Night Owl iGEN 20/20 Day/Night Vision Monocular with Image Capture (3x) , Black

My first exposure to night vision was the starlight scopes in the early 1970s. This is a way better technoology. I have seen second and third generation devices some of which were pretty nice. This helps me to have a realistic perspective.This particular device has settings that enable you to optimize viewing for your situation.There is a gain control and an exposure setting.With the gain down a bit there is a sharper picture. When you crank down the exposure to 2 or 5 frames per second you can generally crank down the gain and see pretty well without the IR illuminator.You actually get an excellent signal to noise ratio that provides some fairly sharp pictures.I was able to get a picture of some cows about a quarter mile away on a cloudy night with the 1/4 moon just setting. They were too far away to recognize in the picture unless you knew what the scene looked like in daylight. But, then again the cows are pretty far away in the daytime.When you slow down the exposure rate it is impossible to hand hold effectively unless you are braced against something solid. I would recommend a tripod for the darkest conditions. The IR illuminator works pretty well at a pretty good distance compared to other scopes.I really like the lack of distortion and the ability to tune the picture to existing conditions.The addition of a neck strap would be nice to free up your hands.I would say that this device clearly outperforms any other in its price range and many 2nd generation units that cost a lot more. I particularly like the lack of distortion and image blemishes and decreased picture noise and the lack of light blooms and sensitivity of the device to bright light.Summary; This is a lot better than I expected as soon as I realized what the gain and exposure settings could do.

Not fit for purpose.

It's fun to use, but the viewing area is much smaller than I was expecting. Also it doesn't work through the house window, which isn't very helpful if you're wondering what's outside.

Not that I have a ton of experience with NV tech, but this device seems to have great range both near and far. At maximum and near-max gain, the IR illuminates easily out to 200yds, making it easy to spot critters that far away and possibly farther...However like other NV devices I've used, if you have a close object in your field of view while you are attempting to view long distance at high gain, the close object "blinds" or overloads the device so that's all you see. This makes it difficult to see through vegetation at night, but is no worse than other traditional NV scopes out there AFAIK.Basically I'm happy with the performance of this iGEN and it's a good price compared to the competition. It allows me to get close to varmints before turning on the tactical red light...

This thing kicks serious butt! I had my doubts since trying many "low light" cameras. This thing really does smoke my gen 1 image intensifier. I use it for night sky watching. I can't believe how many stars I can see even in this light polluted city location. It basically cancels out the sky glare. I can see tons of satellites and other weird stuff flying around up there. Best money I ever spent. A lot of thought went into the design. You can change color of display and even the menu letters. And you turn everything on or off or adjust it. Great engineering and built like an armored truck!

I purchased this used iGen monocular thru Amazon based on other reviews elsewhere. It arrived on time and was as good as advertised. Purchase price was $316 including shipping so I think this was a great deal I had to jump on. I tested every operation of it right away and it all worked great including video play and recording on my pocket video camera with video input. Since the advertisement for it did not state that every thing on it worked properly I was happy it did. Because of its shape you have to get used to handling it with both hands. My backyard has dark corners and this baby lit it all up with full clarity. It was very easy to work thru all items in the menu to adjust it to my preferred settings. Has a nice case that you can stap on your belt and the manual is very good as well. The image capture photos are in black and white only and though not as good as a regular camera still quite good for night vision scenes. You have to remember before buying that it can be used in day light with the cap on though it is primarily a night vision device and does best in that capacity. I got this for night use only and it works much better than my two other night vision binoculars purchased years ago with older generation systems and made in Russia. I highly recommend the Igen 20/20 ic 3x, especially if you can get a deal like I did! Used but in like new condition.

Am a UFO skyhunter. This NV will not let you down. The ability to switch ambiance from green to B&W (forget the red and blue though...) is invaluable as certain sky conditions will favor one over the other. The gain is superb and I would recommend ELGATO Video Capture if you want to record from analog to digital (and monitor what you are seeing without having to peer through the monocular lens for lengths of time). Definitely recommend you get a tripod for this as well and it's weight, though not heavy at first, can be a nuisance after 5 minutes or so. Have had a number of video captures with this unit on youtube and on TV, so if you're looking for a means to skyhunt without plopping down thousands for a GEN 2 or 3 NV device, then this is your best bet. The infrared feature is also very good, just be aware that you'll capture alot of organic object when you have the IR on (bugs, birds, etc.)...stillm the IR feature is top nocth when called for.

These are new to night vision & you should try them before you pay over 500.00 for something thats not what you were looking for..I sent mine back, & happy that Amazon takes thing back.!! They are not even in the category of gen 1 or 2,3, & 4......So what if you arehappy with the 20/20 great , but I was not......