Night Vision Thermal - Pricing over time dropping?

[thorium]

NODS… Image intensification night vision… remain an analog game, and the result is prices that haven’t changed much over the past 10 years. Maybe digital NV technology will change that over the next 10… but TBD (and personally I’m skeptical because I think if such tech does exist USG would have a vested interest in keeeping in classified or otherwise controlled to prevent every adversary from having overly affordable night vision).
These economics made me more comfortable buying $10k filmless WP DTNVS. If I want to sell a few years later I’ll be able to get vast majority (eg 80%) of money back, similar residual values to firearms.

Thermal… looking at rounding out my night game after getting the DTNVS this year.

i get the feeling Thermal is more of a digital technology that has seen continuous price drops (perhaps at a much slower pace than Moore’s law, but persistent price drops nonetheless).

Can the educated speak to the price to performance dynamics over the past decade?

Thermal would be 80% toy/hobby, 20% training/preparedness for me, not a professional user. Not a poor, but if I spend $5-$10k and it’s going to be worth $1-2k in 5-10 years those economics would factor into my decision, and also could play into “wait 2 years, and I get something 25% higher performing for 25% less than buying today.”

 

[Hoyter87]

I own a few thermals. They all retail for the same price or actually slightly more than what I bought them for as of me checking per this post. So not seeing any retail side price drop on the brands I own: Pulsar, Nvision, Safran, and GuideIR china stuff.

That being said I have seen some pretty outrageous price drops for different firearms and day optics on the hide but rarely do I see guys budging on price to get rid of a thermal. Price is discounted by condition rating. Most prices are firm that I see except for extremely high end gear that folks have to bring down to relatively real world prices to secure a sale. This is all just what one guy has seen and I have only lurked for a few years.

If you have 5-10k I would buy an Nvision XRF and not think twice about it.

 

[deersniper]

If you don’t buy one you’ll just be waiting forever for lower Prices or newer tech.

 

[lte82]

Thermal is the least expensive part of night hunting. Just buy something nice you enjoy and when you upgrade just keep the old one as a backup or a loaner for your buddies.