I'm wanting to buy a digital night vision scope and have looked at several models. The ATN X-Sight just has too many problems,the Sightmark Photon XT isn't for me. I've hunted with a friends Pulsar N550 before but the picture clarity wasn't that great,but it could've been it needed a better IR torch than what was on the unit from Pulsar.
I really like the N850 because it has a built in range finder,and from what I've seen on videos the optic quality has vastly improved over the N550 that I've used before.
What do you guy's think about the Pulsar N850? And,What would be a good IR torch to buy for it to improve the units performance?

Deerguy has one and I absolutely love the view compared to all others I've looked through.

I have one on the way along with a HD38A thermal scanner.

The coyotes are in trouble this year.

I am using a T50 on mine. I have only had mine since March and it performs well for me. Once Fred looked through mine it was all over. The photon is still a good choice for the money.

Thanks deereguy,Who makes the T50 IR unit?

I've been looking at this one on-line myself, about all I can swing these days is an entry-level unit. Given the problems being experienced with the X-Sight, I'd be inclined to opt for something with less bells and whistles and *gasp* software. I'm pretty sure the Photon will have software, but all the complications of video recording and other stuff seems to be the Achilles heel of the X-Sight. Would I be correct in thinking that the Photon offers better optical performance in lieu of all the bells and whistle the X-Sight has? The extra features just don't appeal to me, really...

Another thing I noticed was a comment just the other day about the makers of the Photon offering very good customer service. That's another thing that is important to me, so I would like to know if that impression is correct.

RR, not trying to highjack the thread from Txhillbilly, but to answer your questions on the Photon XT. I have two of them. One is set up from calling and the other is set up for shooting over bait. That one has a Doubler on it and I've taken coyotes at over 220 yds at night with it using a T-20 IR with focusable zoom.

For night calling, the picture is improved by using the approx. 22mm hole that can be pushed out of the lens cover. That makes the image much sharper and less subject to having to refocus the objective. I have found 4.6 power to be okay out to 200 yds.

I did have an issue with one of the Photons and sent it in for repair. I mailed it to them on Monday and they had a new one in my hands the following Monday.