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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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  1. P

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Yes, I'm fortunate in that the only Bat survey I do, where I use the Thermal device in conjunction with bat detector and torch, is for Daubenten's bat. They move very predictably just above the water's surface along rivers, so effectively in 1 dimension only! As long as it covers the width of...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    I have the XM22, which is low down in that list, and I quickly found it a pain panning left /right and vertically too. So I use it sideways, "portrait mode", that way, just a single sweep left to right tends to cover the entire area. I wouldn't say "no" to a greater field of view, but the...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    yes, I believe it automatically recalibrates every minute or so during use.
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    I honestly thought my Pulsar imager was broken a couple of days ago. The image was picking out animals fine ( in fact what was subsequently confirmed in the binoculars as a short eared owl flying over a hare was a highlight!) The background, trees and landscape was totally blurred out. I...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    yes, just mentioning it as the advertising for the phone thermal camera clearly says you can use it for wildlife watching, hunting etc. So just mentioning it in case anyone is "deceived" by this.
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Yes, we've often discussed on here, how cheap you can go for good "detection". I have a £1000 model, and it is excellent for determining if there is something hiding in the cover. There are cheaper units that might also work. But the phone unit, whilst very good for detecting heat in buildings...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    I have a phone which happens to have a thermal camera built in (Flir lepton). It's not at all good for birds or small animals, compared to a handheld dedicated monocular. A shame as the display is an augmented reality, so seeing where the hotspots are is very easy.
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    yes, that's a big advantage having generic over the custom batteries. The Pulsar I have can be used, and the battery simultaneously charged, from a USB powerbank which is useful
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    I'd agree. I have a pulsar, and the battery failed. They weren't interested as it was out of 1 year warranty, by a couple of months. Not that it had been used exhaustively in that year, but they weren't interested. Buy another battery (£50) was their response. Owls against woodland or ground...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    That's a really good assessment Jurek. It mirrors my experiences (albeit with a different model) very accurately.
  11. P

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Pulsar axion key 22. The battery failed on mine a week or so ago. Must have been charged 6-10 times. Pulsar and UK distributor seem pretty cold about it so far, the battery being a few months out of its 1 year warranty, and offering me nothing other than to buy a new battery (£45). So I'm not...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    I haven't settled on optimum settings, or even a colour pallette, switching between black, white and multi coloured. Black hot seems to give the best view of background/features. I also use mine held side on, the screen in "portrait", so sweeping horizontally you cover more area per sweep
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    I swept an area of farmland yesterday, and it picked out Linnets in grass at over 50 metres away. I suspect the conditions yesterday were perfect as it was quite cold, so the birds would stand out. Nothing else was getting any heat. On sunny days, you get a lot of noise from exposed branches...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    A migrant hawker, perched in a tree, is my favourite so far. "Blimey .. there IS something there"!!
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Used mine regularly for about a year now It is a game changer. As well as nocturnal mammals, in daylight Adders, birds, larger insects and caterpillars all found with it. I don't think the field of view or magnification is important the way I use it. Just sweep the area for some heat then...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Reptiles, Toads, and even caterpillars and bumblebees, I have found with the XM22. They are cold blooded, but warmer than the ground, in UK at the moment anyway. The Toads were poking out of water, so also warmer. Seeing Caterpillars and Bees thru it is pretty mind blowing. As mentioned...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    yes, xm22 works reasonably well with small animals fairly close up, despite the vegetation often giving false heat spots. Animals definitely stand out as smooth shaped compared to the irregular vegetation. Today's highlights.. 2x Common Lizard, (~5m away) 2x Oak Eggar Caterpillar! (~2m and 4m...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    I must have been very lucky the first time I tried for reptiles.. and caught the sun just gone behind clouds, but the Adders still out. Ever since, the sun has been shining, and the noise, or "false positives" from heated up vegetation is quite distracting. Trying different angles compared to...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    The pulsar key works ok with reptiles. Picking up Adders and a Slow Worm this afternoon, plus bumblebees surprisingly. Think different colour palettes work better in different conditions.. the red/yellow hot was picking up nothing except reptiles ( and birds, mammals if there were any) which...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    I was tempted by this one. It has record, which the xm22 doesn't, and the feature that points out hotspots. Don't think the range was quite as good and the resolution not quite as good, but if you use them to detect, then switch to a torch, its maybe not such a big deal. The built in battery...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    I think they may be optimised for animals/ hunting / finding people. When I occasionally point it at my dog to remind me which colour palette I'm on (!) He pretty much fills the screen, but the back ground doesn't change I don't think. It does auto calibrate, every so often, and the only...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    I've settled on "black hot" as my preferred colour palette. The multi-colour palette was a bit of a disappointment, as birds could be any colour, or a combination of colours, so you don't really know what you are looking for. Black seems to leap out of the background, and the background looks...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Looks like it's gone too late to edit my "review", but I've found more features, after downloading the user manual! There are only three buttons as well as the power button, but it is hard to navigate. Involves long presses or short presses to go into different menus. There are lots of colour...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    it was the Naturespy web shop. I emailed them first because everywhere else was showing "out of stock". It arrived the next day, but they said "they were down to the last couple and Pulsar couldn't keep up with demand". I wasn't sure if it was a sales pitch, but I think they were being...
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    Night vision equipment for mortals

    It's a painful price, but you always sell these things on eventually! I'll see what I can do subject to lockdown etc
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