Bob, you probably are right about the graininess with digital scopes. My experiences are limited to the Photon and my home-made unit with digital, and the Gen 1 scope. Maybe that's just part of using digital.
Do you plan to do a review of the Pulsar N750? That would be nice to see. As you say though, it would be better to have both scopes side-by-side and test in the same conditions.
Good luck with the deer hunting.
Below is Part 3 of my review, which compares the Photon against my home-made unit. When I did the test the home-made unit was quite a bit more clear since I was able to focus the lens better than the Photon. The YouTube video may not show just how much difference there was between the two, but I can tell you for sure it was evident to me at the time.
My home-made unit sits behind a Bushnell Banner 4-16 scope. I have the magnification set at 6x. The view is quite good considering the 6x setting vs the Photon's 4.6x. If I were to drop the Bushnell magnification to approximately 4.6x I think we would see an even better resolution, though maybe not substantially.
Link for larger view:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnxiU5huJ04&feature=youtu.be
Though I have posted this previously, I will add it here again to show how well the home-made unit
can see at 60-75 yards. If Sightmark will correct a few issues and bring the same level of clarity to
their scope, they will have a truly great product.
Link for larger view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCnl34p1gyY&feature=youtu.be
So, to sum up my assessment, here are what I consider the Pros and Cons of each.
Photon Pros:
Light weight
Compact
On-board IR for close range shooting
Selectable reticles
Three-color option for reticles
X/Y Coordinates for easy return-to-zero
Low Profile to rifle bore
Attractive, daytime scope-like appearance
Photon Cons:
Short eye relief
On/off button combined with IR button
Poor focus adjustment
Grainy view
Light sensitive (too much)
Home-Made Pros:
Inexpensive
Easy to put together
Optional lens available - 3mm, 12mm, 16mm, 25mm
Good focus, relatively clear view
Unit can be quickly removed from daytime scope and reattached with little loss of zero
Home-Made Cons:
Unconventional in appearance
Fragile if carried out and about
Backlight into face from LCD screen
Requires external 12-volt power source
Wires running to power source
Lessens available space on butt stock for proper cheek rest
As with most things, there are Pros and Cons to consider and these two scopes
are no different. Each has its good points and each has negatives.
As several have mentioned previously, for the money the Photon is a very good buy.
It should serve a lot of hunters very well considering closer-range hunts. It is
easy to carry in the field and to put into use quickly. Hopefully Sightmark will
take into consideration the scope's negative points and will improve it with better
clarity, ie sharper image and less graininess. The focus adjustment should be improved.
Given those improvements, I think the Photon would be a real winner.
As to the home-made unit, it is probably considered more of a tinkering, do-it-yourself
project that gives some satisfaction of its own in just being able to do it. But also,
it is very impressive with the EJ-230 bullet camera. The little camera sees very well
and turns a day-time scope into a great little night-time hunter. I consider it a better
deal for bait site hunting for coyotes and hogs than carrying about in the field. There is a
trade-off with focus with this unit. Either the target focus is very sharp and clear and the
crosshair more faded, or the crosshair clear but the target more faded. I adjust somewhere
in the middle to take advantage of both.
Considering the clarity of the EJ-230 bullet camera, it would seem that Sightmark could use
at least as good a technology as that and incorporate it into their scope.
Hopefully we are just in the early stages of affordable digital night vision. As time goes
on, no doubt technology will improve. It can only get better so we have something to look
forward to.
I hope this review has been of some help. I have tried to be as objective as possible.
Perhaps I have been a bit too hard on the Photon, but I just called it as I saw it. That's
the way positive changes come about and hopefully we will See Sightmark address the
negatives and produce a better model. But, all-in-all it's not a bad scope. It can just use
some refinements.