Night-Vision For Your FPV Drone: Caddx Infra

[@nightfpv4652]

Try strap your IR-light under the drone and fly at night again :D

[@AdamWeatherall]

Ir, not UV.

[@morbloe4559]

Right idea, opposite end of the visible spectrum

[@nightfpv4652]

Hehe, sorry. Of course IR.

What an amazing idea 😮

[@Qwarzz]

This is what I suggested to some dude who try to replace broken lens from another camera but that lens didn't have IR filter :)

[@itz_john505]

These are 100% no dought being marketed towards military use. Especially when combined with the thermal camera and and a flight controller with a multi camera switch.

[@conorstewart2214]

They are practically illegal for civilians in most countries to use for their intended purpose anyway. We are required to maintain unaided visual line of sight at all times and depending on the country you need to be able to tell orientation too. So to fly at night you need bright lights on the drone and different colours front and back, if night flying is even legal in the first place since you can’t see what is around the drone, so then you probably need to add normal lights too so you can see what is around the drone LOS, completely defeating the point of this camera. So yeah definitely military use and illegal for us to use properly anyway. Camera switches aren’t that unusual though but are definitely something useful for having multiple types of camera or multiple views, like an FPV view and a directly downwards “dropping” view. Edit: also most “night vision” cameras use IR lights, this doesn’t seem to. If you are trying to be stealthy then it would be possible for your enemy to pick up your IR lights too and either know you are there, find you or attack you so a camera that needs no IR lights would be very good for stealth.

[@grayfpv]

You know it will be a good video when Joshua bardwell says holy s*** 3 times in the first 10 seconds of the video

[@AaLLLLL]

These ESC beeps really got me at the start.

[@AV-RC]

Seriously it makes censoring the naughty words a treat!

[@colin4144]

I shit myself 😭 luckily I was already on the toilet when I clicked on video 😭😭

[@wva5089]

I don't get the esc beeps reference..

[@wva5089]

Oh sorry I'm slow. The esc beeps are bleeping the profanity.. for the next guy who doesn't get it.

[@PerseidArchimedes]

Haha🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@8B1tbreaks]

The NightEagle Pro 2 was legendary in my opinion, even with the 100% lack of color, got used to it quickly. What most people don’t consider is how crisp and clear the image was due to the very fact it was true monochrome in daylight, I never owned any other analogue camera that even came close to the sharpness that cameras image was. Will def be checking this out as well.

[@chezfpv9139]

Even the eagle 2 pro was legendary. Looked back at some footage and it looked like hdzero in lowlight

[@andi67951]

I am fairly new to fpv and dont know the cameras. But I work with optics for automation and on small chips the pixel densitiy advantage of ir cameras can improve the picture massively. Do you think that is whats in play here. To explain you can do every pixel ir instead of having 3 seperate rgb pixels.

[@Kleinage]

@@andi67951that’s sick! Does that mean it’s like 3x the usable pixel density, relatively?

[@8B1tbreaks]

@@andi67951 I think that is most likely the same reason as you mention, and as I understand it the Night Eagle line of cameras weren’t even able to produce a color image due to the sensor it used, so you may be right on the money. I do know from my experience in still photography that any exposure shot in monochrome has a clarity and crispness that just isn’t present VS shooting in color then converting to monochrome. Why that is, I have no idea. I can only imagine the crispness with the Night Eagle line is for the same reason tho.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Latency and motion blur suggests maybe it's combining multiple frames to maximise sensitivity

[@conorstewart2214]

Or if their “AI” claim is true it is running some algorithm or “AI” model on it which would also increase latency.

[@3girlrumba3]

It's a good start it will only improve from here

[@SuperheroArmorychannel]

Perfect for night time reconnaissance.

[@FelixVanGucht]

The Thot Slayer tshirt goes stupid hard. I aspire to be as cool as Bardwell when I reach his age

[@markifi]

people still look at shirt graphics?

[@3nertia]

@@markifi More so than they read anyway lol

[@unRealityFPV]

The RunCam Night Eagle HD is an amazing alternative for DJI pilots. It's not zero lux but extremely low lux - enough to fly in the dead of night - and it has excellent resolution and zero extra latency. The image is also crystal clear without any blurriness like this camera, even at high speeds.

[@xmos-amazing]

The RUNCAM Night Eagle HD only has a 1/2.8 sensor, but the Caddx infra sensor is 1/1.8, which is a much larger sensor area. Additionally, the Caddx infra has an aperture of F1.0

[@nsv8613]

This works best for operating at dusk, when visual light cameras stop working, while the environment is still hot and the targets don't stand out enough to pick them up with a thermal cam.

[@c0t1d0s0]

Just what they need in certain parts of the world now. Caddx is exploring new markets. Yay.

[@YOKokob]

Lol at this point the might as well try to get a government contract

[@SKielbasa]

Going by the name itself and the look of the foliage in the day time, I'd bet the magic here is that's it's a full spectrum camera / has no hot mirror (it sees UV, Visible light, near infrared) that's been greyscaled. I do near infrared photography and the bright foliage is one of the major characteristics. That would also explain why it got so bright in that room with the flashlight under the door.

[@manorhills]

New to drone flying, my mind broke when I saw your yard because I have been learning on the sim Liftoff. "Wow this guys yard looks like that map in that drone game" lol

[@Ice-FaceMedia]

NVC are awesome, Ive used a lot in the service , we call it blackout driving, I could come really close, without the enemy seeing , now we can fly at night with good vision...thats wild!! Im sure its gona get better fom here.

[@BooFPV]

I'm Dji due to the excellent penetration and low latency. My night vision quad is running the Runcam Eagle HD w/ a caddx vista transmission unit, couldn't be happier.

[@DomsaywuuhFPV]

Infantry veteran here and with Night Vision goggles they have a component called image intensifiers and it grabs ambient lighting and intensifies it. It too would be ineffective in total darkness. Lastly, NVGs are also considered analog technology.

[@13fpv-13]

i might make a night vision goggle with this camera cause thats good

[@jlarson42]

That setup would be a good option for your RC 4x4. Latency not as big a deal. Real impressive how well it works. I have the Foxeer Night Cat infrared 850nm. Not up to the caddx level of low light , very capable with an IR illuminator. Especially for 4x4ing around in the dark. No latency issues is a big plus and no giant box hanging off it. 😎

[@RizHassan]

I am sold! During summer we do night flying and this is ideal for planes.

[@cheetonian]

I feel like this is much more appropriate for fixed-wing builds

[@DingleBerryschnapps]

Why?

[@cheetonian]

@@DingleBerryschnapps latency isn’t as relevant for fixed wing

[@powerstroke01]

I was thinking the same. Some long range fpv at night would be amazing.

[@Kleinage]

Makes sense… plenty of room in most planes.

[@HermyH66]

@@powerstroke01 i've done this a few times with a Foxeer Cat3, yep it's amazing.

[@AndrewVelychko]

Every time I watch Josh, I actually learn something.

[@gregorydahl]

Put a fpv camera switch on it to switch between thermal vision and moonlight vision . A camera switch connects parallel to the fight controllers sbus input but the switch has the 2 cameras going into it and the output going into the flight controller . And the camera switcher responds to the aux3 channel 2 position switch . As for the lens i think head tracker could be a fun way to compensate for a wide angle lens .

[@GhostRyderFPV]

_"What in the Dickens"_ Indeed.

[@eddielemayzing2651]

Bully. Yes Bully I say ol chap

[@eddielemayzing2651]

indubitably

[@Scout339th]

Hey! super cool video and I'm glad you covered this! I did want to mention since you were questioning it, yes it does change latency from how much exposure it has. People in the arms industry are hard at work for trying to figure out ways to reduce it. Funny enough, the FPV camera industry and digital night vision are both trying to help each other in that regard.

[@WernerBeroux]

Narrow FOV, works when there is no light, requires mostly steady flying, larger frame... Seems like it's made for one country.

[@johncarold]

Hi Josh, I have been waiting to see a video on the Caddx Infra, I love flying at night, especially in the summer when it's too hot to fly during the day. But B/W video, I been flying the Caddx Ratel starlight for great day video and very good Color night time video. Yes, this is the best night video I seen in a while. Hopefully, the V2 version will be color. Thanks for the video and info on the Caddx Infra.

[@Isledadkart]

Rarely do we get a bardwell omg reaction like this. Awesome

[@robmulally]

We all know immediatly where these are going to be very useful. Esp analog

[@Vindolin]

They have been used excessively and very successfully by various Ukrainian defense groups for several months now.

[@DroneSkinz]

And I quote, "Holy Crap, I can't see shit!" I've experienced that kind of thing before, and that's exactly what i said! Love the review, JB. You're one of the reasons why I still fly, my guy! Thanks

[@madtoffelpremium8324]

Hasn't everybody who flys FPV said that multiple times?

[@joncoop2873]

Wow! That's incredible... Finally some new / more innovation

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic flying and review, Joshua! 😃 Really impressive camera!!! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@jasonbrown467]

i bought a cheap set of $300 digital nvgs and i was blown away by how good they worked just as you were here. also, the darker it is the more lag there is, during the day there is almost none. i bought them for night riding my bikes and it takes some getting used to, probably exactly like trying to fpv your drone lol i would love to see how things work for you with that little ir light strapped to the drone, i put one on the end of a rifle

[@elnacho_fpv]

Great review. I love seeing shadows in IR, it’s such a cool thought when you realise that something can have multiple shadows in different light spectrums. Would love to see what this unit is like if there is an IR illuminator attached…. Could definately go into the barn then!

[@AE0NFPV]

My starlight Flywoo has IR LEDs for this exact thing... It's so fun to fly in the dark! Brilliant concept for the thermal camera, I think I will try hook myself up with one when it's available, and put it on a cam#2 pad with inav/ardupilot so I can do search and rescue without spending silly money for a fancy DJI with thermal cameras

[@dividingbyzerofpv6748]

After the CheaterKwad builds I played with Night Owls and Night Eagles along with some day cams, could switch between day and night cameras on analog just fine. 830nm IR LEDS gave me a lot of capability inside with the light reflecting off white walls.

[@Zoey_the_Rat]

The barn was lit up BY THE FC LEDs! Wow! For a plane it would be amazing

[@CapnBry]

That camera is cool and all but what's up with your Link Quality? 😆50Hz mode and as low as 50% LQ around your yard, are your antennas on?

[@juliannojungle]

That's totally insane. Pitch dark and the camera still outputs daylight video feed. Amazing. Would love one "nano" version for tiny whoop.

[@iFlyGood]

My friends in the military will love these on a servo + head track module

[@DingleBerryschnapps]

Because people in the military are the only ones that use night vision? 🤦

[@RyderUSMC]

Bout to 3d print a part to mount this infront of a scope

[@american7169]

They got way better, civilian available means military has moved on from that tech to something 10x better

[@31pas0]

@@american7169in the movies and in training they did, in the real war they didn't. FPV drones are the main weapon now - they're fast, deadly and they are CHEAP. What's the point of spending 1kk$ оn something 10x better, when you have somethnig capable of blowing a tank for just 200$?

[@PaddyFromPaddistan]

​@@american7169yep! Seeing as civilians can now purchase 3rd gen nvg's with a thermal overlay, I'd love to know what certain elements of the military use now.. 🤔🧐

[@jaysonrees738]

This would be a cool one to put onto a ground vehicle.

[@CloneTechDrones-619]

Great camera testing! The Run Cam Night Eagle 2 Pro works very well in total darkness only if it is a cloudy night so that any city lights can reflect off the clouds for the camera to pick up. On a clear night sky, not so well. To mitigate the electrical noise, I installed iFlight LC filter in addition to twisting the video cable with the camera power cables.

[@waylonk2453]

I enjoyed the low-speed flying in the barn, especially considering that narrow field of view.

[@gravityfuzz]

So good to hear your insects.

[@buttonbasher6638]

Another day goes past and warfare grows a tad bit scarier lol

[@jp-3dairgunworks152]

Yup. I am sure this is what it was developed for.

[@Sleeperknot]

You could try flying it in pitch dark with a couple of bright Infrared LEDs attached onto the front of the drone.... Navigating through those tree branches will be much easier then

[@narr0wm1nd49]

You need to do some night flights with a go pro or low light action camera onboard so you can show the side by side. Flying at night is a neat trick but where this really would be useful is getting new cinematic shots that are impossible today.

[@tiagotiagot]

Would be.interesting to compare this with a similar normal color camera.with the IR blocking filter removed.

[@gonzaloastorga882]

Very nice video, it's refreshing to see a new cool product launch after the last few months have been just beef around DJI ban, Rotor Riot becoming a war machine. Glad to see some positive content and cool camera for sure.

[@finkelmann]

Yes... im sure 99% of those buying this camera are definitely NOT gonna be battlefield related😂

[@DingleBerryschnapps]

That's the complete opposite of what I thought when I saw this. My mind instantly went to current events and how this could be abused.

[@jp-3dairgunworks152]

This will be used on military applications.

[@thirtythreeeyes8624]

Dude caddx released this and a 4w 1.2ghz vtx, who do you think would have been asking them for that? Also RR should really make a drone frame called war machine now lol

[@dougtutt2720]

That was a fun ride along. I imagine I'd flip a little too altho I knew this tech existed I've never thought about flying in pitch blackness. But with the heat so brutal this summer night flying sounds appealing. Looks way fun but I think I'll go with one of your other recommendations because latency was harsh for FS. lol and I doubt anyone was offended by your authentic natural reaction to some cool ish.

[@revvy13]

The delay would suggest some form of internal frame stacking (adding the luma channels of multiple frames.) Probably accounts for the blur on fast movement too.

[@commandos500]

There is also a solution when it comes to making your typical camera mor sensitive to light and go into IR spectrum. You take your average Foxeer/Caddx camera and unscrew the lens. under the lens there will be a small square shaped glass. This is an IR filter. Take it out, screw the lens back in, adjust the focus and you're good to go. Works really well with IR lights attached, but be careful, those have to be directional in order to avoid getting the light directly in the camera.

[@mcparts7249]

Just remove the IR filter on your dji cam and run some IR diodes. Works great, did it on one of mine back in 2020🙏

[@anydayaerial]

Ukraine is going to love this!!!

[@campallu]

And partisans would also.

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

Looks like it'd be the ideal 'pilots camera' for a Cine Quad for when you've got a gig filming a night time scene in a film, such as the classic city streets overview with cine camera pointing down and this making sure you can avoid the buildings. For that, the latency would not be as much of an issue.

[@CDRaff]

This is WILDLY off topic, but... That "Thot Slayer" shirt really illustrates my issue with HTV t-shirts made in the last 5-10 years. You got that thing less than 2 years ago and it looks worse than this shirt I have from the 60s that my dad got in the Bahamas(that also has an HTV design). That poor puppy is cracked and faded AF with huge chunks of the vinyl coming right off the shirt. I have some that I bought in 2021 that if I spent 10-15 minutes actually trying I could make them look like they never had a printed design on them. I'm seriously to the point where I am strongly considering getting into screen printing just so that when I see a shirt I like I can copy the design and print it myself using a technique and materials that I know will last longer than a couple dozen washes.

[@neuromancer692]

Bro what? 😭

[@CDRaff]

@@neuromancer692 I said it was off topic man... lol

[@CDRaff]

Also I really liked the shirt when he got it, but decided not to get one for myself because I had just bought a couple shirts from the same company and they were already starting to look crappy so it makes me unreasonably salty when JB wears it in videos.

[@jandlouhy6914]

I know how my cat see at night finaly ,nice.

[@leonardothillet6423]

A game changer for the drone war.

[@lleston8927]

Amazing video Josh. You are the one and only!!!

[@DingleBerryschnapps]

I was shocked to see how well the Avata 2 flew in low light. I was flying the other day and when I took my goggles off it was much darker. Obviously it can't fly in the dark like this one, but it does pretty well. Of course being able to adjust the ISO is the key here.

[@jsflood]

Great video. Have you figured out what the digital connector on the "AI-module" is for? Is it for a digital camera or is it for connecting to a digital VTX? There is so little info about this Caddx Infra that I have not yet been able to use it. I see you only use it with an analog VTX, is that the only option for this system? Thank you.

[@BREACHERCAT]

I always want to attach my PVS-14 in front of the O3 to see if I can fly with it lol

[@gregorydahl]

Whats that a light ?

[@BREACHERCAT]

@@gregorydahl The PVS-14 is a Night Vision Device that uses an image intensifier tube to enhance the light.

[@confuseatronica]

makes sense right? Low light = long exposure if it's already maxed out all the gain, and it has to wait until the end of that exposure to send that frame so latency. Also, if it's that good, you just need a TEENY headlight on your quad to give it enough light for flying inside that barn.

[@pascalgermanfpv238]

I used to do night flies with a buddy of mine and we were always amased how good the nightaegle 2 performes, but this is insane! And since we flew fixed wing, we would mine that delay that much 😮 thats like actuall night vision tubes with insane delay tho

[@ClimateObserver]

This is for surveillance drones. If you add a focus sable layer and lensed illuminator this will allow you to illuminate distant objects and close up too

[@damonwaters2716]

I want to see the Foxeer FT640 V2 CVBS Thermal Camera tested

[@DreamFlyEcuador]

He's like me reacting to flying digital for the first time... 😂 Just so good

[@joshgault61]

When it was really dark in that area the mower was parked in, I think the image was being blown out by an led on the FC 😂. So cool

[@JACK19860909]

Una belleza de camara , lo cual abre un nuevo mundo para nuevos videos super bueno❤ saludos desde Honduras!!

[@EMDRONES]

This is the perfect raid drone. Buy these while you can equip you FPV weapons fleet with this imagine all the uses for tactical operations.

[@anti-popfpv4638]

I can't wait to cruise some parks when they are actually empty. This is better than my trail cam mod for sure 🎉

[@gregorydahl]

Or check to see if they are emoty 🤔

[@larryvet53]

Hello, love your work. I am considering an agricultural drone for our farm. Sounds great but I would use it maybe 1 month a year. I am also a pilot and would to use it for search and rescue. Everyone I have talk dealer wise says it can't be cone. For you, can it be done and could you help me with this diy project

[@humanx2harryhall]

love that property!

[@gregorydahl]

Remember the caddx ratel pro last january ? .00001lux i think people were talking about switching the lens with more wide view . Or try a spotlight mounted hooked to an s pad to make it switch on and off

[@ArshaansEdits]

well honestly about the latency issue and it getting all weird in pitch dark areas is the ai thing. And it is heavily software based so the latency can improve with newer firmware and see in even darker places, i will also advise you to test after just putting some 3.7v ir leds around the camera or the frame which might help a lot. That will be very interesting to see honesly!

[@AndyPorter79]

This is something I'd rather have on a plane to night fly. If the Infra is here now, I imagine something with heat signature can't be too far down the pipe.

[@conorstewart2214]

I would say the marketing is slightly misleading. Lux is a unit specifically weighted based on wavelengths we can see so yes it can operate in zero lux conditions, however it still requires light, just not visible light, so it cannot operate in true darkness, just perceived (by humans) darkness. It absolutely could work in places like your barn at night if you just added some IR lights to it, given how sensitive it is maybe even just a few IR LEDs would do.

[@gboulter]

I've been removing IR filters from lenses for years so if I want' to fly in darkness it's a simple lens swap.

[@DFEUERMAN]

Imo, the tree detail here looks much better than just removing the IR filter.

[@tppal]

It's more than just removing IR filter, Caddx didnt add the the Bayer filter on top of the sensor. Thats why Its also black and white.

[@medienmond]

Nice Terma Calliper, you got there...

[@freedtmg16]

Well, I'm sold. Good on you for no crashes, but, if you had, at least finding your drone at night is way easy with all the LEDs on everything.

[@FREEDOMFPV84]

You had me until you started freestyling and it blurred its sweet but I like to go fast I might check it out though for my firework cam thanks man 👍👍👍

[@mortenrnielsen9775]

after all, this is if not 95% then 90% safe camera production for Ukraine 🤔 having said that, it is quite an exciting move from Cadex, it will be exciting to follow developments within this camera type 👍😀👍

[@blackstone3469]

Hey Joshua, did you know the brand new dji drone? It's a Mountainbike! Avinox Power! Very cool bike! go by bike

[@untraceableghost637]

It looks like this might be more suitable for the massive filming rigs that is used industrial settings where you just want the pilot to see where they are flying to capture in low light situations.

[@conorstewart2214]

I feel light a low light or starlight camera without an IR filter (which they might already come without) and some IR lights on the drone would likely do as well as this but with lower latency.

[@rav04o2]

It really seems to be some simple AI or algorithm. When it's getting really dark, the camera appears to use information from previous frames to display details not visible in current frames. It might not be additional latency but visual information from previous frames. Almost like they used AMD FSR or temporal upscaling

[@AlexanderGee]

It's not AI, it's just a Mono Sony Starvis sensor that they are probably having to convert from digital MIPI CSI-2 to analog themselves hence the latency.

[@rav04o2]

@@AlexanderGee , you may be right, but at the same time, I could swear that I saw temporal artifacts and ghosting when JB was flying in very dark areas. The computation requirements also may not be huge. FSR2 does work on a 7-year-old GPU. There is even a version for arm CPUs, but I don’t know much about it.

[@tomeauburn]

Probably 5 years ago my buddy put an infrared and met and sensor on his FPV drone. Flew fine at night.

[@ah-64apache84]

The only real use case i can think of is eastern europe missions

[@BaldmanFPV]

Yep, which is why these won't stay on the shelves.

[@markifi]

don't forget west asia missions

[@nielsB_FPV]

Caddx getting rich of all that blood money

[@_Piers_]

Yeah...and there's a thermal camera version 👀

[@cutterhead13]

Theres a gazillions more use than just war related. Could be very usefull for rescues , inspecting if remote location systems are working or not , wildlife survey at night etc

[@OTRFlyer]

And here I thought I invented the word "shnikies" lmao! This is so cool, I'm thinking about buying some analog goggles just to build a "night eagle" drone lol

[@audiogek]

At this point in the video I haven't seen the price, but as excited I am watching this vid that will probably be the opposite for the price of this unexpected wonderfull analog camera. Great video! Thank you 🙏

[@jawz101_fpv7]

I want to see how it does with a capacitor on it. Aside from the diamond noise, I wonder if the clarity would generally improve.

[@UAVfutures]

lol JB at the start of this video lol love it

[@CycloneKwadz]

I remeber when the runcam owl came out,btw u could use it in light and dark, and u could put it on a 3 inch (for exaple tarot 120)

[@y_i_fly6256]

Try mounting a small UV light for the really dark areas. Could work.

[@PrOpJuNkiE]

I have a feeling if you insulated the vtx better from the frame and the other box, and got rid of that noise after arming if you wouldn't have an incredible picture!

[@shawnzfpv]

would be interesting to see this vs other analog night cams.. like night Eagle 2. It reminds me of the Night Eagle. The Ratel 2 does pretty well in the dark too!

[@hoagietime1]

This would be cool with a FC that allows camera switching like some of the matek FC's for wings, you can have a daylight and IF cameras and switch between

[@pro2stinger]

this is now my 2nd favorite camera (even though I haven't tried it yet)

[@Nadesican]

That latency is likely made by that AI you were suspicious of - it's preprocessing all of the visual info it's feeding you and adjusting it on the fly. I think it has to work harder in the night, so more latency.

[@Charlie_Waffles]

„i guess thats where they keep the Ai“ 🤣🤣👍🏻 funny ^^ … first time i saw that there are neighbours somewhere in JBs area because of the bright light dots sonewhere between the trees at night 🤣

[@mikedoesstuff3641]

Does the ai box get hot? This plus a pair of goggles would make for an awesome set of cheap nvg

[@exis221]

Ratel Pro also got latency issues when in a low light situation. But i love to use it while doing night security surveillance. Maybe i can consider this infra camera too. Thanks for your review, sir. - Love from Malaysia.