Yesterday evening, a short online conference was held, during which HIKMICRO, a manufacturer of night vision and thermal imaging devices with an attractive quality to price ratio, has presented new devices broadened its offer.
One of two new product lines, the Condor LRF monoculars, were already covered in a separate article.
Following new trends, HIKMICRO has introduced thermal imaging sights with a two-step optical magnification, which is changed by rotating the lens. This solution enables quick adjustment of the field of view to observation conditions, as well as provides the possibility of observation at longer distances without losing the quality and native image resolution (unlike using digital zoom). The technology used in the new HIKMICRO devices is not new as this problem has been solved in a similar way in devices made by InfiRay Outdoor or ThermTec.
However, unlike the competition, which uses lower sensitivity sensors in its Dual FOV series, the HIKMICRO Thunder Zoom 2.0 sensor has a NETD parameter of <20 mK, which should have a positive effect on the detail and contrast of the observed objects and its surroundings, also in unfavorable weather conditions.
The new series of sights consists of two models: the lower end TH50Z 2.0 and the flagship TQ60Z 2.0. Both of them use 12 μm sensors, provide sensitivity of <20 mK and image refresh rate of 50 Hz on a 0.39" OLED 1024x768 px screen.
The TH50Z 2.0 is equipped with a sensor with a resolution of 384x288 pixels. It allows to select between 2.2x optical magnification (25 mm lens, F0.8, 10.5° ×7.9° field of view - 18.4 m at 100 m) and 4.3x optical magnification (50 mm lens, F1.0, 5.3° ×4.0° field of view - 9.2 m at 100 m). In the latter setting, the identification of an object with the characteristics of an adult deer is possible at a distance of approximately 650 meters, and the total detection range reaches 2600 meters.
The TQ60Z 2.0 is equipped with a sensor with a resolution of 640x512 pixels. It allows to select between 1.8x optical magnification (35 mm lens, F0.9,12.5° ×10.0° field of view - 21.9 m at 100 m) and 3.1x optical magnification (60 mm lens, F1.1, 7.3° ×5.9° field of view - 12.8 m at 100 m). In the latter setting, the identification of an object with the characteristics of an adult deer is possible at a distance of approximately 750 meters, and the total detection range reaches 3000 meters.
The Thunder Zoom 2.0 series products are powered by a dedicated, replaceable Li-Ion battery, which, when used at a temperature of 25°C, lasts for at least 6 ,5 hours of device operation. The USB-C interface allows to connect an external power source and charge the dedicated battery inside the imager.
The user has a number of functionalities related to personalizing the image, changing its characteristics, many different shooting profiles and reticle styles, wireless communication, a video recorder with sound (EMMC 16 GB memory) and many others features. The manufacturer also made setting zero simple: it is only done when using a higher magnification level (it does not require any corrections after changing it to the lower one).
Weighing 750 and 843 grams (without a battery), the new sights are made of a durable magnesium alloy and enable observations in extreme weather conditions. They are protected against the adverse effects of water in a high IP67 standard and are resistant to recoil of 1000 g/0.4 ms (e.g. .375 H&H, 12GA, or 9.3x64mm rounds) .
Source: HIKMICRO
