I know these are cheap and probably not held in high esteem, but any info in passing would be helpful.  I can get these for about 200, unused, and wonder if they are worth the $.  ( I am not a 'poor' just don't like wasting money)

TY

BUSHNELL EQUINOX™ Z NIGHT VISION BINOCULAR 2X40

I purchased one from someone on the EE to give as a gift but never had a chance to look through it muself before giving it to them. They said they could see in the dark, but that was coming from a kid who has never looked through real NODs before.

1.0x on the device is not true 1x. It's got to mean 1x of the native 3x (which doesn't make much sense). absolutely useless in darkness without lots of IR. The room these pics were taken in was bright enough that you could see everything in the room with adjusted eyes, not absolute darkness.

My nekked eye could see the stickers, the device without IR could not.



Level 2 IR Light


Level 1 IR Light


No IR Light

Similar lighting outdoors, plenty of light to move around with adjusted eyes, the device cannot see anything without IR.








I own one of these now.

When I first got the Bushnell I tested it near some houses (none near me at home).

A row of houses at 150 yds could barely be made out at max IR. The houses looked the same with my eyes, you could see the shapes with no detail.

Value: I would feel like I ripped somebody off if I sold it to them for $100. Which is why I still have it.

Its very old technology - basically a camera CCD detector minus the infrared filter.  

Like all devices of this type, at short range they can work quite well as long as there is some ambient light - add an IR illuminator and you get a good sight picture out as far as the throw of the light source.  

They have some good points, they are rubberised, very robust and more than water resistant.  They also have quite good optics at the price point a good digital zoom, and can take photos and video in both B and W and colour - stored on a removable 32 gig storage card.  You can also send output live to a monitor (depends on model).    

They were primarily designed for surveillance (and have been out for a very long time), were popular with police departments and others that had that requirement.    

I have one which travelled around in a back pack for a longtime and it never let me down.  However in the digital realm, they have been surpassed by products like the Sionyx Aurora and Aurora Pro which can be used passively at much lower light levels and across a broader spectrum.

To give some perspective - see below.  



The cheap night vision systems that you see priced from $100 to $300 are similar in application to the Bushnell unit used in the photos above.  

The SiOnyx Pro produces a very good image in these NL4 conditions - the CCD based unit does not without the aid of an IR illuminator.  The other immediately obvious issue is the degree of magnification in a para-urban environment e.g. a forced narrow field of view.  

If you're going to go with digital, spend a little more and get an Aurora or Pro.  The difference is very significant and, as always, the Breach produces great results in these para urban environments.

Thanks all.  I will move that $200 to one of the recommendations and skip the Bushnell.    Who is the 'go to' for SiOnyx purchases?

start here - they often have special deals

https://www.sionyx.com/

Just keep in mind the sport, black and aurora have the same night vision capability (the aurora has a lot of other fruit e.g. gps etc).