ATN X-Sight II HD 5-20X

anybody use this product? Pros? Cons? See a kit available for about $600+ with extended battery (which I read is a must have).

I'm looking to do some night time hunting for hogs and want to keep the budget at $1,000 or under. Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for the replies!

There are lots of posts here cussing that scope. To be fair, I think lots of the complaints have been addressed in newer products but lots of guys have sworn off ATN because of it. The Photon XT gets pretty good reviews. Look into that one too.

The good news is, for $1,000 or less you can get a very good NV setup that will serve you well. 4-5 years ago that would have been a pipe dream.

Your two options are the ATN X-Sights and the Sightmark Photons. Let's go ahead and clear one thing up....the Photon XT's are being discontinued and will be replaced in early 2018 with the Photon RT's. The new RT's will include internal video recording and an app that will connect to your smartphone or tablet. They have been released overseas but not here. Until I can get my hands on one, I'm hesitant to say much about how they will compare. But we do know that internal video recording and the app are the big new features. It's also worth noting there will be 4 models and they will start at $649 and go up to $799, so you will be paying for the new features, as compared to the XT prices.

Let's talk about the current XT Photons from here on out, simply because it's not worth speculating on a scope that doesn't even have a firm release date. I'm not saying you shouldn't consider it if those new features are important to you but at this point, we will just be speculating on the specifics.

I copy/pasted this from a comment I made back many months ago but it still applies. I've added a little to it for this discussion.

The Photon XT is an extremely simple to use, no frills, no thrills digital NV scope that just flat out works. It also has a slightly better image quality at night than the X-Sight. It's image sensor does a better job of using ambient and IR light to brighten the image in my opinion. Sightmark (and their sister company Pulsar) have the best customer service in the whole NV industry. They are Texans and an excellent company to deal with. The Photon has no known bugs or issues and it is a quality scope.

The X-Sight has a a lot of positives over the Photon IF you want all the features. Full color daytime use, video recording, variable zoom and wifi to the app are the big ones for most people. The negatives are it has a steep learning curve, it's a battery hog and ATN is the opposite of Sightmark when it comes to customer service. I agree with RiverRider that most of the problems have been worked out and it's really a good unit now days. ATN has done themselves no favors in the past in the way they've handled the problems. Hopefully that's behind them now.

It all comes down to what you want. If you want a mini-computer within a scope, the X-Sight is the only logical choice in the price range. If you want something simple but extremely well built, easy to use and a company to stand behind it, the Photon XT is the answer. They are more different than they are alike and I always say that your personality and technical ability determine which one you will enjoy the most.

I hope that helps a little and if you want to call and talk about it, I'll be glad to answer any questions you might have.

- Jason

I went with the xsight II 3-14x. The 5-20 does not give you enough on the low end. When hunting pigs I stay at 3x for the most part all the time. Kroyal found these batteries https://www.amazon.com/Novobeam-NBP3000-2P-Ultra-Compact-Waterproof-Dustproof/dp/B00K3FDM3E and that is what I have always ran mine off of. Put them in flashlight mounts and mount them on the rail. 6-8 hours run time and a 1' usb to micro usb is cheap. I have been very happy with mine and still run the stock atn IR even.

Xsight actually does very well.

Would I love thermal? Hell yes I would, but for what I do and what little I get to hunt the xsight does just fine. I've been kicking around the thermal idea and talking to Jason at outdoor legacy gear but have weighed the pros and cons of what my hunting situation is and have decided to stick with the xsight. There is just so much more I could do with 3k at this time.

The XSight did have some issues at the beginning, but they've fixed it and continue to release firmware updates for it. I've heard horror stories about ATN CS but I've never had to deal with them.

Here is a video taken with the xsight on a 8" 300BLK.

Great shooting!

I don't blame you at all for sticking with the X-Sight. Thermal is awesome but for under $1,000 with digital NV you can still have a ton of fun and put some hurting on the hogs.

- Jason

Thanks Jason and thanks for all the help and time talking with me. If I ever decide I just have money to burn I'll for sure give you a call.

Your explaination in the other thread about having thermal will allow you to scan a field and tell 100% sure there is nothing in the field where with digital NV you can scan and be 90% sure there isn't anything within 200 yards. Pretty much sums it up.

Always glad to help. I'm just glad some of my incoherent ramblings made sense to someone besides me.lol

- Jason

Ya'll running the IR illuminator that came in the package?

I am running the stock one. Kyle has a streamlight tac IR I think and it works better than mine

The included illuminator isn't bad at all but I sell and recommend the UNV 20IR illuminator package IF someone is wanting to maximize the capabilities of the optic. I had a customer asking some very specific questions about the 20IR and X-Sight combo, so last night I went out and did some testing. The 20IR definitely allows for an extra 50-75 yards of range over the standard/included ATN illuminator but for me, what's so much more important than that is the fact it is so much brighter and it really brightens up the whole field of view and image quality is MUCH better and sharper. So a really good after market illuminator will gain you some more yardage that you can see but in my opinion, the better illuminated field of view and improved image quality make them worth the upgrade. Again, I'm speaking of the UNV 20IR that we sell. There are a ton of after market illuminators, some of them really good and a whole lot of them just ok or even bad. If you don't get an illuminator that is better than the ATN IR and it doesn't have multiple brightness settings and a focus-able head, the improvements will not be worth the upgrade.

For everything under 200 yards, the included ATN illuminator does a pretty darn good job.

- Jason

Thanks Jason appreciate it.

Cool video! Nice shot! How far was that shot?

That was about 75 yards or so maybe a little closer.

75ish is about right. .300blk did good work that night. I will try to get my take to kyle so he can post it. I was not shooting since I was not suppressed.

Your take always makes me smile

You, shut up

I’ve been kicking around the idea of buying a similar set up. I’d love to have some option of night vision for varmit hunting.

I picked up then ATN X-Sigtht II 3x14 a couple weeks ago. I really like it.

This is my first night out. Had sighted it in 1hr before and just got into the stand when I realized there was a pig at the feeder. .223 AR 55gr Soft Point. I didn't recover it because it went into thick brush and I was by myself.
The pict is in day mode but I didn't focus it well. The video is night mode. It is right at 6pm.

Here are some Picts of a steel gong 250 yards from the stand. Stock ATN IR but don't remember power setting.
First is no zoom
Second is full zoom 14 power
Third is extended zoom at 35 power

Cool! Thanks for sharing!

Can you explain the extended zoom functionality? I understood your model as a 14X zoom ability. Didn't realize they can reach out further than 14x

With the latest firmware update the scopes now have a standard and extended zoom functionality.
The 3x14 goes to 35x in extended mode and not sure what the 5x20 goes to. I read someplace and I think it is 48x but not sure. As you can see it gets much more pixelated but you can still make it out.

Thanks for the clarification!

Lets see those game cam pics as well.

Between myself, my two sons and my nephew that go Hog Hunting we have an ATN X-Sight 5-20, ATN X-Sight 3-12, ATN X-Sight II 3-12, Photon XT and a Sig Echo 1. We use T50 IR illuminators with both the ATN and Photon.

I have to say your analysis of the ATN X-Sight vs Photon XT is spot on. If you really need/want all the gadgets the ATN works well, but the Photon XT is a solid performer that is easy to use. I haven't had to use either companies customer service.

For about twice the price of the Photon, $1,300, you can get a SIG Echo 1 Thermal sight. It is a 1x with a 2x digital zoom that pixilates slightly. Last month when my older son and I were pig hunting he had the Echo 1 and was detecting pigs and deer well beyond what I could see with the ATN and T50.

This may be a dumb question but I’m just now getting into the game myself, can you use the photon or the ATN in the daytime?

Yes both the Photon and the ATN X-Sight can be used in the daytime. The current Photon XT is black and white only, the ATN is full color.