is that the key to this unit being of any use is massively dependent on the user having a scope where the magnification can be turned down to around 3x.
The distances I was using to view tonight was out to around 100 metres.
I take it that my review of the DFA 75 wasn’t worth publishing!
I’ve just got back from testing this unit out in the dark.
The IR lamp has proven to operate just like all the other Pulsar IR lamps which I have used and to this end feeds water mark like images back through the main rifle scope making it difficult to determine what is actually out there. My wife came along with me and I asked her what she thought of the images to which she said it appeared blurry and very difficult to determine what was there.
After a while I tried turning the lens to go from flood to spot, but somehow the whole unit unscrewed and now I have one dead IR lamp. It’s not proving to be very and I have to say that I am disapointed with this sight. Fortunately I do have an IR800 night master, so I work on fitting that to the unit. I’m actually really annoyed!
Having broken the integrated IR unit fitted to the Pulsar DFA75 I have now fitted my IR800 Night Master and I have to say that the image I am now seeing is nothing short of brilliant! I am looking at clear crisp images of a brick and in particualar, the grouting at a distance of 105 Metres. Now I’m happy, very happy. It’s a pity I broke the integrated IR Unit but adding the IR800 has transformed this unit to another place!!!!
I still need to get onto the range and see how the shot placement works, but I don’t envisage any problems that I cannot overcome. Phew for a while there I was not a happy teddy.
Brian,
Do you guys have a model number for the Sightmark Photon scope?
I’ve been looking for it, and it appears to not be on the market as of May 10, 2013. Really interested in buying this scope for my .308 and 5.56.
Thanks!
Hello, I´m very interesting in sightmark photon, but I don´t see it in any store…. Thanks!!!!