A night vision camcorder is becoming more and more popular for those people who are looking to invest in a camera to record themselves and family. Not only are these popular with people looking to save those special moments like birthdays, family get togethers and graduations more and more people are using these when hunting or searching for a particular item at night. They are fantastic to take on camping trips especially if you plan to do a bit of late night fishing, being able to see what you are doing on the camcorder makes it a lot easier when attaching those lures to your line.

You should be able to purchase a night vision camcorder from your local electronic store but you should first determine what your camcorder is going to be used for. Is it going to be used around the home with family or do you plan on using it in a semi professional production. Generally the more features your camcorder has, the more it will cost. Some camcorders used in professional products can easily sell for close to $10 000.

However if you are just looking for a night vision camcorder for general use then there are a lot of options that you can look at. While I can’t give you specific models due to the fact they evolve so quickly now that this information will become redundant I can give you some tips on what to look for.

Battery life is a big plus; you don’t want your batteries draining fast so make sure that your camcorder has a long battery life. With regards to the night vision, the night vision image will probably be your biggest factor and the only way to see what it is like is to give it a little test. Ask the salesman for a dark spot in the shop and turn on the night vision function. The image should not be too grainy and it should be clear.

Another option instead of buying a night vision camcorder is to purchase a night vision add-on. This simply attaches to your camcorder and provides a light that is invisible to human but the camcorder can actually pick up the infrared light which gives the camcorder the ability to “see” in the dark. One drawback of these however is that they are usually powered by the camcorders battery and can quickly wear it down. On the plus side however is that they are very cheap and can be purchased online for less than $40. One of these may be an option if you don’t want to buy a whole night vision camcorder.

Night vision simply means that you have the ability to see at night or in a dark environment by using either technological means, biological means or a combination of both. The human has a poor spectral range especially when compared to animals. One out at night it can often take around 40 minutes before you have your “biological night vision”. Our lack of night vision is simple because our eyes lack tapetum lucidum which is a layer of tissue that resides in the eye of many animals either behind the retina or sometimes within. It works by reflecting visible light back through the retina which means there is more light available to the eyes photoreceptors which in the end improves vision in low light conditions.

What is Spectral Range?

Spectral Range is the viewer’s sensitivity to different types of light that would normally be invisible to humans. As humans our vision is confined to a very small sector of the electromagnetic spectrum (otherwise known as visible light). By enhancing spectral range this allows the viewer to “see” otherwise non visible sources the likes of near infrared or ultraviolet light. Many animals have this ability naturally.

There are many animals which have better night vision than humans often due to the biological differences such as the size of their eye which are often larger than humans meaning their lenses are bigger, larger rods in the retinal etc.

We can only compare if we use technology to our advantage. This is done by image intensification or multiplication.

Night Vision Goggles.

Night vision goggles or binoculars work by using a large lens to concentrate the light which intensifies it enabling the user to see better than if they were just using their own vision. Night goggles often have what is known as a large exit pupil of 7 mm or more which means it just gathers available light and focuses it into the user’s eyes. The disadvantage of a large exit pupil however is that many humans cannot take advantage of this because their eyes cannot dilate enough to take advantage of it. To overcome this problem, many of the Special Forces used Atropine drops which made the eyes go into full dilation thus making the effects of the night vision much more effective.

Night glasses are telescopes or binoculars with a large diameter objective. Large lenses can gather and concentrate light, thus intensifying light with purely optical means and enabling the user to see better in the dark than with naked eye alone. Often night glasses also have a fairly large exit pupil of 7 mm or more to let all gathered light into the user’s eye. However, many people can’t take advantage of this because of the limited dilation of the human pupil. To overcome this, soldiers were sometimes issued atropine eye drops to dilate pupils. Before the introduction of image intensifiers, night glasses were the only method of night vision, and thus were widely utilized, especially at sea. Second World War era night glasses usually had a lens diameter of 56 mm or more with magnification of seven or eight. Major drawbacks of night glasses are their large size and weight.

Cheap night vision goggles are easy to come by but as the saying often goes “you get what you pay for”. If you are looking for a cheap pair of goggles then you should consider purchasing your unit second hand either from your local auction site, EBay or even Craigslist. In fact there are many places both online and offline where you can get bargains. Off course you need to make sure that the unit is in perfect working order before you consider purchasing it otherwise you could be buying a dud. While there are bargains to be had, you need to do your homework to make sure that they are in perfect working order as repairing top of the line units can be very expensive.

The cheapest place where you can get these goggles is often the manufacturer themselves, if you are fortunate enough to know someone who works there you can often get them for a really good price, in fact hundreds below retail if you are considering purchasing one of the top of the line models. If you don’t know anybody at the manufacturers then try the next peg up the step, the wholesaler or retailer. If you know somebody who works at a retailer who stock these items, staff members can often get very generous staff discounts which can again lead to very substantial savings for you.

If you are looking for cheap night vision goggles then you probably aren’t looking for the Yukon Defender 1 X 24 Gen 2 Centurion model which is one of the more popular models available to the public, these retail for around $2500 but they are far from the most expensive models that you can purchase, there are models that sell in excess of $5000 and the military grade one are said to be even more expensive.

If money is no option then buying one of these units would be a great idea. They utilize the most advanced technologies available on the planet today and are often used by big game hunters who often have big wallets to match their intended prey.

On the other end of the scale you can buy cheap night vision goggles like the ATN Viper Night Vision Goggles which you can get off Amazon for a little over $250. Image wise they are not superb but they do work very well and for the price they are hard to beat. The units are relatively cheap and are fantastic for taking camping or hunting in the dark.