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

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  1. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    I did emailmpulsar suggesting a mode where it will scale the temperature around the value of a dot in the centre of the image and then with a user variable temperature range. Maybe one for pro use, but would solve many issues like the cold sky issue mentioned here, I’ll have to try the “warm...
  2. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Lens focal length and pixel size determine the resolution (detail) you’ll see. The sensitivity depends on the pixel size, the lower ones seem to use the 17micron sensors, the higher the newer/smaller 12micron. I’d go for around 3x optical and the most pixels, so you don’t compromise detail too...
  3. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    The magnification depends on the front lens, the sensor and the final display and eyepiece, the magnification will be the size your eye sees compared to without the unit. I’d let the companies tell you the magnification. The zoom will all be digital, so 2x will probably be ok image wise (more...
  4. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Used my Pulsar again at the London Wetland Centre for Snipe-hunting. Now I know there are 7 and where to go looking. It’s fun to tell others which blank bunch of reeds to look at to spot a sleeping snipe. It was sunny, so I was pleasantly surprised that it seemed to work just as well as last...
  5. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    850 is not no glow, you want to go beyond 900nm ideally. My gut feeling is that’s not going to be very good given features and the price, but if you can find a number of positive reviews then it might be OK, as noted it depends on what you want to use it for. Peter
  6. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    There is lots of stuff going on after dark, even the cheaper NV can show a lot (though many have a deep red light on the front that some creatures might notice). the moon in thermal infrared.. found a page I’d seen before, very interesting...
  7. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    The colour scaling the pulsar uses means that pointing at the moon any slight temperature differences are swamped by the temperature difference between the moon and the cold clear sky (-40C or so), but like looking for birds in trees. A spot temperature mode would allow you to see more, but I...
  8. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    That birds in trees shot is interesting, but if it was cloudy in the daytime it would make the temperature difference smaller. I wish they’d have a “focus the temperature scaling on this point” option, maybe only useful occasionally, but vital then. Another fun thing to look at is the moon, try...
  9. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Most models are much lower resolution and many have lower frame rates. My early model seek is fine round the house, but not much use outdoors. The sensor has to uniformity correct very frequently, 9Hz is a pain and the field of view is quite wide. It’s a great way into thermal, but a dedicated...
  10. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Worst outing was in thick damp cold fog, thermal range no better than eye range, so much absorbing moisture! Went home for a warm drink. Peter
  11. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    I leave it on white hot unless I’m playing “predator”. The zoom is digital, so never going to more than make the pixels bigger, but a little can be helpful sometimes. The new firmware (xm30s has had a few updates) seems to improve detail a bit. The birds in trees against the sky is annoying as...
  12. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Xm30S is amazing (though sometimes you want a bit less zoom, often you are thankful for the detail), more pixels costing £££. I’ve picked up owls on the ground and hedgehogs that I would never otherwise have known were there. Temperature contrast with the sky makes looking into trees to see...
  13. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Still not cheap but photonis echo tubes can get you in the right league to the American Gen 3. https://deep-dark.co.uk/ Seem to sell these, better than the £5-7k I’ve seen for the finest photonis/Gen3 stuff new. Peter
  14. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Digital (non thermal) stuff you could take anywhere. Thermal you’d need to check, but most of the EU should be fine. Illuminator NV would be OK, but I’d buy a separate 900nm IR flashlight as it would be a lot less visible to the creatures, you could use this to help a sionyx Aurora of it got too...
  15. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Sionyx units seem to be the best digital sensitivity systems available, good for when there is some light available, but loses it when it gets really dark and the “proper stuff” keeps on giving a picture. Peter
  16. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Thermal is the only area we will see improvements, which will come as soon as someone can make high quality mid-infrared optics cheaply (ie not germanium). Then we could have zoom capability and larger lenses cheaper. The pixels aren’t going to get smaller, so the same number but cheaper or...
  17. W

    Night vision equipment for mortals

    Night vision lacks colour and so can make it hard to see things that can blend i with their surroundings of not moving, think deer, owls. At least foliage appears white in near-IR, which helps make things stand out a bit better. Thermal will help with alive critters (as long as warm blooded)...
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