The Ultimate Buyer's Guide for Purchasing Thermal Infrared Optics Supplier

It is essential to fully understand and clearly define your requirements before you purchase.

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We recommend that you develop a list of clear specifications according to your specific needs, against which you can later check the suitability of found product offers:

To help you, we have already listed some aspects we recommend you consider when buying infrared optics. Of course, there may be other aspects that are relevant to your specific case.

This list is for your own preparation, and can later (possibly in modified form) be used for quotation requests to suppliers.

I think that I am sufficiently informed about our requirements.

Otherwise, you will need to talk to your technical colleagues.

I consider the above list of specifications to be sufficiently complete, clear and accurate.

If you cannot sufficiently clarify your requirements, you may want to get technical consultancy from RP Photonics.

Insert these criteria when creating inquiry mails to suppliers with the buttons "Get quotation".

You find these buttons in the supplier list below or under "3. Find suitable suppliers".

Many companies start to claim their NETD to be as low as whatever they want to put on the specs sheet. Some even write 15mk or 20mk for their uncooled thermal scope, which means it has even better performance than a cooled thermal imager. Please bear in mind the NETD numbers won’t tell you the whole story. In fact, the image quality you could see from the scope mostly depends on the thermal algorithm the developer implements. For example, the NETD performance of the thermal detector is just like the food materials or ingredients. You want it as fresh as possible for sure, but it is how you cook, and your cooking skills decide how well the dishes taste. But in most cases, a 3-star Michelin restaurant chef can always cook better food than the chef in a random corner restaurant with the same ingredients. 

• When you detect animals or humans, can you see them only in highlight, like a bright and over-exposed object? 

• Can you see their mouth, nose, and eyes clearly displayed? 

• Can you see the animal’s fur in short, medium, and long-range?

• Are the animals’ bodies displayed with different colours, or can you only see a block/lump of white/black objects with the same temperature?

Link to IRLENS

a. Choose commonly-seen commercial brands you can see in the market for hunting purposes if you don’t have harsh requirements on recoil, weather conditions, etc. Take a look at Senopex dual-use thermal scope models if you are looking for something with military standard but commercially-available price.

b. Choose a smaller lens if you want to use it as both scope and monocular. Let’s say the ideal lens size could be something around 35mm. 

c. Choose at least 50mm lens for shooting above 100 metres. A 75mm lens will cover your range from medium to long-range with a better aiming experience, as they offer high magnification. 

d. Choose a 12-micron thermal scope if you are tight with budget, but still wish to shoot a slightly longer distance. The magnification of a 12-micron 35mm lens model is almost the same as a 17-micron model with 50mm lens. Same for the detection range.

Hate to say, but it’s always essential to mention in the end. Setting up a budget and buying the best model within the budget range is always the wisest thing before shopping for your scopes. Many thermal scopes brands are emerging, and there is a huge selection of models for hunting, law enforcement, and military applications.

a. Depending on the brand names, a typical commercially-available thermal scope (non-LRF version) with 384*288 core is priced between $ –$, and 640*480 resolution scopes are mostly selling at the range of $–$, with different sizes of lenses.

b. Try to buy the largest lens size within your budget for a better shooting experience, after considering magnification and FOV. 

c. Think twice about buying a model that’s out of your price range (as mentioned above) and be just as cautious about buying one at an extremely low price. 

If you possibly can, check the thermal scope physically, in front of your own eyes, rather than depending on reading about their specs and watching videos online. No one else can tell you how good the image quality is until you see it yourself. Below are a few things you will need to check or test a unit.

a. Feel and check the image quality with the above parameters, i.e., target details, target edge, noise, and background details. Check the performance under different weather conditions, during both day and night. Try to see and detect different targets at short, medium, and long-range. If you can compare with any other units, do so, and keep making the comparisons all the time.

b. Try the software and the menus, and get a feel of the overall experience. Check if the unit boots up in seconds and is easy to understand, and has useful features. Check out also if there is ‘lagging’ when panning the scope.

c. Mount it on your rifle, and check if the eye relief is comfortable. Now try to zero the scope. Test and feel the general zeroing experience: is it easy to use, fast and handy? Check the built-in reticles: is there is a crosshair that fits your shooting habit? Are the reticles scalable? 

d. Check out the battery life. Does the scope sustain your whole journey? How much battery has it lost? Do you need an additional battery pack for your next hunting game?

e. Add-ons. Does the scope come up with good-quality accessories? A good accessory set shows the manufacturer’s attitude. Even the quality of their user manual and cables matter, as these details show how the brand treats their customers.

For more information, please visit Thermal Infrared Optics Supplier.