Night Vision N Vision still one of the best?

[Sgp12345]

It’s been a while since I’ve looked at thermals and within past year or so there are literally a shit ton of options that I’ve never seen or really heard of. I’ve always wanted a nox18 and the XRF.. are these still considered high end? Probably a dumb question as they obviously haven’t just turned to shit all of a sudden, but it seems there is way more talk about all these new budget thermal brands.

Maybe a better question would be are they still worth the $$ with all the options available?

I’m getting tired of buying what I don’t really want and then regretting it. Probably gone through 10+ thermals, last being a new Armasight 640 contractor. It was nice but I never thought image was all that great. In their defense, I sold before I did the firmware upgrade that was supposed to enhance the image
Thanks!

 

[Gasgun]

Since no one else has replied, I will give you my opinion based on my admittedly limited experience.
I have owned a Steiner C35 (Chinesium core) and currently own a NOX35.
I have time behind a Guide Sensmart and an Iray RH50R that are owned by friends.

Like anything else in the optics world, best depends on your priorities.

My NOX is mounted on a 14.5” AR pattern rifle in 5.56mm. Its intended use is 2-300 yds. max.
I wanted something small and light with an emphasis on image quality and sensitivity.
I had no interest in multiple color palettes, a range finder or onboard recording.
It weighs less than the LPVO that it replaced.

IQ is subjective in any optic, whether it’s a thermal or a day optic.
I much prefer the image from my NOX to that of any of the sights with Chinese cores that I have used.

My friend who owns the RH50R is happy with it. He wanted the features and was OK with the trade off with IQ and sensitivity.

Although the Nvision stuff has been out for a few years, I think that when it comes down to being able to see and identify things in the dark, it’s still tough to beat without spending a lot more money.

 

[Dogtown]

NOX is still good, USA made with BAE core - they’re just a bit chonky compared to others. The NOX35 is still a good option for a dedicated carbine used inside of 200m.

 

[Sgp12345]

Since no one else has replied, I will give you my opinion based on my admittedly limited experience.
I have owned a Steiner C35 (Chinesium core) and currently own a NOX35.
I have time behind a Guide Sensmart and an Iray RH50R that are owned by friends.

Like anything else in the optics world, best depends on your priorities.

My NOX is mounted on a 14.5” AR pattern rifle in 5.56mm. Its intended use is 2-300 yds. max.
I wanted something small and light with an emphasis on image quality and sensitivity.
I had no interest in multiple color palettes, a range finder or onboard recording.
It weighs less than the LPVO that it replaced.

IQ is subjective in any optic, whether it’s a thermal or a day optic.
I much prefer the image from my NOX to that of any of the sights with Chinese cores that I have used.

My friend who owns the RH50R is happy with it. He wanted the features and was OK with the trade off with IQ and sensitivity.

Although the Nvision stuff has been out for a few years, I think that when it comes down to being able to see and identify things in the dark, it’s still tough to beat without spending a lot more money.

Thanks for the reply

 

[5RWill]

Since no one else has replied, I will give you my opinion based on my admittedly limited experience.
I have owned a Steiner C35 (Chinesium core) and currently own a NOX35.
I have time behind a Guide Sensmart and an Iray RH50R that are owned by friends.

Like anything else in the optics world, best depends on your priorities.

My NOX is mounted on a 14.5” AR pattern rifle in 5.56mm. Its intended use is 2-300 yds. max.
I wanted something small and light with an emphasis on image quality and sensitivity.
I had no interest in multiple color palettes, a range finder or onboard recording.
It weighs less than the LPVO that it replaced.

IQ is subjective in any optic, whether it’s a thermal or a day optic.
I much prefer the image from my NOX to that of any of the sights with Chinese cores that I have used.

My friend who owns the RH50R is happy with it. He wanted the features and was OK with the trade off with IQ and sensitivity.

Although the Nvision stuff has been out for a few years, I think that when it comes down to being able to see and identify things in the dark, it’s still tough to beat without spending a lot more money.

Curious about your experience with the guide sensesmart. Saw the TB1250 LRF just came out and I’m dipping back into this but plan to stay this time around now that residency is almost over. Picked up a hydra which i think will be perfect for inside 300. Gonna run a 22 arc 250yd zero with 88s.

Thinking next year i wanna grab another. Say sig CV25 or maybe the new guide TB1259

 

[Sgp12345]

Curious about your experience with the guide sensesmart. Saw the TB1250 LRF just came out and I’m dipping back into this but plan to stay this time around now that residency is almost over. Picked up a hydra which i think will be perfect for inside 300. Gonna run a 22 arc 250yd zero with 88s.

Thinking next year i wanna grab another. Say sig CV25 or maybe the new guide TB1259

I feel like this reply sums up my question, or at least what I was trying to get at. So many high quality and cheaply priced options and seems n-vision isn’t really discussed a whole lot. As much as I want to finally get the high quality thermal I’ve wanted and not keep going down this path of getting what I don’t really want because it’s cheaper, I don’t want to overpay.

 

[5RWill]

I feel like this reply sums up my question, or at least what I was trying to get at. So many high quality and cheaply priced options and seems n-vision isn’t really discussed a whole lot. As much as I want to finally get the high quality thermal I’ve wanted and not keep going down this path of getting what I don’t really want because here

I’m in the same boat. When i got out from what little i had dipped into the thermal world Nvision was the best civilian use case for thermal. Them and IR defense. I come back and there are so many more options, pricing is despite the economy and tariffs insane, and the performance is actually good.

The other side of most of this is that the market is changing so rapidly it feels like dropping 6k on Nvision might not be worth it long run.

To put the discussion in perspective from all accounts I’ve seen. The hydra 640 while albeit bigger, compares directly to the iRay RH25 while costing less than half. That is wild considering what things used to cost. Hell i paid $2800 for my 320 pulsar unit 7 years ago.

 

[Sgp12345]

NOX is still good, USA made with BAE core - they’re just a bit chonky compared to others. The NOX35 is still a good option for a dedicated carbine used inside of 200m.

Thanks. At this point is it just USA vs China (or wherever else they are made)? Nox35 is around 6k I think, and there are a ton of thermals in that range. I really do want the quality, USA made, great warranty thermal, but I feel like I’ve missed the boat at this point as there are many high quality and cheaper thermals with great warranties (albeit not made in USA).

 

[5RWill]

Sig CV25 is about $4500 and lifetime warranty. It is on my list though now I’m leaning integrated LRF for ease of use.

 

[shoots100]

It depends on what features you want in a scope.
Some say Nvision is going the way of Trijicon and sitting on their laurels with civilian optics because they have military contracts that pay the bills.
Nvis optics have the bare bones of features compared to other optics, but I think they're far superior in image quality because of the fine adjustability and sensitivity of the BAE internals.
IMHO you can tweak an Nvis optic to get better image quality and the only optics that compare to them are the newer 1280 res scopes with HD displays.
More pixels equals more thermal image goodness and you can't get around that.

SJC

 

[kirsch]

Shoots100 hit the nail on the head. The Nvision thermals are better (in my opinion, and part of my job is testing thermals) in image quality than virtually all of the other 640s out there. The exception is potentially in ultra-high humidity. Features are another story as well as their form factor (at least in the Halo models). If you don't want Chinese, the other line up to look at besides Armasight (which you already did) is Pulsar. Their 60 series is really nice. If you move up into the XL series, the 1024 (HD) image is incredible. If you were looking at the NOX 18, unfortunately Pulsar doesn't have a small HMT.

 

[Sgp12345]

Shoots100 hit the nail on the head. The Nvision thermals are better (in my opinion, and part of my job is testing thermals) in image quality than virtually all of the other 640s out there. The exception is potentially in ultra-high humidity. Features are another story as well as their form factor (at least in the Halo models). If you don't want Chinese, the other line up to look at besides Armasight (which you already did) is Pulsar. Their 60 series is really nice. If you move up into the XL series, the 1024 (HD) image is incredible. If you were looking at the NOX, unfortunately Pulsar doesn't have a small HMT.

Thanks. I’ve owned a couple different 640 pulsars. The Talion had a great image, better than the Armasight in my opinion.

 

[Sgp12345]

It depends on what features you want in a scope.
Some say Nvision is going the way of Trijicon and sitting on their laurels with civilian optics because they have military contracts that pay the bills.
Nvis optics have the bare bones of features compared to other optics, but I think they're far superior in image quality because of the fine adjustability and sensitivity of the BAE internals.
IMHO you can tweak an Nvis optic to get better image quality and the only optics that compare to them are the newer 1280 res scopes with HD displays.
More pixels equals more thermal image goodness and you can't get around that.

SJC

I think the ruggedness of the nvision and trijicon is another reason in drawn to them, but at the expense of features as you said.

Ruggedness is important because can’t have it fail on me while I’m sitting out back shooting rodents and what not..

 

[tekmann2377]

NVIsion stuff is very good, and the cores are excellent. They are proven designs that are rugged. Some of the Chinese stuff is very good too.

I prefer simple and reliable. Whether a proven and rugged unit that is made in USA is worth it or not in terms of price premium is very individual.

 

[Bkultra]

Shoots100 hit the nail on the head. The Nvision thermals are better (in my opinion, and part of my job is testing thermals) in image quality than virtually all of the other 640s out there. The exception is potentially in ultra-high humidity.

Challenge accepted,

 

[5RWill]

So what yall are telling me is to not worry with the guide sensmart 1250 and just get a eotech ClipIR or a Vodoo. At the expense of my marriage of course

 

[Dogtown]

Voodoo is worth it!

 

[Bkultra]

Voodoo is worth it!

This was going to be my other example S or M @ 640, but alas I don't have pictures of those cuz I don't own one.

 

[Dogtown]

I got you...

 

[5RWill]

Do the Vodoo's have LRF capability?

 

[Dogtown]

They have MARS integration built-in, so if you have one of the MARS LRFs and the expensive cable, it'll feed data to the Voodoo display. Pretty much any combination of Range/Elevation/Windage and Disturbed Reticle. It also supports the RAPTAR variants, but I have no direct experience with that.

The Voodoo-MX (on the right) has integrated LRF with AB, so no need to hook it up to an LRF.



And that onboard LRF is top quality 1550nm and ranges plenty far...

 

[kirsch]

Challenge accepted,

View attachment 8727710

Yes, within reason. I am referring to other standard commercial weapon sight thermals. At 4x the price, I would hope the UTC-Xii would have an advantage.

 

[Bkultra]

Yes, within reason. I am referring to other standard commercial weapon sight thermals. At 4x the price, I would hope the UTC-Xii would have an advantage.

Price was never part of the original discussion. You mentioned software, form factor, but never price. At over a decade old it's amazing the UTC Xii still has "advantages". PoT is the Modern-Day variant that is readily available, updated software, and comes with a warranty.

Now if this is released anywhere near its rumored price and timeframe... Then this conversation may change