The XT comes with an onboard IR illuminator. It is OK, but a stronger, more powerful aftermarket IR helps the scope to have a much clearer image for a longer distance. They are basically a must have addition. Most of the illuminators people buy are 850nm which is invisible to the human eye. An IR illuminator does not give off a beam of light that you can see like a regular flashlight. However, looking back from down range you can see the glow of the light. It has been cussed and discussed all over the internet about what the animals see. Many believe they don't see the color, but they see something...the movement of the light at the least...or maybe a "presence".

I like thermal over NV .. but that is just my opinion. I do have both.

For $500 it's hard to beat the Photon XT.

I have the Photon 3.5X which is the predecessor to the XT. I also have the UNV 20 illuminator, and personally I find the on-board illuminator on the Photon is sufficient for nearly all of my needs. I'm typically not taking shots over about 80 yards or so, 120 is probably the max.

Where the Photon really works well is on cloudless nights when the moon is at a quarter or better. You don't even need the illumination. Also, about an hour before sunrise the sky is bright enough to view pretty long distances without additional illumination. When the wind is favorable, I can sneak up to within 60 yards of a hog without any chance of being spotted using the Photon.

I had an old timer tell me once that they don't see color but they do see contrast. Seemed to make sense the way he described it.

Not related but I have to agree with this.

Blanket statements can be misleading because they seldom are true.

When someone is asking advice before they plop down a large sum of their money (relative of course) that they had to do something in many cases they would prefer not to do to earn it, I believe it is a disservice to remain silent just to go along to get along. Granted it can be done factually and without personally attacking, but I feel it should be done.

Money is tight and only getting tighter.

Try the T67 Illuminator (massive lens). It will amaze you with how far it will stretch the range, although you will still be constrained by the inherent limitations of the Photon 3.5's (or XT's) low resolution, but it will help compensate for it's marginal light gathering ability.

The Evola store should be up by March first and you can pick it up for less than $50 delivered. It took just over 2 weeks for mine to be delivered. EVOLA 809 Grande T67 Night Hunter Night Vision IR Infrared Light

To the OP: With the Photon remember to price in some sort of mount or if you are fairly handy and can cope with the bulk and wires you can make one yourself... and be done for around $300 - $350.

LINK to what I used to make one: LINK to homemade. The last post in the thread had one fellow who said he spent only around $225 to build his.


I hope this helps.

I've had deer walk towards me trying to figure out what was out there, you would just have to witness it to see how their body language and head movement was that makes me believe this. So I do believe they can see something.

The 940nm light has less detection distance but I have been told is invisible to critters. I have bought a T50 from MrKingLouie and it is in route so I shall see.

I have to admit I haven't hunted with the 940's near as much because I couldn't live with the detection range.

You are right. Something goes on and you know the animal knows something is there. Folks sometimes have to experience it in order to get it.

What kind of mount would be required? I have a Burris P.E.P.R mount for my long range AR 15 setup right now. Would that work?

Yes. That is what I used. I reversed it from normal b/c of the limited eye relief and I get a cheek weld like normal.

Same here.

Kind of a difficult question. What kind of hunting are you going to be doing? If you are going to be sitting in a blind watching a feeder or fed senderos within 100 yrds there are a lot of options to choose from that are less expensive that will work pretty decent. If you are going to be stalking and searching for pigs all night up to and over 1,000 yrds in the farm country you can't do that with a cheap unit from Academy very well. Nowadays I/we prefer using a handheld thermal scanner. Gen 3 is also great if there is enough moonlight especially used while driving lights out. Either of these devices work well for continuous looking and are not too hard on your eyes. Digital night vision is hard on your eyes and no good for continuous scanning. I prefer the thermal scanner over the Gen 3 hands down. When it comes to shooting I prefer the Pulsar N750. Also have used several X-Mark's but having issues and not really impressed, nothing like the Pulsar IMO. Have Pulsar monoculars that also work well but as with any magnified digital night vision it sucks in the brush country because of the IR reflection. In open country they are great. So, for all around use I would recommend a handheld thermal scanner (like the Opgal-Therm App that clamps onto a phone - best to have a dedicated phone) and the Pulsar N750 mounted on your rifle when it's trigger time. The clarity of the Opgal is very impressive, the only downside is it emits light from the phone while you are scanning so scan.... turn off.... scan....pigs/turn off....move in with the digital monocular and N750 on the rifle. Works pretty well for us po rednecks. Many a pig have went night night using this equipment. If I could afford more thermal optics I would have them, but this method does the job and works for now.

Not really going to be stalking. As I stated earlier, we have feeders setup and will sit about 50-150 yards away. Most of the time there will be a clear shot with minimal brush, occasionally will make some shots in the woods if the need arises.

I got a factory refurbished N750 from pulsar complete with video cam for $1200. Love it... and that is about all the money I'm going to spend on hogs.

A big + 1 on that!

That's one way of looking at it and quite functional. I look at it as how much money I am spending on me having a good time.

Everyone has different wants, needs, desires, economics, etc. What is expensive to one isn't to another, what seems reasonable to one isn't to another. No right, no wrong. Just different lives and circumstances.

What is the advantage, and $750 more, of the N750 over the Photon XT?

I will tell you the differences however only you can be the judge if the cost difference is justified.

Digisight has adjustable contrast in addition to brightness which allows for discernably better image quality (tuned image).

Digisight is a more robustly constructed unit than PhotonXT - compare the battery caps as an example .

Digisight has digital zoom and a higher resolution viewing screen .

Digisight has a one piece mount included .

Digisight has slightly better ergonomics for focus control .

Note - This is off the top of my head, double check me via specifications on screen resolution but I am fairly confident in the info.

Happy Hunting~!~

If your willing to hold out you can get a N750 for under a $1000. Now for a thermal, I bought a FLIR E4 for $600 and updated the firmware. It's now a 320 x 240 scanner with 8x digital zoom. It's shape is a little awkward but I can live with it at that price. For scanning fields it does a descent job, now granted it's not on the same level as a dedicated handheld unit.

Guys, it's all about the budget. I have looked through Gen3 night vision scopes that are so incredible that it would put the low end thermals to shame - but that unit was $15,000!!! I have both regular NV and Thermal - I don't have the digital night vision like the NV-750, but I know friends that have them and have used them. I was going to get a NV-750, but came into some extra money and opted for a $5000 thermal (ATN) weapons sight.

It is simply AWESOME - and anyone who says you can't use them during the day either has no idea what they are talking about, or has a very cheap low-end thermal. Mine works just fine picking out pigs in 110 temps in south texas in August at 2pm!! Is the definition as good as cool day, well frankly no - but it works enough to get the job done. Mine also sees through fog and rain like it's not there, unless it is very heavy.

But thermal isn't perfect - it can't see antlers unless they are in velvet - then they glow. They are somewhat challenging to sight-in, and you are usually limited in accuracy to your thermal target (but soon there will be targets with thermal gridlines and that problem will disappear). During the day, they cannot compete with accuracy at a distance, thermal shooting is limited to 150 yards or so - even though my sight can pick out man-sized targets at 800 yards. Anyone who tells you they are thermal hunting at 200-300 yards is most likely a liar and braggart. Since animals radiate heat, targets sometimes appear "fuzzy" because the heat aura extends beyond the animals skin for an inch or two. While identifying a pig is easy, telling the difference between and an axis or whitetail through a thermal at night is very hard. It can be done, and I've gotten pretty good at it, but it is mostly inference - wedge shape of axis bodies, how axis move vs whitetail, and typically behavior. For example, a group of 20-25 deer coming in together in a tight group are most likely axis. However, as good as I have become identifying, still not comfortable pulling the trigger on exotics at night/low-light situation. (although I might if I was meat hunting axis - but a mistake could be very costly).

I have noticed that the viewing angle can effect thermals for some reason - maybe temp inversions. But sometimes I can scan a pasture and it is very clear and good contrast except when I am pointing in a certain direction. Move over 100 yards, and the problem disappears. It's kinda quirky, but usually not a problem. I have also noticed that sometime pointing directly at target is not as clear as holding over the target a little higher. Not a problem with animals, which are bright and distinct - but inanimate objects like fence lines, etc.

On the other hand, thermals do things that you can only dream of with regular or digital night vision. Even in bright daylight, I can make a quick scan with the thermal and pick out animals in the brush that cannot been seen in bright daylight, let alone a night vision device. You can see them WAY back up in the brush - or see them 400-500 yards away (think spotting mule deer in west texas).

Performance of the regular night vision is largely dependant on the IR illuminator you have. Most that come with the unit are POS, and having another secondary illuminator ALWAYS helps. There are two types of frequencies available with the IR illuminator. The low frequency ones "light up" things better - like a flashlight - but they DEFINITELY can be seen by animals. The higher frequency (if I remember correct - 940nm units) are completely invisible, but do not "light up" targets as well (at least, that is my experience trying out about a dozen different units - and I have lots of used units for sale if anyone is interested).

And while we at it - while it is somewhat comical to hear thermal doesn't work in daylight - I can PROMISE you the GEN1,2, or 3 don't work in daylight. And if you try, you'll burn the unit out - even with the "pinpoint" covers on.

The advantage of the NV-550 and NV-750 units is that they will work in both daylight and night at a price point that is much more reachable to the average Joe. IMHO, they are good choice if you can't afford thermal. But if you got the bucks, thermal is THE way to go.

I HIGHLY recommend, and I can't stress this enough, to contact Tyler at UltimateNightVision.com - not only is he a member of this board, but his knowledge or all things night vision is surpassed by none. He has a wide variety from low-end GEN1 to the most sophisticated and latest thermals. He knows his stuff, and knows his product line - and, unless you are buying used, would be hard to beat on price - I know, I researched and scouted for 6 months before putting money down. Tyler worked with me, steered me in the right direction, was very easy to work with - and I found - and verified - I could trust everything he said.

If anyone is interested, you can check out a video I posted from this weekend on my FB page - just made it public.

I feel the same way about thermal ...

Another option that I did for a long time was to buy a cheap IR flood that runs off a 9V battery. Actually I got two.

I would turn them on and completely illuminate my "kill zone" around the feeder. Because they were IR, with naked eye the area looked completely black, but with even a cheapo GEN1 scope or monocular the entire area looked like it was under powerful street lights.

The advantage to this was that puny IR illuminators on the scope or handheld didn't have to strain to light up an area 100 yards away. 'Cuz none of them do that very well. Think of the difference of a hand-held flashlight from your blind - vs a set of halogen work lights set up right there at your feeder. It's that much a difference.

Another thing I did was get some old IR flash game cams that semi-worked. I set them to 'video' mode and set them up on trails leading into my area. When animals passed in front of them, and the IR went off (in video mode they stay on 10-30 second vs a flash) they lit up the area in front of the cam. When keeping an lookout with my cheap $149 Night Owl monocular (actually pretty good unit for the price), I could see animals approaching along the trails - would get these bright "light explosions" from the game cam which were highly visible. I see the "flash" go off 300 yards, then 200 yards, then 100 yards - and I knew something wicked this way comes.

But honestly, it's all overkill for pig hunting. Unless the night is very dark, your eyes will sharpen up enough to see a pig under the feeder 100-150 yards away - then a basic red/green light attached to your regular scope is all you need to light em up and take a shot. I know one guy who just uses a high quality scope (think Leoupold, Swaro, Zeiss) with a illuminated reticle - like the Leo Firedot. Some of those scope do such a good job with light gathering that if you have any moon at all, you can see well enough to make out the outline, and the illuminated reticle on the head and - game over.

My Swaro's are good enough that on a full moon, I don't need any kind of light at all - the crosshairs are tough to see though against a dark pig if no illuminated reticle.

Heck, most of the time the pigs wouldn't even spook away if you hit them with a Q-beam if they were hungry.

But then, I couldn't justify buying all the cool toys.