Pocket-size Night Vision gear

[Denis]

This product announcement / advertising blurb from FLIR got me interested...

http://www.flir.com/hunting-outdoor/display/?id=72845

Seemingly RRSP will be around US$600.

Thoughts? Experience? Is NV gear at that price point useful, or just a gimmick/toy?

[Aesop]

Almost certainly just a gimmick/toy.

Unless I see someone with other experience, I suspect FLIR just wanted to capitalize on the Stupid Cheapskate price point currently hogged by people like Bushnell, and various 2nd and 3rd world purveyors of crap NV gear.

Real night vision costs real money. There is no substitute for Gen II+ or better mil-spec gear, and that costs what it costs.

The closest bargain gear you can get is the lower than visible light capability of certain handicams, but that's not immediately useful until you run it back and examine the product. (The cartels' coyotes have been using exactly this to detect active IR sources along the southern US border for the last 5-8 years, with moderate success in finding things like IR trailcams and illuminators.)

Passive, Gen II+, goes for US$2K and up, last I looked.

[BDK]

If it can find hot spots, it will have commercial use for $600 - I.E., we will almost certainly buy one to try out.

[Termite]

The closest bargain gear you can get is the lower than visible light capability of certain handicams, but that's not immediately useful until you run it back and examine the product.

IIRC,
Some of them will bluetooth to a tablet or smart phone, making them semi-useful in the field.

But Aesop is correct, American/Euro/Japanese Gen II or better is pricey for the average Joe Sixpack.
The Russian Gen II is cheaper; and somewhat tolerable to use........but only at fairly close range, ie, 100 meters or so.

Gen IV is.........pretty awesome. And expensive. As in $9000 for goggles.

[NVGdude]

Gen IV is.........pretty awesome. And expensive. As in $9000 for goggles.

Now now, it's not quite THAT bad. If it is, my vendors are making way more than we are on the tubes.

[Netpackrat]

Seems pretty bad, unless this link is only for suckers:

http://www.amazon.com/ATN-PS15-4-Vision ... B000NT4FHC

[NVGdude]

Seems pretty bad, unless this link is only for suckers:

http://www.amazon.com/ATN-PS15-4-Vision ... B000NT4FHC

Dual tube system. Price is reasonablish.

I'd need to see the tube spec sheets of course...

[JustinR]

The first thing I would point out is that the FLIR monocular is thermal, not light intensifying "night vision."

I have a cheap ($90) Gen 1 monocular, and on full moon nights it's pretty handy, less than 100 yards. On dark nights, even with the IR illuminator, it's hard to see past 50, as well as hard to focus. A friend of mine has a set of PVS-14 goggles, and I got a chance to play with them. It's literally like daytime, but with the several thousand dollar price tag.

I have a Seek Thermal "Compact" thermal camera that attaches to my iPhone. It uses the new thermal imaging chip technology (the same as the FLIR monocular if I'm not mistaken) that allows for thermal imaging without the bulky and expensive cooling system for the chip. The one I have has a 206 x 156 imaging sensor, and the example images they give are fairly representative of what it will do. I wish I had known they were coming out with the smaller FOV, but deeper viewable range lens version, since I primarily use it in the hunting blind looking for hogs. At 100-150 yards I can tell there is "something" out there, when looking at the horses in the paddock. However, to get a decent image it needs to be 50-75 yards or closer. It's still a respectable piece of tech for what it is.

[Combat Controller]

Unless you want HUD... These are about 40k *if* you can source them.

[Jered]

When did the Borg assimilate CC?