Vector Optics 5-15x32 Digital Day & Night Vision Monocular integral IR 200m Visibilty

While I know a fair bit about optics from a photographer's perspective, night vision is a whole new area for me. I bought an air rifle to manage rats in the garden and the bleeders soon learnt daylight robbery of the birdfeeders was no longer good for their health so they started lying low during the day and coming out after dark. So I bought a nightscope - costing a lot more than this spotter - and yes, it's great at turning night in to monochromatic day (welcome to the north!) but peering through one mounted on a gun puts some strain on eyes, neck, shoulders and arms. Having spent much more than I had planned on shelling out for the rifle and then the totally unplanned nightscope, I really didn't want to blow another £600 or more on something I hope I'll not need to use all that often. Although limited, I do have some experience of Vector Optics who seem to specialise in higher spec goods at the budget friendly end of the spectrum; consequently, I was confident this wouldn't prove to be a total and for its relatively modest outlay it was worth taking a chance on it.

Credit also to Scope Tactical for prompt despatch/delivery. I ordered it some time on Monday and it arrived today, Wednesday; thanks for that. First thing I saw on opening the box was the little pouch it comes with, nothing exceptional except getting anything at all is very unusual these days and handy to keep the unit, manual and supplied cables together when not in use. Then there's the unit itself. Being perfectly honest, I was half expecting something akin to the cheap, plastic toy binoculars of my childhood and was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't like that at all. It has a rather nice rubber-armour coat which I guess will offer some protection from knocks and bumps, perhaps some water resistance and certainly aids grip, aided further by an already fitted palm grip. On the right hand side, a rubber cover conceals a USB port, memory card slot (supplied and fitted - another bonus - and when connected to a PC via the supplied cable it will be recognised as an external drive for drag'n'drop file management) and I suspect the A/V out port is also under there. That's another nice touch, allowing the camera to be connected straight to a TV to view any images/recordings made or - which I particularly like - connecting to an external viewing monitor. On the underside there's a thread to connect to a tripod (another tick in the positive column as far as I'm concerned), a Picatinny rail on left hand side leaving just the topside. Here there are four buttons (from viewfinder to objective): 1 Main switch/camera button; 2 Mode button (switches between stills camera. video camera and playback); 3. zoom out and 4. zoom in. The buttons all operate with a nice positive feel and fall nicely for my average-sized hand/fingers. Don't know if it's intentional but there are some raised rubber bars separating the on/off switch from the mode switch and that from the two zoom buttons so in no time it's easily to determine which button is where without constantly having to look at them. In that respect, it's a lot easier to use than the much more expensive nightscope,

It was reasonably light and clear today so I had time to try it out in daylight and it's okay. By no means on par with my Canon EF400mm f2.8L but then it's not even 1% of the cost. Once it gets darker, the unit will automatically switch on the integrated IR Illuminator. There is a cap on the objective lens that needs to be removed/replaced when switching between night/day. Three commonplace AA batteries power the unit and the IR Illuminator and the latter enabled me to see clearly all the way to the far end of my back garden, all 18m or so of it.

It's harsh to highlight negatives on such a low-cost item and especially after limited use but in the interest of balance... Such as it is, my biggest gripe is with the lens cap that protects the eyepiece/viewfinder; it fell off as I removed the unit from its pouch and I haven't yet been ale to get it to stay in place so it's inevitable that it will be either lost or discarded. Really nit-picking now, there's no means to power it from an external battery pack or directly from the mains. But overall, it handles just like a palmcorder, takes still photos and videos, in daylight or night time and it sees in the dark, what's not to like?