Ive had it about 1 year. I really like the 4 aa battery packs it came with and the 4 aa's power the onboard ir also. I have been running my Photon with an external phone charging bank so I don't have to worry about the aa's losing power. The onboard ir is good to about 250yds(shooting wise)with the scope cap flipped up. I learned of a little trick by punching out a dime sized opening on the scope cover and leaving the scope cover closed. It really added clarity/crispness to critters/trees/etc. With the scope cover open, things are a little fuzzy around the edges but it's not that bad. The onboard ir doesnt have enough ooomph to run it with the dime sized hole though. I have a sniper hog light mounted on the scope and it works real well with the dime sized hole.
The only issue I had with the Photon was in January. It was -10 and I had been out for about 45mins and the screen was messed up. I turned it off and powered it back up and it was fine. I believe the low end operating temp is 13°.
