Photon XT 4.6x Night Vision Scope Review

6mm06

Well-known member

Well, today I received the Photon. Tonight is also a rainy night so I wasn't able to do a lot of testing, though I did get under the carport and looked out across my front lawn for maybe a distance of 75-80 yards. I don't have scope rings yet so I just hand-held the scope.

I tested the scope a bit before it got dark too, to see how it might look in daytime conditions. With the lens cap on, the scope is still very bright, too much actually and I think a filter of some sort inside the lens cap would help a lot with that. The owner's manual said there is a filter to help with daylight shooting, but I saw no filter, just a hole in the cap.

I used the onboard IR, an Eagle Tac T100C2 and the LLTL-001 illuminators. After that, I hooked up my home-made outfit and compared apples to apples in my yard.

Upfront I will say that I am somewhat disappointed with the Photon in clarity, but as my testing progresses it may appear better. It seems a bit grainy though it will make a decent scope for 100 yard shots - this from my quick test in my yard. It may be better than I think at the moment, so the verdict is still out and more testing needed.

I like the reticles, especially the one that has lines on left and right and one from the bottom, but has no line up top and a dot in the center. I really like that one. The little dot should make a great aiming point, and good for quick shots too. I tried all three reticle colors. Each have their own purpose, but I tend to like the green and white better than the red.

The LLTL-001 illuminator is very bright with this scope as Kevin mentioned earlier, too much up close, even at the 75 yard mark it's too bright if held directly on the target, but I had the beam aimed a bit low and that worked better. It is so bright it will reflect light quite a bit and almost white-out the ground, even at 75 yards. But, that illuminator is able to focus from wide angle to concentrated light. I backed the light off to a more wide angle and it did better. I am thinking the LLTL-001 will add to shooting distance due to it's brightness, but that remains to be seen.

The Eagle Tac was not quite as good, more grainy so I will use the LLTL-001, or maybe later get the LLTL-007 that operates at 940nm. The on-board light is acceptable for close ranges, but in my yard at least it just didn't give a good view at 75 yards. I could probably pull off a shot on a coyote at that distance with the on-board IR, but it's not the kind of view I desire. It caused a grainy view, moreso than the Eagle Tac.

The scope has an adjustment for brightness and that helped with getting the right amount of light better.

I found the rubber bellows eye-piece to not be a problem and was able to see very well while wearing my prescription glasses. I was somewhat concerned initially as you know, but that was quickly put to rest. It works just fine with my glasses on. With my glasses off, the amount of movement of the focus dial ended before I could get a really good adjustment for my eyes. With the home-made unit and my old Gen 1, I could adjust perfectly with glasses off. This scope just doesn't have quite enough ocular adjustment for my particular vision, but I know my eyes are not good, so it most likely won't be an issue for others. But, at least I can see just fine with my glasses on.

Now for the unexpected part - my home-made outfit appears to be cleaner and clearer than the Photon in a side-by-side comparison. I am very impressed with the little bullet camera that sits behind my daytime scope. Apparently Roland on YouTube got it right when he said the EJ-230 bullet camera is the best he has found so far. And, that little camera only costs slightly over $100. The downside to the home-made unit is the LCD screen which emits light back into your face, and the wires that are needed to connect to a 12-volt battery, plus the fact that the bullet camera extends rearward a bit. You have to keep your face back a ways, but I am still able to anchor my chin on the stock, though it's not really necessary if you can hold the rifle steady. Still, I like an anchor. As well, the home-made unit is more fragile if carried out and about while calling, so quite a bit or care would be needed to keep from breaking the LCD unit off.

The Photon is much, much better than my old Gen 1 scope. It's in a different class.

The Photon is light weight too, more like what you would expect from a larger daytime scope. I was pleased to see the weight is not bad at all. The scope is much more convenient to use than the home-made one. It uses two AA batteries. A simple push of a button turns it on, and there are three choices of brightness for the on-board IR. The new Photon has an unusual appearance in that there are no target turrents on the main tube, which is 30mm. All adjustments are made digitally within the menu setting, including zeroing for windage and elevation. I haven't yet figured that part out exactly but will once I get it mounted to a rifle.

Like others have mentioned in another post, the objective lens cap can easily be lost since it has no attachment to the scope. It's a pressure fit that is not very tight, and losing it can be rather easy.

The main negative I think is the scope could have a bit better resolution and not be quite as grainy, though it's not so grainy as to not be useful. Overall it's a good scope in my opinion and well worth the money considering the cost and effectiveness of night vision scopes in its price range.

There are pros and cons (as with all scopes). For the money and considering an entry level night vision scope that is very capable for reasonable shooting distances, I think the Photon is a good choice. I do question how far I might be able to see (and shoot) with it at night, but the LLTL-001 being so bright, may help put the range out there a bit. One night soon (if this darn rain stops) I may stay at the cabin and do some further testing. I will test it at my 60 yard bait site, but can also get a good view from my cabin at about 135 yards.

More testing will come later, along with video hopefully. Getting good video may take a while since I hope to get some predators on film with this scope.

Hopefully some others will chime in with their thoughts and some good data on the effective range of the scope.














The scope has a simple, plastic picatinny mount on the right side for attaching an external illuminator,
as seen in the bottom photo.



 
Nice review. Mine is a bit grainy when the light is too strong, but that is manageable I think. Your day scope add-on setup must be pretty good.
 
6mm-06,

Since a lot of people seem concerned about battery life and the lack of ability to hook up an external battery pack and while you're waiting for good conditions to do some video testing, would you please do a quick video or explanation with pictures on just how difficult it is to remove exhausted batteries and replace them with fresh ones?

$bob$
 

Bob, the scope requires two AA batteries as you know. The battery compartment is on top of the scope.
There is a cap with a button to turn for opening and closing the lid. The cap is attached to the battery
housing via a rubber hinge, so no need to worry about losing it.

The view in the photos below are looking from the top, and the forward end of the scope.

Rotate the button left (counter clockwise) 1/4 turn to open, and lift up the cap. The cap is under
pressure from the batteries being seated (a springy feel). Push down a bit on the cap / button
when rotating to open and again when closing.









You will notice the positive end is up on the left side and the negative up on the right.
There are no markings on the scope to indicate where positive and negative go. The owner's
manual, to me at least, was vague even though it had a photo.







The batteries sit pretty much flush with the scope housing, so I was unable to lift them out with my fingers.
It will be necessary to tilt the rifle / scope over and dump the batteries. Replacing them should be easy
given a little bit of light, maybe a red headlight or such. Replacing the cap requires it to fit properly on
the base, with a slight bit of downward pressure and then rotate the button on top to the right (clockwise)
1/4 turn to lock into place.

I don't see replacing batteries in the field as being an issue no more than with any other scope. Actually my
old Gen 1 scope was much more difficult for battery replacement than the Photon is.

I'm not sure how cold weather may affect the batteries, but I think carrying a few good rechargeable batteries
will be an answer to any possible power problem.




 
If you look really close at the cap, you will see the polarity molded there. It is sorta obscure, but it's there. On mine if you don't bear down when you put the cap back on, it will sometimes pop up and surprise you with awol batteries. I have a nylon mesh shell catcher on my rifle and keep spare batteries in it. I have also found that the Ni-MH are a tad shorter than the alkaline and seem to be bit looser in the compartment. I measured some and found the Ni-MH to be .030 to .040 shorter than the alkalines.
 
Nice review so far, hope to see some video soon.

A good video was put up by UNV on youtube showing the photon xt 4.6 scope demo out to 300yds.

Looks good.
 
I should have my field review up and running this weekend. I got the footage last week but my old computer just can't handle the editing sotfware anymore. I have a new one coming in this week so hopefully will get the field review up and running on youtube this weekend. Kevin
 

1lobo, I guess my aging eyes betray me sometimes. As the old saying goes, "blind in one eye and can't see out of the other" pretty much sums it up. I have to pull my glasses off to read stuff up close, and can't see well then. Guess I missed the polarity markings. But, it's good to know which way to place the batteries in the dark since finding the markings may be a chore.

Looking forward to your review and video Kevin.
 
Hey 6mm06, I like to never found them myself, and you're right the instruction pamphlet is terrible. I think the technical term is "it sucks" It is good to be able to know how to place them by memory as Murphy is sure to test that ability.

I too am looking forward to Kevin's video and review. I am going to have to look for that UNV video.
 
Thanks Coach512. That looks like the right video. The real life view through my scope is better than the video shows, but I guess that is normal with night vision videos. The scope really does well with the on board IR, but does need some help at distance.
 
Greetings All -

I am on Sightmark's ProStaff team so I have extreme interest in your feedback and reviews of the PhotonXT. As a ProStaff member I have zero ability to effect any decisions directly however I am able to relate Internet forum information to the company so they can factor it in future models.

The PhotonXT is the lowest cost commerical off the shelf digitial night vision riflescope that I am aware of, so bearing that in mind as it relates to it's performance is crucial. As this thread gets underway with additional field use, videos, and comments I would be interested to gain feedback on the following:

* Daytime use - reasonable range and ability to ID targets
* Battery life - With and Without onboard IR use
* Display performance - Note the "grainy" effect may be a limitation of the sensor size and resolution capability. I am not an expert on digital systems on the software side but from what I gather in following the technology if you want higher quality viewfinder images it comes at the cost of night time performance and increased "lag" in the image.
* Housing durability
* Best scope mounts
* External IR preferences
* User Manual - what would make it more useful?

Anyhow I provide the above information for two reasons, to let you know that I am on their ProStaff (disclosure) and to list the key points that I ordinarily look at when evaluating night vision scopes from all manufactuers and across all technologies.

Last point - on the video uploads and viewfinder quality, there should be very little variance between the videos posted online and what the shooter is seeing, here is a specification sheet for the PhotonXT and you will see that the resolution of the video output and viewfinder are nearly identical. Somebody made the point that usually the case is that the videos aren't representative of the shooters true view but in the case of the PhotonXT it would technically be nearly the same so perhaps the video editing and uploading to youtube are the cause for any perceived differences.



BB

My intent is not to sidetrack 6mm's review thread, I am offering to follow this thread and to relate information to Sightmark. If it is preferred by the original poster I can edit out this post and setup a standalone thread.
 
When watching the video make sure and click on the little gear symbol and set the quality to 720 or 1080 if your computer can display it, at the very least 480 anything lower will not look like the scope's true performance. Some slow internet connections the video will default to a very low resolution like 160 or 240 and look very bad.

just an FYI for those that might not know this
 

Bennybone,

Thank you for joining in and giving us specific criteria to consider when evaluating the Photon XT. No need to start a new thread unless you wish. Your thoughts and suggestions are most welcome here.

Everyone here is looking for reviews of the scope, in-field performance and to fairly assess its capabilities and limitations. My reviews are just one guy's perspective, mine, and I hope to see a lot of discussion from others about their experiences.

Thanks again for joining this thread. We all appreciate any input you might offer as well as being able to offer suggestions of improvement to the company.


 
Originally Posted By: 6mm06Bennybone,

Thank you for joining in and giving us specific criteria to consider when evaluating the Photon XT. No need to start a new thread unless you wish. Your thoughts and suggestions are most welcome here.

Everyone here is looking for reviews of the scope, in-field performance and to fairly assessed its capabilities and limitations. My reviews are just one guy's perspective, mine, and I hope to see a lot of discussion from others about their experiences.

Thanks again for joining this thread. We all appreciate any input you might offer as well as being able to offer suggestions of improvement to the company.




Thanks for the welcoming comments - your threads title perfectly outlines the topic that many could place their feedback and reviews into so I will mark this thread on my subscribed posts and check in from time to time.

A good DVR to pair up with the PhotonXT would be the Angel Eyes KS-650m or UNV MDVR in case anybody is wanting to record their hunts.

As for the daytime filter, it was the first comment I went back to Sightmark with on the XT - it hopefully will get a redesign in the future to be retained in a better fashion.

The nice thing is that it isn't required for use, i.e no harm will come to the scope with full on daylight exposure, I only used mine on very bright days when target shooting and attempting to mitigate overexposure on a target.

BB
 
Hey Bennybone, good to hear from you. I am glad you are going to be reporting to Sightmark. I was convinced from your response on the other thread that you were a proponent of the Pulsar N750.

I hope you will be able to report back to the thread some of Sightmark's responses to issues.
 
Originally Posted By: 1loboHey Bennybone, good to hear from you. I am glad you are going to be reporting to Sightmark. I was convinced from your response on the other thread that you were a proponent of the Pulsar N750.

I hope you will be able to report back to the thread some of Sightmark's responses to issues.

Glad to be of help where I can.

I am happy owner of a Pulsar N750 and I believe it is the best digital scope on the market as of right now (total package) and I've seen them used for sale on forums for 900.00 which is a super good deal.

I am a proponent for ANYTHING digital, I've field tested night vision for a few companies over the years and one thing about me being an "Independent" is I do not sugar coat things for any particular company. I think my reviews are unbiased but again you know how I feel about the N750
thumbup.gif


I will do my best to report back to the thread any of Sightmark's thoughts on the feedback I send to them.

BB
 
Back
Top