Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I live in a rural area on a horse ranch, bordering a few hundred acres of open space. I wanted an inexpensive device that would let me wildlife-watch without disturbing the scene, along with the slightly more practical coyote/stray dog check before I let my small dogs out in the evening.The Good:
* For the money, this is an excellent device. Image quality is great for a Gen-1 unit, and construction quality is better than expected for the price point. The rubberized, water resistant covering & included carry case are nice touches.
* The built-in IR illuminator is tightly focused, and throws its light well. Out to 50' it provides enough light to be useful on the darkest nights, and eyeshine & reflective surfaces will pop out at significantly further distances.
* An unexpected bonus was how fun these are for stargazing! The slight magnification combined with light amplification really pulls the stars and planets out of the background. It's good enough to clearly see the fuzziness of the Orion Nebula as compared to the sharpness of a single star, for example. The Bad:
* The brightness of the power and IR illuminator LEDs. They're really, really, bright. They're located the back of the device, just to the right of the eyepiece. A green power LED and a red 'your IR beam is on' LED.
They will consistently flash & shine in your eyes as you use the device. In my case, a simple strip of black electrical tape solved the problem, (there's enough light leakage that I can tell if the light is on or not) but it's a ding against the design that I have to even do so in the first place.
* The IR source presents a visible red light. It doesn't look like too much off-angle, but pointing directly at you, it becomes obvious. I could easily see my friend pointing the monocular at me from 50' away. It is possible to disturb wildlife with it. Again, this is easily fixed by adding a cheap IR filter, but I shouldn't have to do so.The Ugly:
* The manual is relatively thick, printed on good-quality paper, and completely & utterly useless. It tells you how to add the batteries in several languages, and that's it. Not one mention of how to properly use the thing!
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Obviously, there are better systems available, but they are priced accordingly. And for what you pay for these, you get a large percentage of the expensive systems' performance. (Gen-1 optics, by their nature, suffer from pincushion and barrel distortion issues, and the light amplification provided is less than people expect off the bat; on a moonless night, Gen-1 would still be dark without an additional light source.)
Conclusion: A solid four stars. For hobby/home users like myself, who just wanted something to play & explore with, they're great fun without breaking the bank. More serious users will want to look elsewhere, but they already know that.
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A few hints to get the best use out of these:
* Look at a bright star in the middle of the field of view. Focus using the front ring until it is as sharp as possible. Then, while still looking at the star, rotate the eyepiece ring until the distortion is corrected. This will get you your best possible image for your eyes. Further focusing should be done with the front element only.
* The image is only sharp within the inner 40% of the field of view, with increasing distortion the further away from the center you look. The eyes' position relative to the eyepiece makes a big difference, and you may need a little practice to get the best look.
* Don't be alarmed when, after you turn off the device, it still appears to be on. The image intensifier tube takes a while to bleed down all its charge, so you can actually continue to use the device for about a minute or so after you've turned it off. This isn't a bug, it's just how these things work, so don't think yours is broken!
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Bushnell 2.5x42 Night Vision MonocularBushnell Night Vision products feature a built-in infrared illuminator for enhanced images in very low light for use when camping, exploring caves, patrolling warehouses or other locations where there is no ambient light to amplify. Backed by a 2-year limited warranty, the Bushnell line-up of night vision equipment is lightweight, compact and ready to use for work or for play.
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