So I was able to get the hittac version of this scope before the arken take over. Hittac sold it to arken global and the US branch has finally announced it. My scope will be just like the zulus but mine is the old name. I am in the US and I have been testing it out.
I have been testing digital day/night scopes for over a year and have been collecting vidoe clips and knowledge to find the best one suited for our/my use. The ones I have test have been the pard 007, pard 008p, wraith HD 2-16, wraith 4k max, wraith 4k mini, pulsar digex c50, and accufire tr1 and currently still own the atn 4k pro, sent back the series 5 4 times before I gave up.
Mine is the lrf version which will eventually be released but no time frame yet so know it's coming. If you shoot from a fixed position or have a flatter shooting setup than no need for the lrf honestly. This scope currently has a 6-8 week lead time so keep that in mind when ordering it. IT will be worth the wait time. It is probably MY favorite scope to date and I will help answer any questions you all have about it. I don't not work for Arken and I have bought everything I have ever tested so opinions are always honest.
I won't give you all the specs because you can find that online. I will give you the rundown of my thoughts so far. I will also attach some pictures and a video I put together showing the reticle options and some field use.
Let's start with the size and weight this scope is crazy small and light with a weight of 21.52oz with mount and battery but mine will weigh slightly more because of the rangefinder. It has a footprint of only 6½" without the eye cup.
The button layout will take some getting use to in the dark but definitely easier than the series 5 atn was. The zoom wheel is on the small size but even having larger fingers I can still use it. I like it because it's a dial instead of a button.
The focus wheel up front like most digital scopes needs to be finely adjusted to get the clearest image possible. I was able to get a pretty clear image at 5ft and so far haven't looked past 276 yards.
The day and night images are not only one of the clearest I have seen but clear throughout all magnification levels. It has PIP mode but it doesn't show the reticle in the picture box something I hope that can be adjusted later in time with a firmware update. Menu is very easy to navigate. The loop recording feature is pretty cool basically allows you to pause and resume recording. It also has wifi which allows you to mirror the image of the scope to your phone and it also allows you to pull the videos and save onto you phone or tablet.
I haven't really tested the battery life but I don't think it will be the quoted 8hrs which is probably in day mode. In night mode the scope likes alot of infrared light and on max I was only getting about 1hr 30min but was kept the light on the entire time and didn't put the screen in sleep mode. I wouldn't mind running it with an external battery pack for extended outings. The other option would using and external ir light which isn't a bad option either. Another thing to note is this scope gathers light so well that on a full moon it was able to still get an image and at sundown it makes it look like mid day.
Since it's a 5x scope the field of view is a lot less than I normal like especially for the field mice I go after BUT I had to give up something to gain all these other awesome features. The FOV is better on the zulus than the pards I tested and almost equal with the atn 5-25 scopes.
There are a few things I would like to see changed in future updates but definitely not deal breakers. The reticle options are lacking and one is really small and almost not usable. The reticle in the PIP box would be great, I would like to see the on screen info displayed when watching video playback and if I think of anymore I will list them.
Lastly I wanted to let you know what it was currently on and that's my 10fpe .177 brk atomic and it's killer check out both videos.
I have been testing digital day/night scopes for over a year and have been collecting vidoe clips and knowledge to find the best one suited for our/my use. The ones I have test have been the pard 007, pard 008p, wraith HD 2-16, wraith 4k max, wraith 4k mini, pulsar digex c50, and accufire tr1 and currently still own the atn 4k pro, sent back the series 5 4 times before I gave up.
Mine is the lrf version which will eventually be released but no time frame yet so know it's coming. If you shoot from a fixed position or have a flatter shooting setup than no need for the lrf honestly. This scope currently has a 6-8 week lead time so keep that in mind when ordering it. IT will be worth the wait time. It is probably MY favorite scope to date and I will help answer any questions you all have about it. I don't not work for Arken and I have bought everything I have ever tested so opinions are always honest.
I won't give you all the specs because you can find that online. I will give you the rundown of my thoughts so far. I will also attach some pictures and a video I put together showing the reticle options and some field use.
Let's start with the size and weight this scope is crazy small and light with a weight of 21.52oz with mount and battery but mine will weigh slightly more because of the rangefinder. It has a footprint of only 6½" without the eye cup.
The button layout will take some getting use to in the dark but definitely easier than the series 5 atn was. The zoom wheel is on the small size but even having larger fingers I can still use it. I like it because it's a dial instead of a button.
The focus wheel up front like most digital scopes needs to be finely adjusted to get the clearest image possible. I was able to get a pretty clear image at 5ft and so far haven't looked past 276 yards.
The day and night images are not only one of the clearest I have seen but clear throughout all magnification levels. It has PIP mode but it doesn't show the reticle in the picture box something I hope that can be adjusted later in time with a firmware update. Menu is very easy to navigate. The loop recording feature is pretty cool basically allows you to pause and resume recording. It also has wifi which allows you to mirror the image of the scope to your phone and it also allows you to pull the videos and save onto you phone or tablet.
I haven't really tested the battery life but I don't think it will be the quoted 8hrs which is probably in day mode. In night mode the scope likes alot of infrared light and on max I was only getting about 1hr 30min but was kept the light on the entire time and didn't put the screen in sleep mode. I wouldn't mind running it with an external battery pack for extended outings. The other option would using and external ir light which isn't a bad option either. Another thing to note is this scope gathers light so well that on a full moon it was able to still get an image and at sundown it makes it look like mid day.
Since it's a 5x scope the field of view is a lot less than I normal like especially for the field mice I go after BUT I had to give up something to gain all these other awesome features. The FOV is better on the zulus than the pards I tested and almost equal with the atn 5-25 scopes.
There are a few things I would like to see changed in future updates but definitely not deal breakers. The reticle options are lacking and one is really small and almost not usable. The reticle in the PIP box would be great, I would like to see the on screen info displayed when watching video playback and if I think of anymore I will list them.
Lastly I wanted to let you know what it was currently on and that's my 10fpe .177 brk atomic and it's killer check out both videos.
