Love the sig can! Sounds really great in an open field.
I started with a thermal monocular and each year upgraded until I got this Reap-ir a few months back. I love the Reap, but it is quite expensive.
To be clear right off the bat I don't sell, endorse, or work for or benefit at all from any dealer, manufacturer etc. this is just my opinion from being involved in the night vision/thermal world as a hunter/gun enthusiast and spending way too much time online reading about the stuff. I have looked through several thermals as well.
That said, IMHO, Quality is going up and prices are coming down. Pulsar is just releasing a couple new lines of thermal scopes. I think they are by far the best value in the industry.
The new Pulsar XQ scopes are a 384 resolution that are replacing the older XD scopes that were also 384 resolution.
Ok, so a year ago the pulsar apex XD38a, and apex XD50a (not to be confused with the Apex XD38 or the XD38s or XD50 or XD50s... the "s" is the same as not having a letter at the end. The "a" is different. It has an LCD screen which is not as good as the LED screen that comes on the "s" or the non "a" line). the XD50a was what many considered the best value in the industry. They were going for about $3500 less than a year ago.
Pulsar just released a new line. The Apex XQ38 (2.1x magnification, 17 micron core, 384 resolution, LED screen - $2500), and the Apex XQ50 (the Apex XQ38 is replacing the older model XD50 and the Apex XQ50 at 2.7x magnification is replacing the the old Apex XD75 "3x magnification"). Im pretty sure they aren't making any new scopes with the "not as good" LCD screen aka "a" models. Confusing I know. Bare with me. The new XQ line models have upgraded from a 25 micron core to a 17 micron (lower micron core is better-- it allows the scope to pull in more information with a smaller lens size which saves money because germanium lens' are expensive). They also all use the better LED screen so no more LCD screens or "a" models. The new Apex XQ38 is a 2x (2.1x) magnification $2500... (the old Apex xd50 and xd50a were the 2x mag).
There is also a new "trail" line. The Trail XQ30 (trail XQ30 replaces the old Apex XD38 at 1.5x zoom but it has all the features of the trail. I don't believe there is a new Apex XQ30), Trail XQ38 and trail XQ50. The trail line has a lot of new features like internal recording, QD mount, wifi to stream directly to a phone/computer, internal battery pack, holds multiple zeros and maybe a couple others.
Also, LRF = laser range finder. Some of these new scopes come with a laser range finder that mounts to the side of the scope.
Also, also, the XP line is the new 640 resolution scope. Pulsar didn't previously make a 640 resolution scope.
So depending on your budget, what magnification you want and what features you want, I would take a hard look at the apex XQ38, Apex XQ50, trail XQ30, trail XQ38, and trail XQ50.
MOre magnification is better for identifying what live creature is what species and better for the initial shot. Less magnification is better for scanning and spotting live creatures and for follow up shots on moving targets. Remember at night u can't really see anything when you're not lookin through the scope. Personally I really like the new xq38. And to me the extra $300 is worth the features you get from the trail line.An external recorder, cord, external battery pack cost over $300 as is. And to me being able to zero one scope on multiple guns with a mount that detached quick and returns to zero within an inch at 100 yards allows me to do a lot more with one scope (I use Bobro QD mounts that return to zero really well with my day optics on my guns and the Reap-ir has 4 preset zeros so I can use it on multiple guns also without having to go back to the range to rezero day scopes/thermal every time I switch them around ).
I also have an order for a new pulsar trail XQ38 on the way. I think it's gonna be the best value and compromise overall for a good while. It won't compare to the image quality of the Reap-IR but it will work fine for night hunting out to 200 yards, as a back up spotter and set up for a guest hunter. Also keep in mind that the view through the lens of the Reap-IR is way better than the video you see. It downgrades quality when putting it on video. The pulsar scopes will do the same thing. I'm told they come with an internal microphone but will require a firmware upgrade at some point when pulsar has the firmware update ready in order to record with sound and that firmware upgrade will also upgrade the video quality when recording. More info below... hope that helps and isn't too jumbled and confusing.
http://www.lonestarboars.com/threads/pulsar-new-thermals.6776/#post-78564
Video of pulsar trail XQ38 (recorded with external DVR so it does have sound)
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