The 2020 Thermal & Night Vision Thread

[USP45]

Jason, do you have any kind of an ETA on when the XP50lrf 2 trails may be shipping? I know the whole Covid-19 deal has put some estimates behind but was just curious when you and Hans may have one to test, and when they would be available for sale.

I know that it is impossible to tell how the new 2 series will compare to the XP50 Thermion, but the Pulsar press representation for the XP50lrf 2 looks good. Of course it is advertising literature so take it with a grain of salt, but would make justifying something like a Halo LR very difficult to me.

I have been considering either the XP50 Thermion or the new XP50lrf 2 in concert with an AGM TS35 Micro to serve double duty as a handheld and buddy scope. I know you and Hans have been playing with the AGM spotters, any reports on the TS25 or 35 yet? Sure hope they are a good solution to fill the gap FLIR just left open.

Thanks

[Outdoor Legacy]

Says .375 H&H. So I guess it will be fine. This would be nice on a 5.56/.223 for coons and coyotes and then smash hogs with it on my .450. Just not many hogs here in Rockville.

No sir, that is incorrect. The Photon RT is rated for .375 H&H. The Photon XT that you mentioned is rated for a .308 max. You will likely find the scope turns off under recoil shooting the .450 on the Photon XT. I'm not saying you can't try and it see what happens, but it is not rated for that recoil.

Jason

[Outdoor Legacy]

Jason, do you have any kind of an ETA on when the XP50lrf 2 trails may be shipping? I know the whole Covid-19 deal has put some estimates behind but was just curious when you and Hans may have one to test, and when they would be available for sale.

I know that it is impossible to tell how the new 2 series will compare to the XP50 Thermion, but the Pulsar press representation for the XP50lrf 2 looks good. Of course it is advertising literature so take it with a grain of salt, but would make justifying something like a Halo LR very difficult to me.

I have been considering either the XP50 Thermion or the new XP50lrf 2 in concert with an AGM TS35 Micro to serve double duty as a handheld and buddy scope. I know you and Hans have been playing with the AGM spotters, any reports on the TS25 or 35 yet? Sure hope they are a good solution to fill the gap FLIR just left open.

Thanks

Thanks for the questions, I'll be glad to help.

Currently Pulsar shipments are rolling in. Their factories are all in Europe and we've seen a slight decrease in over all numbers of units shipping into the US but they are still coming with normal frequency and the supply is still decent.

I was told yesterday to not expect the LRF 2 models until around July give or take. The biggest news we're recently received about the two new LRF 2 models is that the XQ50 LRF 2 $4,299 will be 3.5x base mag (current model is 2.7x) and the XP50 LRF 2 $5,999 will be 2x base mag (current model is 1.6x).

The image quality on the XP50 LRF 2 should be essentially identical to the to the Thermion XP50. On paper they are identical. They will both have the same display screen, same magnification, same lens, same thermal core and same firmware. If one is a little different from the other it should be minor and will be a mystery as to why. I don't see that happening.

Yes sir we've been testing a bunch of the AGM thermals. We've already reviewed both the AGM ASP TM25-384 and the TM35-384 on The Late Night Vision Show and Hans has a field review of the TM35 on his channel. He'll have the TM25 review up soon. I've got them both in stock. Here are some useful links....

Jason

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NYkpFPrp6Q"]Ep. 95 | AGM ASP TM35-384 Thermal Monocular Review - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDg3Si6Ya8o"]Ep. 97 | AGM ASP TM25-384 Thermal Monocular Review - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKiAENhdLPA&t"]AGM ASP TM35-384 Thermal Monocular | Review - YouTube[/ame]

[USP45]

Good deal, thanks Jason. Upping the base mag on the XP50lrf 2 sounds like a good plan, I know it is only a 0.4 increase, but puts it on par with the Thermion series and makes sense. Now just need to decide if the range finder is worth an extra $1000 over the Thermion. We have a ranch near Alto and will be shooting anywhere from typical East Texas "right in front of you" up to 300 yards at a maximum, would try to close the distance when possible first.

Would it be safe to assume that the performance of the TS35-384 Micro scope will be the same as the TM35-384 spotter? Just a mountable scope version with a reticle?

Oh, and The Late Night Vision Show is great, you two put out a lot of good information and that is where I have done a lot of learning about thermals and what to look at. You two do a great job in breaking down the differences and what the result of those differences in use will be.

[TX03RUBI]

I’ve ran my XP50LRF and XP38 next to a XP50 Thermion and using the TS-25 as a scanner. For a 384 thermal I was very impressed with the image of the TS-25. I wouldn’t hesitate to run one as a scanner. They’re not as vivid details as the XPs, but they do just fine for spotting hogs and dogs in thick cover.

[chrisk]

No sir, that is incorrect. The Photon RT is rated for .375 H&H. The Photon XT that you mentioned is rated for a .308 max. You will likely find the scope turns off under recoil shooting the .450 on the Photon XT. I'm not saying you can't try and it see what happens, but it is not rated for that recoil.

Jason

Thanks

[Outdoor Legacy]

Good deal, thanks Jason. Upping the base mag on the XP50lrf 2 sounds like a good plan, I know it is only a 0.4 increase, but puts it on par with the Thermion series and makes sense. Now just need to decide if the range finder is worth an extra $1000 over the Thermion. We have a ranch near Alto and will be shooting anywhere from typical East Texas "right in front of you" up to 300 yards at a maximum, would try to close the distance when possible first.

Would it be safe to assume that the performance of the TS35-384 Micro scope will be the same as the TM35-384 spotter? Just a mountable scope version with a reticle?

Oh, and The Late Night Vision Show is great, you two put out a lot of good information and that is where I have done a lot of learning about thermals and what to look at. You two do a great job in breaking down the differences and what the result of those differences in use will be.

Thanks for the kind words about The Late Night Vision Show, I really appreciate it. Hans and I do put a ton of work into every week but we enjoy it and we always hope people enjoy it enough and hopefully learn a few things and will give us a shot at their business.

The TS35-284 Micro is being discontinued. It was an overseas company's scope and they were just selling it here in the US and there were some issues that needed to be fixed and not having enough control over the situation, they couldn't make those changes. We stayed away from those units for good reason and I've never even used one in the field. My understanding is that it has a different thermal core than the ASP monoculars, so no I don't believe it would be the same.

I've been using the (soon to be released) AGM Secutor TS35-384 for nearly 2 months and it's a nice little scope but it still has some kinks that need to be worked out and I'm offering up my advice on that optic now. It has a Ulis core (just like the Pulsars) so it will be different than the ASP monoculars and not 100% comparable. I want to see a finalized version of the Secutor TS35 before I make set in stone comments.

Thanks!
Jason

[USP45]

And that is why it is nice having you and Hans reviewing these thermals. I would not have known that the TS-35 Micro was not the scope to look at as a dual use handheld/back up scope.

I have time so will be interested to see what you find. Maybe the Secutor or the Bering Hogster will fill in the $2,500(ish) nitch in the market. I will wait for your reviews in the future, thank you Jason.

[ahlongslide]

Any experts have a clue what this is: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184238371421

The label on it just says, “ L3 EOS NIGHT VISION SYSTEM HRC MARK III”
And it looks like it takes Canon lenses judging from the mount and “EOS”.
I can’t find anything on the internet that even remotely resembles it. The S/N 004 is interesting, maybe there’s no info because it is a prototype of some sort?

[sierracharlie338]

The EOS doesn’t not necessarily mean it’s a canon related item because “L3 EOS” is also part of a label for high end night vision. Short answer is idk what it is... yet. I’ll make some calls in the morning if we don’t have an answer. I know a guy that works for L3.


Sierracharlie out…

[ahlongslide]

The EOS doesn’t not necessarily mean it’s a canon related item because “L3 EOS” is also part of a label for high end night vision. Short answer is idk what it is... yet. I’ll make some calls in the morning if we don’t have an answer. I know a guy that works for L3.


Sierracharlie out…

Awesome!
Yeah, I saw that EOS meant electro optical sensor (or something) too, but the mount on the front looks exactly like all my canon mounts. The seller doesn’t know what it is, he just repeats the description and says, “it depends on what you want to do with it” lol.

[sierracharlie338]

Awesome!

Yeah, I saw that EOS meant electro optical sensor (or something) too, but the mount on the front looks exactly like all my canon mounts. The seller doesn’t know what it is, he just repeats the description and says, “it depends on what you want to do with it” lol.

Yeah something smells fishy for sure.


Sierracharlie out…

[Fordnandez]

Shot a hog this weekend with my Flir 536. i thought the video came out pretty good.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m53Llh1tYTk"]Flir PTS 536 Hog Hunt - YouTube[/ame]

[TX03RUBI]

Awesome video!

[gingib]

All I can say is Pulsar aint no dummy. Throw a LRF on it and rise the price 1000. $4999 or now $5000 for Trail XP 50. Spend $1000 more and buy the top of the line for that price