My firend is interested in getting one for his birthday, but before I go out & blow $250+ on something that’s gonna suck, I figured that at least one of my fellow Dopers could give me some ideas or at least some links.
Thanks.
well what does he need it for? For boating in tight channels it is great, wildlife observation an night also very good. If it’s just a toy it will be used at first then collect dust.
Check out DiscoveryChannelStore and do a search on goggles. You’ll find one set of night vision goggles for $22 and another for $279.
Make sure that you get ones that have a good tube replacement plan. At ~300 bucks, you will be getting a Gen I set. Tube damage can (and often does) occur from any bright light. And tubes cost about 75% of the original NVD, so it pays to pay for a warranty that covers it, of possible.
Make sure that you get ones that have a good tube replacement plan. At ~300 bucks, you will be getting a Gen I set. Tube damage can (and often does) occur from any bright light. And tubes cost about 75% of the original NVD, so it pays to pay for a warranty that covers it, of possible.
You could also try: www.sportsmansguide.com
They speciallize in surplus and discontinued stuff, including militaria. They’ve often got older military NVGs in stock.
A quick search using the keywords “Night Vision” turned up 18 hits, from US$150 to US$2000.
Here’s a sample.
Be sure that you’re not just buying regular binoculars with a flashlight attatched to them. It sounds stupid, but a number of toys like this (I believe the $22 pair above is one of them) are sold as “Night Vision Goggles.”
UWmite beat me to it, but since I’ve already looked it up: The $22 “night vision” goggles are a pair of flashlights with a green goggle lens to simulate NVD. Fun for the kids, but not a light-intensification unit.
I bought a Gen. 1 NV monocular sold under the Bushnell name last year for $150 (on sale, reduced from about $250 I think) at Big 5 Sporting Goods. It works well and came with an infrered illuminator that can be switched on or off. The lens is by Zenit, so it’s probably made in Russia. There is no off-switch, so when you’re done with it you have to let it time out. I’d prefer a single-power lens, but this one has a 3x. I haven’t had a chance to see how well it works at night because you can’t find a dark place in L.A. There is a pinhole in the lens cap so that you can use it in daylight. (But as has been mentioned, don’t use it in light without the lens cap on!).
What I’d really like to get is a pair of ANVIS-6 or better two-lens, single-power goggles that I can put on my helicopter helmet so that I can try some night flying with them (with a safety pilot, of course). But they’re well into the four-figure range.
Anecdote: A co-worker was paying her Sears bill at a register in the sporting goods dept. As I stood nearby, a Sears lady asked if she could help me. I said, “Well I was going to buy a chainsaw, but I noticed you don’t sell night vision goggles.” She said, “You’re scaring me!” My co-worker was appalled. I can’t help it. Sometimes I think things and they just come out before I can stop them. 
Another possible option, since you’re going the budget route, would be a camcorder with infrared ability, like many of the Sony camcorders. I’ve seen some of those going around $250.
It’s active night vision, not passive, so it’s limited in range by how far you can light up with infrared light. I’d suggest an external light. I have a hand-made array of infared LEDS that can light up out to about 100’ in good conditions. I also have a Sony made hot shoe combo light that can light up infrared to about 50’.
However, when in infared mode, it can see things that emit themselves at much longer distances. Things like campfires, even when there’s no visible flame, light up the people around them very brightly even at long range.
But of course it probably depends on the use. What is the friend going to be using it for?
CHEAP NIGHT VISION!!!
Harbor Freight Tools recently had a very low price. Yep, still there:
Battery-powered Russian gen-1 goggles, $90
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=45372
I haven’t tried the above device myself.
I picked up a “Famous Trails” FT-300 scope for $100 during a christmas sale. This is the kind with the piezo-plunger power supply (you’ll never use up batteries.) It’s an interesting toy. In my experience it is just slightly better than dark-adapted human eyes. After a party if you try to find your car in an unlit parking lot, a night vision scope makes it easy. But you could save the $100 and just wait for 10 minutes for your eyes to adapt. Also, it can see infra-red light. Stick an IR filter on the front, and you create an IR converter scope.
PS, I’ve seen the FT-300 for under $100 many times on eBay. Those who like to tear things apart can see the result:
FT-300 innards exposed!
http://home.covad.net/~fhmundy/
PPS, many “night vision binocs” just use red filters, perhaps to protect your dark-adaptation. No actual amplification.