Night Vision advice

DarrenL

DarrenL

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Anyone know anything about night vision?

I am looking for a monocular good for backyard and camping viewing of deer, rabbits, foxes, owls, possums, chupacabras, etc, or night lake viewing of loons, Champs, or mokele mbembes.

Can you get a good one for $250? If not, how much? (Over 500 is "right out") Do woods and trees really affect a gen 1 with IR illuminator? How do the digital ones copmpare with gen 1 and 2? How much are NV riflescopes, and would it be better to get one of them, and have it be dual purpose, (in case of chupacabra attack?) Any make/model recommendations? Thanks.
 
I picked up an ATN X-Sight 3-12x to play with, which is a digital NV device. It ran me about $450. It works, but you've got to learn a few "tricks" to get the most out of it (the newer iteration, X-Sight II, is supposedly easier to deal with). Once you get the hang of it, it works well. For the money, I think it's a great value. ATN also sells a binocular digital NV setup, for under $500.
 
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i think you can get old stuff for around that price point, but you wont be viewing deer, rabbits, foxes, owls, possums, chupacabras, loons, Champs, or mokele mbembes.

you'll be looking at blobs of distorted darkness, that are probably deer, rabbits, foxes, owls, possums, chupacabras, loons, Champs, or mokele mbembes, but you wont really know unless you're right on top of it.
 
AllaSnackbah said:
i think you can get old stuff for around that price point, but you wont be viewing deer, rabbits, foxes, owls, possums, chupacabras, loons, Champs, or mokele mbembes.

you'll be looking at blobs of distorted darkness, that are probably deer, rabbits, foxes, owls, possums, chupacabras, loons, Champs, or mokele mbembes, but you wont really know unless you're right on top of it.
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Weird, we were just talking about stepping up our night fighting game.
 
AllaSnackbah said:
i think you can get old stuff for around that price point, but you wont be viewing deer, rabbits, foxes, owls, possums, chupacabras, loons, Champs, or mokele mbembes.

you'll be looking at blobs of distorted darkness, that are probably deer, rabbits, foxes, owls, possums, chupacabras, loons, Champs, or mokele mbembes, but you wont really know unless you're right on top of it.
Click to expand...

OK, good to know, i'd rather pay more for something that works rather than a HOS i can't use.
 
There is some low dollar thermal stuff out there these days... I haven't actually looked through any of the budget LWIR products but the technology is mature enough that it's worth checking out.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
 
Ive been all over this night vison, thermal stuff for years.. while good nightvision is getting cheaper. Decent thermals are still expensive and The entry level ones (4-5k) are just lacking when for another few grand you get the real deal...

the nightvision in your price range will be of little use..on a full moon youll almost be able to see somthing but not very far. No moon itll be useless... and the cheap stuff doesnt work very well with an illuminator.

i want thermals or nightvision with an ir laser/illuminator but with the restriction on power output of the lasers just turns me off the the whole thing...i only like real stuff and not being able to have a laser when i own an m16 and a 40mm is pretty stupid.

Its pretty hard to justify the price of optics. For 1500 you can get some decent NV.

id probibly want a helmet mounted Iluminator and NV monocular... i dont want to point my rifle at everything i want to see.
 
MGnoob said:
Ive been all over this night vison, thermal stuff for years.. while good nightvision is getting cheaper. Decent thermals are still expensive and The entry level ones (4-5k) are just lacking when for another few grand you get the real deal...

the nightvision in your price range will be of little use..on a full moon youll almost be able to see somthing but not very far. No moon itll be useless... and the cheap stuff doesnt work very well with an illuminator.

i want thermals or nightvision with an ir laser/illuminator but with the restriction on power output of the lasers just turns me off the the whole thing...i only like real stuff and not being able to have a laser when i own an m16 and a 40mm is pretty stupid.

Its pretty hard to justify the price of optics. For 1500 you can get some decent NV.

id probibly want a helmet mounted Iluminator and NV monocular... i dont want to point my rifle at everything i want to see.
Click to expand...

Real PEQs can be had for 500-1500 dollars.
 
Wow i gues flir has gotten even cheaper 3500msrp isnt bad.... unother 5 or 6 years and we'll have reached the promised land.

- - - Updated - - -

Ya but the latest PEQs are restricted arent they?
 
Wanted to bump this thread to see what has changed n the last 6 years.

Have similar aims to the OP (animal identification, etc.). My wife and I have a wooden area behind our house that is maybe 300 feet straight back and an maybe 500 feet left to right. It eventually connects to a river but that cannot be seen from our property. Foxes, coyotes, and deer have been caught on security cameras in our neighborhood and the cameras in the community up the street have recorded black bears.

When we take our dogs out at night we occasionally hear animals moving through the woods and sometimes the dogs hear/smell things that we are not aware of.

My wife has asked about getting some sort of night vision device to see if we can spot what is out in the woods. Can anything useful be bought for say $500?
 
If anyone knows where to get the best prices these days that would also be good to know.
 
DarrenL said:
No, that's a much too vulgar display of power.
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I have no idea why I was asked this, or why I responded this way. In any case, I got a cheapo thing from cabelas on black friday for like $85- cabelas bucks in 2017 or 2018, and its kind of fun for the kids, but I cant see through insect screens with it, and its too cold to sit outside in the winter, and to buggy in the summer.
 
Cuz said:
If anyone knows where to get the best prices these days that would also be good to know.
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in that thread it was covered:
www.northeastshooters.com

IR vs Thermal

So I assume there are pros and cons to each, but figure it would be nice to have a thread for experience with both or either, seems to be that pig hunters prefer thermal and 🪖 prefer IR. Has anyone used both? what is your preference?
www.northeastshooters.com www.northeastshooters.com
 
Picked up an AGM Taipan thermal monocular (384x288) on Amazon for $1200 a little while back. It was something like $500 more than the 256 version. Got it home, played around with it in the backyard a little and sent it back. The increased resolution or whatever didn't seem worth the extra $500 for my purposes. Still haven't ordered the 256. Not sure I will.

tl;dr - if you have prime you can order one and check it out
 
Dudes asking to identify animals while walking his dogs, not chase Russians out of Ukraine.

If you want to just see into the woods with a handheld there are lots of low dollar options. The most cross functional device would be a handheld FLIR as identifying via thermal heat signature is easier than IR night vision.

320 x 240 IR Resolution Thermal Camera, Pocket-Sized Infrared Camera with 76800 Pixels Real-Time Thermal Image, Temperature Measurement Range -4°F to 572°F, Mini IR Thermal Imager, Hti-Xintai https://a.co/d/0qOpqVa

If you want a handheld IR camera super cheap there is this chinesium device. The aspect ratio is dumb, but it is functional at night.

Night Vision Monocular 4K, Infrared Digital Night Vision with 984ft 8X Zoom 2000mAh Rechargeable Battery, 4K Video&40M Photos, Save Photos&Video with Audio for Adult Hunting Camping Military, 32G card https://a.co/d/9yLV32e
 
when I get around to adding thermal capability I will start with the Iray ML19. It’s a good dermal with good capability for around $2500.

That’s where I would look first…
 
xtry51 said:
Dudes asking to identify animals while walking his dogs, not chase Russians out of Ukraine.

If you want to just see into the woods with a handheld there are lots of low dollar options. The most cross functional device would be a handheld FLIR as identifying via thermal heat signature is easier than IR night vision.

320 x 240 IR Resolution Thermal Camera, Pocket-Sized Infrared Camera with 76800 Pixels Real-Time Thermal Image, Temperature Measurement Range -4°F to 572°F, Mini IR Thermal Imager, Hti-Xintai https://a.co/d/0qOpqVa

If you want a handheld IR camera super cheap there is this chinesium device. The aspect ratio is dumb, but it is functional at night.

Night Vision Monocular 4K, Infrared Digital Night Vision with 984ft 8X Zoom 2000mAh Rechargeable Battery, 4K Video&40M Photos, Save Photos&Video with Audio for Adult Hunting Camping Military, 32G card https://a.co/d/9yLV32e
Click to expand...

Also Chinese, but it is comparable to the above?

Night Vision Goggles Night Vision Binoculars for Adults, View Up to 984ft 1920*1080P Photo Video w/Sound Digital Infrared Binocular 5X Optical Zoom for Darkness 3" Large Screen 32GB Card for Hunting https://a.co/d/bgQ3GR3
 
I would guess the same tech, though that is a better format. The one I posted is like a phone vertical format which is odd in the camcorder body. Basic IR cams are everywhere and pretty good for run of the mill, non-tactical use. I might get one of those posted above just as a toy for my business....
 

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