Wiser Precision Nighthawk PH 170 Review, By Matt Cashell

[Justin Crossley]

If you're looking for a lightweight tripod head option, you'll want to check out this review. Matt tested the Wiser Precision Nighthawk PH 170 to see how it would work for his glassing needs. Check it out.

Wiser Precision Nighthawk PH 170 Review

 

[ChrisAU]

Nice review, I love mine!

 

[Kostrize]

He likes big glass and he cannot lie

I tried a buddy’s Nighthawk and was impressed. Performs beyond its size specs IMO. I tried the OD Micro and would put it in the same performance class, but the Nighthawk being Arca compatible without adapters is a huge advantage over OD. Great compact heads

 

[Hectocotylus]

Just got one and love it. Haven’t tried a spotter on it yet.


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[Dirtriding4life]

Has anyone had the VA5 to compare the panning smoothness to the Wiser head?

 

[Hectocotylus]

Has anyone had the VA5 to compare the panning smoothness to the Wiser head?

S&S has a video comparing them. I compared my bro in laws va5 with my wiser head and it seemed very similar with binos. I’d say that it was easier to find the “sweet spot” for panning without movement after on the VA5 than the nighthawk.


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[Kostrize]

I’ve tried both but have much more time on the VA5. I think the VA5 is significantly smoother and easier to use because you can pan and tilt simultaneously. The Wiser is significantly more compact and less than half the weight though. All a matter of compromise

 

[JonnyB]

Before I picked up a va5, I had a cheaper pan head that took an entire toolkit to change the position of the handle. I would just turn the panhead 180 degrees so that I could get closer to my binos and mitigate clearance issues with the handle and tripod as well. I really don't see why the clearance issue on the nighthawk couldn't be remedied by doing the same.

 

[ChrisAU]

I had no idea how much I’d enjoy the Wiser head this past week on a WY mule deer hunt. Simply fantastic. So easy to leave it at a tension where easy one handed control to move it any direction was maintained but if you took your hand off the binos would stay stationary. I don’t think I adjusted the tilt tension once in 5 days, it just worked perfectly every day. This was with Zeiss SFL 8x40’s in an Aziak clamp on an Aoka super light CF tripod. Absolutely perfect setup for bino glassing IMO.

 

[28bang]

Worked well with my 883 kowa

 

[Untamed]

Anyone use this with an 85mm and BTX?

 

[TedO]

I wonder how the Nighthawk compares to Outdoorsmans Micro Pan Head?

 

[westco24]

I have both. VA5 of course is incredibly smooth. But it's 16.5 oz and big. Wiser is tiny and 7. I added a cheap sunwayfoto spc50 so I can use Arca or pic rail on a rifle to shoot, and think it's perfect. I only have Kowa 66 for weight comparison, and it pans fine. I got tired of having to have all the same size Arca plates to use VA5 without adjusting the lever. And I have a chassis rifle with built in Arca plus a pic bipod rail-you can't slide the Arca chassis into the VA5 with an MLOK pic rail attached. Only drawback I see in Wiser is it's so small the handle can hit the mounting plate on your tripod if you want to rotate it all the way down unless you modify it.