I am looking at entry level NV, won't really hunt enough to justify the price of gen 2 or 3 or thermal. Of the entry level Gen 1 digitals, which are acceptable and which are no good. ATN, Sightmark, Armasight? I like the ATN because it is a day or night plus it records. Opinions?

The X-sight is getting better with updates, that is where I would put my money right now.

I bought an atn last jan, had nothing but problems with it and returned to cabelas with all the threads from here about what had transpired.
posted on amazon about what problems we were having and how we basically got screwed by atn/reps.

fast forward to about 6 weeks ago, I got a call from a new atn rep. we talked and they sent me a new scope free of charge to make amends. loaded with the .343 firmware, mounted to my windham vex, sighted in easy, holds reticle in center now and seems to be working as it is supposed to. they as much as admitted to me they screwed up with all the bs goodies (gps, speedo etc.) and have the basics working to my satisfaction.

since I manage a hunting property and wanted a way to record hunts for my hunters the xsight fit the bill and now seems to be working well.

from all my research (before and after the first atn) the sightmark photon 4.6 is a good entry level night vision as well but you have to buy extras to match the atn (dvr). also seems to not be as good a day scope as the atn (atn is color screen as well and photon is not).

for night shots either would work for ya it is the other stuff you need to figure out which works best for your app.

Thanks, I heard that you could actually enhance the NV by upgrading the illuminator, so that would be in the plans also.

I too wanted to get into NV hunting without taking out a loan. I don't have shots over 150 yds. I looked at the ATN X-Sight and had one on pre-order until they started showing up and all the problems were being discussed. Researched the Sightmark Photon XT and bought the 4.6X model. Included IR was good for maybe 80 yards. Bought the Evola T20 off Amazon and increased the range.

Scanning with the rifle mounted Photon gets tiring, so I began researching monoculars and found a Bushnell Equinox Z which comes as a 4.5X(mod 260140 which I chose to match the Photon 4.6X) or 6X. Both have a good built in IR and digital zoom of 3X and are capable of digital recording in both day(color) & night(b&W) mode. So for $720 ($500 for the Photon and $219 for the Equinox Z)or so I am satisfied with my setup where I hunt.