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.
