Enlighten me about consumer night vision devices.

Factual Questions
1

Camera stores, electronics stores and other outlets sell night vision devices that resemble monoculars and binoculars at prices ranging from around $200 to more than $5,000. Most are categorized as Generation I, II or III, depending on the sophistication of their technology. Some Gen I units are Russian surplus from the '60s. There are even a few very expensive Gen IV devices on the market. I understand in a general way that all are similiar in the sense that they electronically enhance available light, but the newer, more expensive technology gives a clearer, brighter, sharper image. I have looked at some web sites, but have never had a chance to actually use the gadgets.

My question is, how useful is a Gen I device (the only variety that I would be willing to spend money on)? Is the image acceptable? Could you use it see wildlife in a park at night, or obstacles in the water in front of your boat, or an intruder in your backyard? (If you’re thinking “use a searchlight,” there might be times when you want to preserve your night vision or don’t want to scare the animals away.) How durable/fragile are the electronics? At the low end of the price range, do some manufacturers have a better reputation than others? What kinds of experiences have folks had with these things? Is there anything you wish someone had told you before you bought one?

2
      • After buying two of the “higher-rated” gen-1 devices and trying a number of less-expensive illuminator options, it is my opinion that regular gen-1 devices aren’t really worth buying unless you can’t get anything better. They basically require additional illumination, the illumination they work best with is well inside the visible spectrum, and ironically, they work best with little ambient light because of their poor image contrast. They are notorious for suffering intensifier burn–they ALWAYS must be protected from bright light, when in use and not, objective and occular lenses should both be covered, even when turned off.
        …
  • If you want to “be invisible and see in the dark”, you need a gen-2 ($1200) or a gen-3 ($1600) monocular.
  • I have not ever seen one first-hand, but the -only- gen-1 NV I have been told is worth buying is the fiber-optic ones. These are gen-1 light amplification but are an advanced design. And they are expensive: a monocular costs up around $1000. They are said to work nearly as well as a gen-2 in many situations, but they they cost nearly what a gen-2 does as well. When I was looking, I found only one US-based online retailer selling one: opticsplanet.net shows a “advanced” 1.5x54 Bushnell monocular for ~$950, which is one of these types. Fiber-optic gen-1’s are more popular in European countries where civilians are prohibited from owning higher-gen scopes.
  • There is also a company now making a CCD-based low-light camera for $400; it has a video feed out (police departments find useful) but really in very dark situations works not much better than a gen-1 scope.
    ~
3

Any other input on this question?

My situation is that my kid has become interested in watching for ‘night creatures’ in our neighborhood. We set up near our picture window and set out some food to see what comes. So I’m looking for a cheap Gen 1 solution to not being able to see very well outside at night.

Is it a total waste to pick one up?

4
      • Gen-1’s require lighting to work, but they don’t require a lot of lighting. A dim red-LED flashlight that your eyes can’t see will appear bright in even a gen-1 scope. And while viewing animals at night, I have noticed that animals don’t so much notice a dim red light as they notice noise.
  • The general opinion of enthusiasts is that the CCD-viewers common now are about a good a deal as the Russian tube scopes. The terms generation-1, -2 and-3 refer to tube-based intensifiers, so CCD imagers aren’t technically any “generation”, but they work about as well as a gen-1. Both the CCD and the tube-scopes need additional light to work well, but the CCD viewers don’t have the tube-burn problems that the gen-1 scopes do. The CCD viewers also usually have a video feed.
  • Many scopes have built-in lights but these often don’t work for viewing through a window, because the light source is too close to the lens and too much of the light reflects off the window, blinding the view. Outdoors the built-in lights work okay but for looking through windows, just expect to get a separate flashlight and use that for illumination. Some scopes don’t have a separate switch for the onboard light–so you just have to tape over it to block it off.
  • For either, if you get a red-LED flashlight or a 2-AA-cell Mag-lite with a red filter, that will be plenty of light in total darkness to see 100 feet or more. Places that sell astronomical goods will have red-LED flashlights. For flashlights you can buy red filters (for Mag-lites) or just get any deep-red piece of plastic and cut it to size. There are tactical flashlights like SureFires that sell IR and IR filters for their regular flashlights, but if you get these make sure to get an 800-nm, which is for gen-1 and gen-2 scopes. Don’t buy a 900-nm filter because it will barely show up on a gen-1 scope, the 900-nm lights are intended for gen-3 scopes that have their spectral response peaks set to a longer wavelength.
  • If you want a recommendation, I have an ATN M02-1 and it works good for a gen-1. The magnification-doubler it came with is not really much use, but the ocular has a lot of eye relief, the “semi-focusable” onboard illuminator has a separate switch and it casts light 75-100 feet or so. It cost around $230, check around for prices, the ATN site is usually not the lowest.
    …Stay away from the cheaper NV scopes, they will have very-very low quality tubes and optics. Initially I got a $99 one from a certain tool seller by the harbor (coff) and it worked but you really couldn’t see much of anything with it at all–it was extremely blurry and had bad astigmatism. I took it apart just to see what was inside; the NV tube had crooked internal components and all the lenses were uncoated.
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5

If you just want something for watching critters in the backyard, you can get a decent set of Russian Gen I goggles on eBay. I’ve bought and sold a lot of NV equipment, and for this purpose (provided there is some ambient light) they are acceptable. Barely. If you can afford it, shell out for a nice set of PVS-7s. You can get a Gen II pair for about a grand, and a Gen III for about 2K.