Posted: 2/7/2025 3:40:20 PM EDT
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It’s an IR scope and YouTube reviews are mostly positive but would like to know if anyone here has tried one? I’m too poor for a good thermal scope right now. That Zulu 5x20 looks promising but I’d like to hear fr someone other than YouTube gear reviews. In fact the reviews seem “too good to be true” for a sub $1000 night optic. Thanks. |
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I believe it is the ZULUS you are referring to. The one thing I could not find is the FOV. I would think a 3-12x may be a more all-around option vs 5-20x. I haven't used any of the Arken products, so it is hard to say good vs bad. As others have stated, thermal is such a huge step forward for most hunting applications. One of my roles is talking to people trying to get into thermal, and a comment I hear on a regular basis, is I wish I hadn't wasted money on digital NV and other options vs just saving for thermal. |
Korey Kirschenmann (Kirsch)
Night Goggles Product Specialist
www.nightgoggles.com
Night Goggles Product Specialist
www.nightgoggles.com
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I got the 3x12 I don’t regret it at all. Yeah eventually I’d like thermal but this is a very nice alternative for now and this guy has a nice overview:  I Love This Scope.... | DNT Optics Zulus 3-12x LRF Day/Night Scope! |
| Thermal prices are coming down. Save your Pennies as it’s worth it. A 256 is good out to 100 yards. 384 will work well out to 300 yards. I have a AR mounted Hogster vibe 35mm 384 that works great. Bought a handheld in 384 to scan but smaller FOV. May bump up to 640 in the future but for now a 384 is working for me. Again, save your Pennies. Those day/night scopes aren’t worth it. |
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I just got a 3-12x laser range finder version. It will probably work for what I got it for. First off - the picture is better than I expected. Zoom is better than I expected. Little bit of blurring if I try to scan with it (not going to try to use this as a driving aid) - could use a faster hz. Biggest issue I have identified so far is the laser range finder. I was testing it at night (just as a handheld). Tried to range find and @$%@#% - it is a strobe going off. Camera picks up the LRF pulses - and they are bright and bloom out a good portion of the screen. Not saying it is useless, but will need to use single pulse ranging at night. I have only done it at short ranges - it might not be nearly as annoying at long ranges - but I wanted to range 5-20m. I got this for a ratting air rifle. On the flip side, the IR illuminator made the rat's eyes glow - it almost felt like thermal. I had white hot eyes. I am not sure if the illuminator scared the rats. I only saw about a dozen last night. Went out at dusk today (without the scope), saw many more. I did not see any scurrying last night - so maybe I scared them the moment I went outside, or maybe it was just a different time of night. Just did the yard test with a PVS-14 and a 640 core thermal. PVS-14 has no lag, so much better for walking. At chicken yard range, the picture of the Zulu with illumination was better. Thermal - my monocular has a 19mm lens (so 1x). Very easy to count rats (35 tonight) - but they are tiny. --- There are thermal versions of this sight. They would get around the LRF bloom - but will not have any decent magnification. I can see uses for either - but neither will be perfect. My favorite thermal (640 core, 75mm lens, native 3x power) - digital zoom just making the pixels bigger-as the sensor already has less resolution than the screen. Digital zoom on a thermal is mostly a gimmick. --- I just ordered the gun that this scope was intended to go on (and I have a second rifle that I could use it on already). Will see if I get frustrated and just order a thermal with LRF for the rats. At a bare minimum, it might be an easy way to make a ballistic table for the air rifle (not like I am going to find drag coefficients for most of my pellets. |
I tried the Zulus out again tonight. Apparently I think I freaked out about nothing - I must have accidentally LRF'ed some reflective tin last time. The flashing light is the LRF. This is a video shot at about 4m (inside what it can range find). It did pull ranges when I was at 7m. It was taken slightly after midnight - into my chicken coop that is near pitch black (with the IR illuminator on - I don't know what power level, but I think I had it on low). ZULUS RATS Still waiting on the rifle it will be mounted to, then will see if it can deal with the ballistics of a pellet at various ranges. |
| I have a 3x12 ( for the better field of view ) non rangefinder one. I also have a Pulsar thermion thermal. I bought it to put on another rifle so my friend could come out with me. For the money it is ok. BUT it will never replace or be as good as a thermal. There is no comparison. I think anyone would have trouble scanning with it because of all the blacks, dark and light greys you have to sort thru while scanning with it. I have a thermal handheld for scanning. If you have never looked thru a thermal, you might not be aware of it's short comings but if you have you will probably be disappointed. I didn't do a lot of research on night hunting devices before hand & jumped right into a pvs14, I wish I would have researched more & bought a thermal first. If you don't like it you can always use it for a budget day scope later on. I will say is appears to be one of the better digital night vision scopes out right now. Crisp & clear, easy to use buttons. The best deal I found was at Predator hunter outdoors. $ 499.99, free shipping, no tax & extra 2 free batteries & a 4 battery charger. it comes with 2 batteries & a 2 battery charger. Took 4 days to get it. |