Carson MiniAura Digital Night Vision Monocular (NV-200)

INFORMED REVIEW: Im calling this an "informed" review due to the number of reviews i have read on this monocular and similar products. Now that i have it and have used it, i can compare that to what ive read. From what ive read, alot of people want much more out of night vision, at this price point, than is realistic. Now, hold your horses on that thought, this little monocular is fantastic by any measure. For 95 dollars i am now able to see up to a hundred yards through my yard with great detail. And i asked myself the important question i think many of us on here wonder when looking for night vision devices. "Can I use this to see people or animals a solid distance in front of me, in complete darkness, with enough detail to make our who or what they are, and what they are doing?" Yes. Yes,yes,yes. Anyone who says otherwise has gotten a defective unit. Because for 95 dollars im able to use this stupid thing to pick out the details in the bark of a tree a solid 150 feet away from me. That is p-lenty enough for me. Now im not the owner of a large rural property, in which a more powerful device would be needed. Im in a suburban area with a fairly large yard, enough for this small device to show me whats going on at night, and i am usually able to scan about 1000-3000 square feet of space in front of me at any given angle of view. Thats assuming i can clearly see about 20-40 feet wide and about 100 deep.Additionally, this thing performs wonderfully in tight spaces, so that review about it not being suited for attics and crawl spaces, they are completely wrong. Remember, this thing fits in my pocket without much trouble at all. So all in all, this device is very effective for how cheap and small it is. It has a surprisingly solid construction of what appears to be ABS plastic and hold three normal AAA batteries. I love that. My only question is how battery life holds up, but since it runs off AAA it can be replaced and as much as I need can be carried on me at any time of course. So it's designed for you to keep powering it wherever you need it really. This appeared to be cheap and dodgy when i ordered it. What i got was far from that. This monocular is seriously worth the money. 9/10

I had a gift card and always wanted to buy this thing. In short I would have gladly paid full price. I had a gen1 device about 10 years ago.... this thing blows that out of the water by 1000%. The picture quality is about what you get from a modern baby monitor. Pro's: -uses typical batteries and not the expensive CR123 or whatever that my gen 1 needed -picture quality is exceptional compared to my old gen1 device.... not even close. Larger field of view, no distortion at the edges. The old gen 1 device I had was literally looking through a tiny hole with massive "fish eye" effect. This has no fish eye and can scan larger areas quickly. -Super light compared to the clunky gen1 device I had, powers instantly, you can't accidently fry a tube if a car drives by Pro/Con: -1:1 magnification. I personally like this but some might find this to be a con. My previous NV Gen1 device had a 3-4x mag.... didn't care for it since it reduced the field of vision greatly for how far you could actually use the device. -Its extremely small. I was surprised even after reading all the reviews. Its tiny! I like that compared to my Gen1 device which took like two hands and a backpack to carry (like the size of a old school camcorder). Con's: -The IR is visible, and usually needed. its not always needed if there is enough ambient light (i.e. suburban environment). I'm not trying to use this as a self defense / mil style application so if the red dot happens to be spotted I'm not worried. The spotter would have to be fairly inline with the device to spot it. Its not super bright but would be noticeable at closer distances and if it was very dark. -You can't see through windows.... I think this is very typical for any NV. My GEN1 device always had window glare whether trying to see out of a window from your house to spot something in the backyard, or trying to look through a window from a distance (i.e. backyard / into your house). Again I'm not trying to use this thing as a survival tool, or anything pervy so I'm not really that concerned and I'm not convinced that higher GEN devices can do this effectively all the time. -I wish the IR emitter could be dialed back a bit (i.e. lowest setting could get lower). -I do have 1 horizontal line through my display.... very not noticeable or annoying but its there. Again, picture quality is completely insane compared to my old Gen1 device. completely satisfied for this price.

This is a silicon CCD without the IR-cut filter and some nice auto-gain - it is not a photomultiplier tube, thermal imaging, or anything of that sort. The included NIR ("near-infrared") led can be turned down or off with a few button presses. You can see in complete darkness with the NIR LED or in moonlight with it off. It is also useful for finding things like night-vision security cameras, which similarly put out NIR light that can be seen with this device. For what it is, it's well-made, and inexpensive. It's easily pocket-able, smaller than a pack of cigarettes.

This is a digital night vision device. I have used many of this type. They all work basically the same and generally give you similar image quality. They have different features like magnification, digital zoom, picture and video capability. In my opinion the miniture size of this make it a WIN WIN. Very basic, simple and strait forward to use. ALL, and I mean ALL digital night vision devises require an ir illuminator to use in pitch dark invironment. They do not have intensifier tubes that will be damaged by bright lights. The image quality is on par or even better than others I have tried. It uses a 850 NanoMeter wave length IR ilumminator which is very visible to any one or anything looking back at you. Here's the awesome part. You can buy a high powered 940 NM flash light to use with this instead of the built in 850NM illuminator and see WAY farther and not be seen buy what ever you are looking at. A lot more discrete. This is a Keeper. My favorite so far !!!. If I go out at night this goes with me. Carry it in any pocket Only a suggestion, Vastfire 10Watt, 940NM flashlight utilizing a 18650 battery. If look around you can get one for around $10 online. This is a Keeper. My favorite so far !!!

Nice compact size. Fits easily into a pocket. Great for wildlife viewing within a couple hundred feet. I use mine all the time and I’ve never had a problem with it. Decent quality for a low price. I’m really happy with it. Def would buy again !

For the price this is s cool little device. I've owned pricey night vision in the past and granted this doesn't perform like true night vision, but still can be fun. My biggest complaint is the obvious red light when it's in I.R. mode. The mode without it is virtually useless. You would need so much ambient light to use it without the I.R. that you'd be able to see with your own eyes without the device. It has a small field of view also. It works great with the I.R. on high, provided you're not trying to be sneaky because the red light gives you away. The magnification is basically zero, it's real time view. Again, for the price and a backyard toy, it can be fun, but if you want serious night vision, spend serious money.

Performs very well for such a small scope and at this price range. Sturdy design and nice rubberized outside for good grip. The image is very clear and works well at low light without the IR light and it works really well with the IR light on. It really shows nice detail on all the settings - not much difference I can tell between full power, 60% or 30%. As mentioned by some of the other reviewers, it is probably best for viewing wildlife and not ideal for stealth because you really need the IR light when it gets dark and while the red IR light is certainly not as bright as a flashlight, it is definitely visable and will probably give away your position. I wished it worked a better in total darkenss without the IR light because I bought it in case of prowlers on my property. When I turn on the IR light with my fly screens or windows closed, the viewer screen looks just like you shined a flashlight onto the flyscreen or glass. The light and glare just won't get past the screen/window and into the yard unless you're pressed up against it. Other than that, I love the scope and will be using it on hikes and camping trips.

This tiny itty-bitty Gizmo works better than some of my expensive N.V. devices. 5 stars is solid. I've bought 2 more since my first one, as gifts for my other 2 brothers. Like me they could not believe something this small worked like it does. After you get it focused for your eyes it is actually amazing how far and how well it works. No extra I.R. light is needed. It works fine as is. It fits in a shirt pocket. Amazing really. You cannot go wrong buying one. I've had mine #2 years now and still working like new. Unbelievable. For $100 you will be absolutely blown away how good this works. I love mine. Absolutely a steal. I may get another to put in the car. 5 stars you'll be amazed. It is actually amazing.

This is an awesome device. It's not intended for military use and the cost is not comparable with military night vision stuff so I wouldn't compare this little guy with top dollar night vision solutions. However, there is at least one parameter of this device that beats any competitors - the size. It's very small and it does exactly what it's supposed to do, so what not to like? Even with IR illumination turned off it actually helps to see in low lighting conditions just as advertised (not in all cases but in many cases). With IR illumination it produces very sharp and contrast image just as advertised. The surface of the device is "soft-touch" kind of polymer, feels very nice. The device actually allows you to do what you need in total darkness without drawing too much attention or waking your family up (unless you're doing too much noise). For the price it performs very well and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in inexpensive night vision solution. If slightly visible IR illumination LED is a problem for you, you can easily upgrade your device by covering the LED with IR filter cut to proper dimensions, it won't cost you much. UPDATE: 3 years later it still works like new. Never had a problem with it, other than taking batteries out of it sometimes was a challenge.

nul

Ich war schon beim Auspacken von dem geringen Gewicht dieses Gerätes überrascht. Als nächstes beeindruckte mich die tolle Haptik, denn das Teil liegt dank der guten Oberfläche wirklich gut in der Hand. Der erste Praxistest in einem absolut dunklen Raum verblüffte mich total. Man sieht wirklich alles. In manchen Rezensionen wird von einem hohen Batterieverbrauch geschrieben. Dies kann ich nicht bestätigen, denn in den meisten Fällen ist es gar nicht notwendig das IR-Licht zuzuschalten und schon gar nicht auf voller Leistung. Das mitgelieferte kleine Aufbewahrungsbeutelchen finde ich super um das Nachtsichtgerät zu schützen. Ich hätte mir gewünscht, daß die zuletzt gewählte einstellung des IR-Lichtes gespeichert bleibt, aber es ist auch kein Problem, denn man kann es mit wenigen Knopfdrücken umstellen. Überhaupt ist das Gerät sehr intuitiv bedienbar und man findet sich sehr schnell rein. Ich habe es einem Freund sofort weiterempfohlen und für ihn bestellt. Absolute Kaufempfehlung.

Received the product today and tested it around the house and nearby parks. Great little device for the price. Will definitely be using it for hunting. Can see in total darkness up to a fair distance and under some good ambient light does really well in outdoors. The IR illuminator that comes installed in it is quite strong and does the job however will look into buying something more powerful to allow greater results. Highly recommend.

Great product, does exactly as it says and easy to use it.