Jump to content

Night Vision Devices


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 255
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • 2 weeks later...

nightvision.jpg

 

PVS 7 (Fake)

PVS 14 (Fake)

ELF Gen 1

Viper Gen 1

Bushnell Gen 1

Supervision Gen 3/4

 

The Supervision ###### all over the rest for picture quality. I've used Kite, IWS, PVS 14, PVS 7 and a load more Gen 1,2 and 3 and nothing comes close to the picture clarity of the supervision HOWEVER it's not really much use as a helmet mounted NVG. It's better suited as a observation scope and it needs a seperate IR source.

 

For airsofting I would recommend the Bushnell or Cobra merlin which has good clarity at the ranges used in airsoft. If only I could get a Mich mount for mine I would be a happy man!

Link to post
Share on other sites
The Supervision ###### all over the rest for picture quality. I've used Kite, IWS, PVS 14, PVS 7 and a load more Gen 1,2 and 3 and nothing comes close to the picture clarity of the supervision HOWEVER it's not really much use as a helmet mounted NVG. It's better suited as a observation scope and it needs a seperate IR source.

 

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but if it requires a separate IR emitter, it's not Gen3.

Link to post
Share on other sites

actually it's not a gen 1 2 3 or 4. it uses ccd technology similar to a video camera's night mode. Classing it as a Gen would be wrong as it doesn't use a tube which is where the Gen status comes from. It's sometimes called a Gen3/4 simply because of the picture quality.

 

I will post up some pictures through it so that you can see how good the quality is.

 

Here's a couple of quick pictures with me holding a camera at the rear of a Gen 1 and the supervision. I will sort out some better pictures when it gets dark.

gen1.jpg

supervision.jpg

Edited by mightyjebus
Link to post
Share on other sites

I had at one time considered the Supervision but after reading that article on the pros and cons of it I decided to save up and go with the 7Bravos and later the 14s. I'd use the Supervision, but I'd go with Gen3 PVS units if I had the choice. But the Supervision's price is extremely competitive to say the least. They'd probably sell more of them if they were smaller units and capable of helmet mounting.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Besides, any NVG that requires an IR illuminator will always be inferior to a passive system since anyone with, say, a PVS-14, will see the user with the IR illuminator coming from a mile away. Nonetheless, using CCD is a good idea for night vision, but I think it needs alot more work to be useful for anything but leisure activies like bird watching :)

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

Since there have been lots of questions in this thread about "How does Gen 1 compare to Gen 2 or 3?" I dug around and found a couple interesting picture comparisons that I thought this might be helpful to give people on a budget an idea of what to expect from Gen 1.

 

This first picture compares Gen 1, Gen 1 with an IR illuminator, and Gen 2 under various lighting conditions. It was made by cj7hawk who frequents the NV sections of Arfcom, Airgunbbs.com, and nightvisionforums.com.

 

QuickFiveComparison.jpg

 

 

This next picture compares, under the same lighting conditions, a Gen 1 device without the aid of an IR illuminator, a Gen 1 Cascade device, and a Gen 2 device. For those unfamiliar with "Gen 1 Cascade" it is a device that uses three Gen 1 tubes stacked back to back inside the housing to give greatly superior gain compared to a single tube Gen 1 device (at the expense of size and weight). Examples of Gen 1 Cascade devices would be the Russian NSPU (1PN34) scope, the Russian 1PN58 scope, and the US PVS-2 scope. This picture was once again made by cj7hawk.

 

3way-compare-1.jpg

 

 

 

So there you go! Hopefully this will give some of you guys who might be considering picking up a quality Gen 1 device (Dipol / Night Optics USA, Yukon, or military grade Cascade) some idea of how it might compare to the more expensive Gen 2 devices ^_^

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and the use of session cookies.