Thermal Optics for Wildlife Viewing

[MikeCrapo]

I use mine some times to find animals in the early morning before you can see them. Found many elk in GTNF early morning and could setup and wait for the light.
Also great to spot the snow hare in the sage brush and weeds.
A thermal monocular will show you temperature difference. So if a bird, like an owl, are very efficient and only loose small amounts of heat while in the wind, you will not see them easily.
one cool experience I had was being out to shoot the northern lights over a pond. When it got dark, I could use the device to watch a ton of bats dance over the water gathering insects. They where not bright with heat, as they where about the temp of the air, but this device makes it so you can see everything better at night. It was fun to watch.

also be aware, these can not see through glass. So if you are in a car and want to scan around you, you will have to roll down your window.

 

[RedSparrow]

I use mine some times to find animals in the early morning before you can see them. Found many elk in GTNF early morning and could setup and wait for the light.
Also great to spot the snow hare in the sage brush and weeds.
A thermal monocular will show you temperature difference. So if a bird, like an owl, are very efficient and only loose small amounts of heat while in the wind, you will not see them easily.
one cool experience I had was being out to shoot the northern lights over a pond. When it got dark, I could use the device to watch a ton of bats dance over the water gathering insects. They where not bright with heat, as they where about the temp of the air, but this device makes it so you can see everything better at night. It was fun to watch.

also be aware, these can not see through glass. So if you are in a car and want to scan around you, you will have to roll down your window.

 

[Saint]

ZEISS Dti 6/20 or 6/40 vs Pulsar Telos XP50 LRF. I’m comparing the two. The IQ of both seem good to me. I like the fact that I can change between a 20mm and 40mm lens on the ZEISS so I can have a narrow or wider FOV. I’m going to try and use it mostly for birds like owls , but all wildlife is welcome, lol. I will be using it in both open fields and wooded areas. I have never used a thermal monocular before and welcome any advice. Thanks for the videos, very informative.

 

[Calson]

I get a lot more of a bang with my Sony FDR-AX700 4K video camcorder. It provides low light autofocus and the ability to use IR LED lighting for subjects. I have used it to take footabe of bats and barn owls at my home. It is a good camcorder for travel use with its size and low light autofocus performance.

LED Camcorder Light – Sony HLV-LEIR1

• Light up to 1500 lux with the powerful LED light
• Capture video in total darkness up to 22.97 ft away
• Shoot up to 65.65 ft at night with SuperNightShot®

 

[Temumisiu]

I'm hesitating on Pixfra. They released two relatively new models - Mile 2 and Sirius. Mile is super pocket, but one flaw is internal battery. I wonder how this would work after a few years if battery cannot be replaced. Sirius is pricey but it has one amazing feature - dual switchable focal length 25/50mm which sounds great. There aren't yet many reviews, but specs are really tempting. I wonder how about durability etc. Anyone got experience with it?

Sirius

Mile 2

 

[RikWriter]

I get a lot more of a bang with my Sony FDR-AX700 4K video camcorder. It provides low light autofocus and the ability to use IR LED lighting for subjects. I have used it to take footabe of bats and barn owls at my home. It is a good camcorder for travel use with its size and low light autofocus performance.

LED Camcorder Light – Sony HLV-LEIR1

• Light up to 1500 lux with the powerful LED light
• Capture video in total darkness up to 22.97 ft away
• Shoot up to 65.65 ft at night with SuperNightShot®

It's discontinued.

 

[dupcak]

I get a lot more of a bang with my Sony FDR-AX700 4K video camcorder. It provides low light autofocus and the ability to use IR LED lighting for subjects. I have used it to take footabe of bats and barn owls at my home. It is a good camcorder for travel use with its size and low light autofocus performance.

LED Camcorder Light – Sony HLV-LEIR1

• Light up to 1500 lux with the powerful LED light
• Capture video in total darkness up to 22.97 ft away
• Shoot up to 65.65 ft at night with SuperNightShot®

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't see anything about thermal imaging. It uses a IR LED to illuminate things, but I didn't see anything about receiving thermal emissions.

 

[Saint]

That Sirius 650D looks appealing. Can I get that in the states?

 

[Brian Rutter]

Not being a fan of monoculars, I opted for the Bino version. These are entry level Binos from Hikmicro. I have not had them long, but I am liking the potential.

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[nmerc_photos]

ZEISS Dti 6/20 or 6/40 vs Pulsar Telos XP50 LRF. I’m comparing the two. The IQ of both seem good to me. I like the fact that I can change between a 20mm and 40mm lens on the ZEISS so I can have a narrow or wider FOV. I’m going to try and use it mostly for birds like owls , but all wildlife is welcome, lol. I will be using it in both open fields and wooded areas. I have never used a thermal monocular before and welcome any advice. Thanks for the videos, very informative.

FWIW - I don't think the interchangeable lenses are as valuable as they appear on the surface. My XP28 can swap between a 28mm, 38mm, and 50mm. Even though I owned all 3 lenses - outside of testing I never used anything but the 28mm lens.

The pros of the Zeiss are obviously the much larger FOV. Pros of the Pulsar are that it's a Pulsar unit.

Most of the reviews I found were not favorable to the Zeiss, but I have a couple friends who are going to try them anyways. Once I get to test one, I can provide more feedback.

I just got back from a week in the Sax Zim Bog in Minnesota and was reminded how much FOV is key. We were finding owls like crazy at 35 - 65MPH using the XP28 that would've been undoubtedly missed with the naked eye or even with a narrow FOV thermal.

I have been using a Zeiss Thermal imaging camera on my wildlife trips. It is obviously very helpful at night but even in the daytime I am able to often look thru high grasses and vegetation to spot and track hidden Leopards and other creatures. It has also helped us find and track wild dogs in the dark, see video (

). The Camera can zoom out to 900 meters and takes both still photos and video

These are awesome examples! Also given that these locations are probably much warmer than many of my examples.

Which Zeiss unit are you using?

Have you flown with your thermal? Or do you live where you are finding all those amazing critters?

 

[Asafser]

Very interesting thread, many thanks to the OP !
@nmerc_photos

 

[nmerc_photos]

and to add some more examples we just got back from a week long trip to Sax Zim Bog in Minnesota.

all of these examples were between 35 - 70MPH from the car. I don't think we would've seen any of these without the thermal. each day we were seeing more wildlife than anyone else in the bog

Snowshoe Hare

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Great Gray Owl

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Great Gray Owl

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Great Gray Owl

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[nmerc_photos]

and last but not least - the Boreal Owl! the one that we were hoping most to find

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[deeno]

This thread is going to drain some bank accounts.

Those are some compelling images of thermal image and then the end result.

 

[nmerc_photos]

This thread is going to drain some bank accounts.

Those are some compelling images of thermal image and then the end result.

That's the goal! Ever since I got one I've been trying to spread the word like gospel.

Thermals are an absolute gamechanger for wildlife photographers. I couldn't imagine going anywhere without one now.

Just for fun, one of the days in the bog I decided to ride around and not use the thermal and I felt so naked. It's incredible to me that people ever seen any of these owls, hares, grouse, etc. with how naturally camouflaged they are. The thermal takes it from a game of dumb luck, to near certainty.

 

[arbitrage]

That's the goal! Ever since I got one I've been trying to spread the word like gospel.

Thermals are an absolute gamechanger for wildlife photographers. I couldn't imagine going anywhere without one now.

Just for fun, one of the days in the bog I decided to ride around and not use the thermal and I felt so naked. It's incredible to me that people ever seen any of these owls, hares, grouse, etc. with how naturally camouflaged they are. The thermal takes it from a game of dumb luck, to near certainty.

I bought the cheap AGM one off of Amazon. Wanted to test the waters before spending anymore.
I went to a nest hole that American Kestrels used last year. The hole lit up strongly this morning. The kestrels wouldn't be nesting yet but they could be using it to roost. Or something even more exciting like Screech owl or Pygmy Owl could be using it.
I watched the hole for 20mins but nothing showed.
I was curious how long a hole would hold the heat signature after the bird had left in the morning? I couldn't figure out if there was still something in the hole or not?
The outside temperature was 0C or 32F. I figured the kestrel would have left by this time as it was 30 mins after sunrise but a nocturnal owl could be going to bed??

 

[ABaumgardner]

This thread is going to drain some bank accounts.

Those are some compelling images of thermal image and then the end result.

Seriously...I live in a completely different part of the country, where it doesn't really get cold but I'm thinking I have to have one of these now. Arrrghh.

 

[Temumisiu]

Seriously...I live in a completely different part of the country, where it doesn't really get cold but I'm thinking I have to have one of these now. Arrrghh.

Exactly for cases like this, nature gave us more than one kidney...

 

[Krishnakotti]

I bought the cheap AGM one off of Amazon. Wanted to test the waters before spending anymore.
I went to a nest hole that American Kestrels used last year. The hole lit up strongly this morning. The kestrels wouldn't be nesting yet but they could be using it to roost. Or something even more exciting like Screech owl or Pygmy Owl could be using it.
I watched the hole for 20mins but nothing showed.
I was curious how long a hole would hold the heat signature after the bird had left in the morning? I couldn't figure out if there was still something in the hole or not?
The outside temperature was 0C or 32F. I figured the kestrel would have left by this time as it was 30 mins after sunrise but a nocturnal owl could be going to bed??

Which model did you buy. I am looking to get an solid entry level for lowest price possible

 

[arbitrage]

Which model did you buy. I am looking to get an solid entry level for lowest price possible

I bought the AGM TM10-256. I have just ordered the Topdon TS004 256x192 to compare. The Topdon supposedly has 50hz refresh but I think a narrower FOV. Just wanted to get an idea of those pros/cons.

With the AGM it works, when birds are there they light up. But the LCD you are looking at is very small, hard to tell how much of the scene you are viewing as things are hard to tell apart. I've been finding that sometimes Black Hot is better than White Hot but other times the opposite. Sometimes the coloured view is useful but not always. I often just cycle through the different views to see what each shows. What I'm not sure is how to get a good view when the sky is in the frame. There is too much difference between sky and tree tops to easily see the heat of the bird.

 

[ABaumgardner]

I bought the AGM TM10-256. I have just ordered the Topdon TS004 256x192 to compare. The Topdon supposedly has 50hz refresh but I think a narrower FOV. Just wanted to get an idea of those pros/cons.

With the AGM it works, when birds are there they light up. But the LCD you are looking at is very small, hard to tell how much of the scene you are viewing as things are hard to tell apart. I've been finding that sometimes Black Hot is better than White Hot but other times the opposite. Sometimes the coloured view is useful but not always. I often just cycle through the different views to see what each shows. What I'm not sure is how to get a good view when the sky is in the frame. There is too much difference between sky and tree tops to easily see the heat of the bird.

Let us know how it goes. I am curious if the difficulty with the sky in the frame is due to the scope or just due environmental factors and it'd be the same with all scopes.

Our winter here is already ending so if I were to get one now my testing would be limited to early mornings and soon only to the higher elevation in the mountains.

 

[Asafser]

Which model did you buy. I am looking to get an solid entry level for lowest price possible

I’m not an expert, nor do I have any experience with those devices, just been browsing & researching after watching this very interesting thread.
This device seems like a nice piece , VERSION 2 of the Agm Taipan 15-384:

AGM Taipan V2 15-384

• Upgraded sub-20mK NETD 12 micron thermal detector
• 384×288 resolution
• 50 Hz image frame rate
• Advanced image processing
• 1024×768 resolution OLED display

AGM TaipanV2 15-384 | AGM Global Vision

AGM TaipanV2 15-384 from the AGM Global Vision. ✔️Best Priced ✔️Excellent quality ✔️Fast shipping ✔️Easy Setup ✔️Order now!

www.agmglobalvision.com

Around us $ 1000

It look like it’s the same device as the Hikmicro lynx 2.0 Lh15

Maybe @nmerc_photos and the other experts around here can give their inputs…

 

[apb80]

I bought the AGM TM10-256. I have just ordered the Topdon TS004 256x192 to compare. The Topdon supposedly has 50hz refresh but I think a narrower FOV. Just wanted to get an idea of those pros/cons.

With the AGM it works, when birds are there they light up. But the LCD you are looking at is very small, hard to tell how much of the scene you are viewing as things are hard to tell apart. I've been finding that sometimes Black Hot is better than White Hot but other times the opposite. Sometimes the coloured view is useful but not always. I often just cycle through the different views to see what each shows. What I'm not sure is how to get a good view when the sky is in the frame. There is too much difference between sky and tree tops to easily see the heat of the bird.

I had both and returned the TS004 mainly due to the FOV.

 

[MikeCrapo]

Let us know how it goes. I am curious if the difficulty with the sky in the frame is due to the scope or just due environmental factors and it'd be the same with all scopes.

The trouble with the sky being in the frame is that these devices are basically a thermal differentiator. Whatever is coldest in the scene ( that has some volume or area on the scene) becomes the cold level that everything else is measured against. So the sky being the coldest thing in the scene, and if a portion of the scene is sky, it will make everything else look hot, since they are hotter. The less sky in the scene, the less the effect there is.

i find it interesting that I can tell the difference in heat of a live tree vs a dead one. A live tree shows to have some heat vs dead trees don't show any heat unless something is living inside them.

 

[MikeCrapo]

Here is an image I got, that I would never have know was there without thermals. I was slowly driving down the road looking for Great Grey owls, when all the sudden this dear stuck out of the trees like a sore thumb. I stopped and looked at the spot I viewed her in, and could not see her. I looked again and she was still there. I looked with my camera where I thought she was, zoomed in and still could not find her. i then looked again with thermals and she has not moved. I took stock of trees and area to find her in the lens. I then searched for her through the camera and had to search a little to finally find her. It was exciting to finally see her. She was a ways away. This photo is through a lens zoomed in at a full frame equivalent of 1000mm.

Even now a lot of people I have shown this to have not realized at first that she is broadside in this photo. In the thermal I could see that she was with a quick glance. The experience really hit home, to me, how valuable and exciting this device is.

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