Night Vision Zeiss DTI 3/35 - Initial Look

[GBMaryland]

Another member had a offer that was too good to pass up, so I picked up an Zeiss thermal spotter, the DTI 3/35.

It's a pretty functional thermal spotter and it blows away, via simplicity, most of the devices I'd previously owned.

What I like about it is the ability to be multifaceted... you can use it as a spotter, you can use it around the hose to trace wires, etc...etc...

It's got white hot, black hot, red hot, and rainbow (think classic FLIR palette). It also has a red tracking mode, where it highlights hotter than ambient animals, etc.

The camera aspect leaves a bit to be desired, BUT it does have 16GB of internal storage AND it's able to be hooked up to a PC using a USB-C cable. Windows, for example, detected it as a camera and it immediately was available. However, it's only detected as a mass storage device, not a full USB camera.

It auto-NUCs... which is quite nice. It's got wireless, which means it can cast to other devices.

So let's get to some pictures:

Car charger...

Car being charged:

Vehicles in the rain (in motion):

Road/Cars:

Specs:

Performance​

Focal length	35 mm
Aperture	f/1.0
Sensor resolution	384 x 288
Thermal sensitivity (NETD)	≤50mk
Display resolution	1280 x 960
Display frame rate	50 Hz
Display type	LCOS
Range	1235 m (1350 yd)
Field of view of the ocular	30,25°
Field of view at 100 m (yds)	19 m (57 ft)
Optical magnification	2,5
Maximum digital zoom	4x
Zoom steps (in 0.5x)	1.0x – 4.0x

Features​

Battery type	Li-Ion
Battery run time	7 h
Internal storage	15 GB
Lifestream function (Video & Photo)	+
Resolution (Video & Photo)	384 x 288
WLAN Frequency	2.4 Ghz
WLAN Standard	IEEE 802.11 b/g/n

Physical​

Operating temperature	− 10°C | + 40°C (+ 14 °F | + 104°F)
Length x Width x Height	193 x 60 x 65 mm (7.6 x 2.4 x 2.6")
Weight	420 g (0.92 lbs)

 

[Killswitch Engage]

what an amazing way to save the environment.... zero emissions and carbon footprint. tHe pOwer jUSt COmes RighT frOm tHe wAll

 

[GBMaryland]

Heh. It works well... The reason you buy a Tesla -> YOU DESTORY ALL MUSCLE CARS

I had a guy with a 500HP Mustang the other day... He pulls up to me and revs the engine.

The light turns green, I step on the gas, and I'm gone (and yeah, he stepped on the gas too).

We get to the next light, I was waiting for him. He rolls down the window, and I begrudgingly do the same thing "Wow, that thing is fast," he says.

I say "...and I've got the slow one."

He just blinks.

I bought it as a great commuter car, which it is. I used to spend $250/month in gas (when it was $2.00), and now I spend $60/month in electrons.

I don't care about the environment, per se. I care about my wallet. At $58k I could by alot of vehicles, and very few of them would save me fuel costs. Especially 2 years ago when I got the car...

...and my car is Ferrari fast.

 

[SGT Fish @ChevTec Group]

Heh. It works well... The reason you buy a Tesla -> YOU DESTORY ALL MUSCLE CARS

I had a guy with a 500HP Mustang the other day... He pulls up to me and revs the engine.

The light turns green, I step on the gas, and I'm gone (and yeah, he stepped on the gas too).

We get to the next light, I was waiting for him. He rolls down the window, and I begrudgingly do the same thing "Wow, that thing is fast," he says.

I say "...and I've got the slow one."

He just blinks.

I bought it as a great commuter car, which it is. I used to spend $250/month in gas (when it was $2.00), and now I spend $60/month in electrons.

I don't care about the environment, per se. I care about my wallet. At $58k I could by alot of vehicles, and very few of them would save me fuel costs. Especially 2 years ago when I got the car...

...and my car is Ferrari fast.

Not to get too off topic, but yeah, Tesla knew what they were doing. They didn't just make an electric car, they made a very fun and capable car that happens to be electric. The thing that impresses me the most is the minimal maintenance. Imagine never changing your oil or doing a transmission flush. Lots less moving parts too. I am heavily tempted by the rivian trucks if they don't turn out to be turds

 

[Night Vision Viking]

I had one to review in January. Then another reviewer had it and asked if we could benchmark it vs some of my stuff I had then, Pulsar and Leica.

The Zeiss ain't bad, it's a rebranded Chinese thing with good ergonomics. As a thermal it's "good enough", but it gets beaten by the much less expensive Pulsar Axion XQ38 on more or less everything in terms of image.

The Leica View is of course much better, but much more expensive and not really compareable. It should be compared with the Pulsar Thermion 2 XP Pro.

I made a playlist here with various animals:


Look forward to see what Zeiss will bring next.

 

[GBMaryland]

Yep. It's a China toy, "designed by Ziess." Effectively, it's like Apple "Designed by Apple in California." I think the issue I have it that if you are not getting it for $1500.00, then there are other options. I got very good deal on it.

One thing that IS more impressive than most other manufacturers:

- You can real time stream to an iPhone or Android device
- The iOS app is very well made (I'll post a bit about this tonight.) Which you don't see with competitors most of the time.
- Charges via a USB-C cable

 

[Night Vision Viking]

Not complaining, it's not a bad device but for MSRP there are options. Enjoy it!