SiOnyx Aurora Night Vision Review: Budget Option

[@jimzielinski946]

I picked up one of these cameras with their initial discount offering. I mostly use it as a (hand held) monocular either for checking the property at night or as an action cam. I agree with all your caveats: for the money, it's a great little night vision device. I have no idea if it would hold up to being used on a weapon. I'm actually very careful when using it just for hand-held viewing. I have used it on a tripod in single shot camera mode taking pictures of stars through a hydrogen alpha filter and actually got good results, so it's pretty versatile. I think as long as your expectations are realistic for something in this price range, you shouldn't be disappointed.

[@icecorebaby]

I have a gen 3 pvs 14 but I want a sionyx for the same reason you were using it by doing the star thing with the hydrogen alpha filter.

[@jimzielinski946]

@@icecorebaby I used the camera setting on 1 and a half seconds. I used a long pass ha filter (not a narrow band). I had to play with brightness, contrast, and a few other settings in an image editor, but I got a nice image. I didn't have to use a star tracker, just a cheap tripod. The only downside I can see is that you don't have interchangeable lenses. I haven't figured out how or if I can adapt it to a telescope. Anyway, it was great fun.

[@theamericansilverback]

I have had one of these, with IR help on the darkest of nights it gets the job done... I'm no operator, I shoot hogs and keep the bears out of my bees... A great value based option if you're not door-kicking

[@NNPOTechnologyCoLtd]

Hi friend, may i know are you intereted in our latest thermal imaging scope?

[@johanvanderwalt2772]

I have an ATN night spirit Gen 2 device with around 800-1100 FOM (~40 lp/mm and ~20 SNR) It actually compares almost exactly to my Sionyx Aurora. That said, I’m upgrading to a Photonis Echo 1999 FOM tube, so I expect that to blow both out of the water.

[@tarstakars]

The problem with IR in my opinion, and it is just my opinion, is that everybody and their cousin with good equipment sees you stick out like a sore thumb that's why I'm kind of like a passive night vision myself. 495 for entry level is pretty good though.

[@RJM1011]

That's one problem that has cost lives in battle before.

[@94SexyStang]

You're not seeing IR past 50 yards anyways.......besides that, Aurora is MEANT for casual stuff, and hunting(which animals can't see it)....not airsoft or wanna-be tacti-cool posers to run around at night, LOL.

[@tarstakars]

@Mike Fu You're Correct, but if you're using an infra red illuminator the opposing force will be able to see it at greater distances than 50 yd.

[@EX22SNIPER]

​@@tarstakars name an opfor coming after Johnny boogaloo in the woods with NVGs. Realistically speaking..

[@RJM1011]

That was good to see thank you thumbs up and shared.

[@VSO_Gun_Channel]

I wanted to do a direct comparison to real nightvision but Sionyx ghosted. Me thinks scared.

[@87stickman]

Ive used both. Gen 3 is definitely king over the aurora but the pro model has a ton of features. I am running the pro and I like it!

[@chromosomehoarder6927]

Just message Anthony on nvg 101 on Facebook he’s the owner of the page and of sionyx he will get you what you need

[@VSO_Gun_Channel]

@@chromosomehoarder6927 I have a policy against chasing. At this point I have expended the maximum effort budgeted on what appears to be a gimmick to me.

[@billclay3643]

@@VSO_Gun_Channel Not sure if you watch Hop from TFB’s channel, but he shows the Aurora is basically a joke.

[@anthonyjameslongo]

@@chromosomehoarder6927 I'm here too :). Always available here too -- [e-mail]. Love connecting with the community!

[@thewarnerCHANNEL]

man.... I'm trusting you sootch cuz man I want one SO BAD but on a budget.

[@Rockstar6111]

I've got the dbal d2, love it. I got it on sale a few years back from optics planet for a little less than 1k. Yeah it's heavier but I think its the best option for a civilian IR unit for the price. I wish you would have opened up the D2 illuminator to it's wider setting to demonstrate it in conjunction with the Aurora. Maybe you did but I didn't catch it in the video.

[@JacobMcandles]

I will go ahead & tell you, that you won’t be happy with lower grade stuff once you get a chance to look thru a good gen 3 PVS14.... this setup is better than nothing, but it can’t compare to a proper NOD....

[@treborkroy5280]

General price difference between what's being shown here and what you're suggesting?

[@kepofshangri-la8942]

@@treborkroy5280 about 600$ for a good one, but the Sionyx Aurora is a lot more a NV go pro than an actual rig and you can hardly see anything in the dark without an uncomfortable amount of visual noise.

[@JacobMcandles]

@@treborkroy5280 TNVC has several good models for about $4,000 but that doesn’t count helmet, mounting arm, batteries, etc

[@wcoonradt264]

I've noticed an awful lot of glare reflecting off that lens. I get that you'll usually only be using that at night, but its very shiny...

[@joshuawest4098]

Does this record sound?

[@nitrocell9287]

Sooo when you planning to review the new one. Sionyx Opsin.

[@bobjones9727]

Looks like it works like a good thrower flashlight. Advantage is the subject down range cant see it. Like you said not real night vision.

[@LordSStorm]

Interesting, but not able to take high powered ammo and the mount issues relegates this to an observation tool.

[@d30gaijin]

You have links for other stuff I have no interest in but no link to where one can get the SiOnyx NV. Why is that???

[@Mrgunsngear]

Thanks

[@prajwalbhandari4844]

Can you go with some big and hightech helmet night vision binocular

[@gobstoppa1633]

ALL ir cameras perfom much better with more ir light, its just common sense,

[@joshuanightvision1181]

While these are exelent low light camera s Tactical night vision technically should be 10to the 4th negative lux at about 100 micro lux for overcast starlight to achieve this with sionyx you would need a 4x overall system noise reduction plus additional 10 times sensitivity as sionyx aurora currently use compression and sensor is only good to 10to the 3rd negative lux or 1Millilux not micro lux but I think sionyx has hinted at new camera's for 2022 hopefully with no compression and a 10to the 4th-lux sensor for the record I own a sionyx aurora pro and as a low light camera with some NV capability it is awesome still has room for improvement though personally I hope Single Photon Avalanche Diode goes into widespread production with 10to 6negative lux on 1inch sensor currently specd at 3.2Mpix by Canon it's probably as good as it gets don't know how that translates to camera iso but probably in the 10s of millions

[@bobjones9727]

This is $999 at Optics Planet. You can buy 9 or 10 good Olight throwers for that. Yes it's not exactly the same but meets the same goal.

[@evilminion8825]

Seriously, just save your money and get a PVS-14. You can find a Gen2 GP a little under $2k if you just search the web. A PVS-14 murders this thing. Sionyx is good for night/ low light recording. Never trust it as a helmet mount nod tho. Digital consumer grade NV is not equal to good old fashioned GP and WP intensifier tubes, its just not.

[@jezarmstrong7891]

Sport does have WiFi, Doesnt have GPS 👍

[@sandraherdman3783]

O lilke it

[@romanporebski5924]

👍

[@hardyanpajero69]

👍😎🍺🍩

[@berkosmansatiroglu]

Hi sir.

[@ronniepaulinc]

not budget and not for tactical use..

[@DanMar1677]

So I usually dislike self promoting but I’m heavily inclined to tell y’all who like guns that I’m trying to start uploading gun related videos on my channel. I’m a surplus collector also so I’d love to share with the gun community my collection and possibly do reviews

[@wolfgang1496]

Ehh kind of lame for 1200

[@Jester-nt1tw]

Very good review. I have the pro version and the value really seems be with the less expensive versions. The camera will work in very low light and does improve vision as compared to night-adapted unaided vision - you will be able to make out more details at distance as compared to normal vision. Regarding the illumination, I totally agree that it greatly helps the camera excel and would suggest going with a 940nm illuminator vs 850nm. The 940 is less visible to those that do not have their own night vision gear. As mentioned the eye relief is very short and the hard eye piece was a bit of a concern, I put an eye cup (purchased from ETSY) on the camera and that helped to both set the eye relief and a bit of a cushion before my eye. Also, suggest putting some type of protection on the front as the front lens/glass has no recess to protect against bumps and short drops. Regarding helmet mounting, I was a bit surprised at the cost and found the mounting hardware cost almost as much as an inexpensive ballistic helmet. The Lion Gear M.A.C.H.O.S adapter (used with something like a Norotos helmet mount) allows increased adjustability and removes the cant issues.

[@resolute123]

It's not "military proof" yet, but this shows so much promise. I look forward to seeing this product's evolution.

[@johnqpublic2718]

Depending on its battery life, I may just stick with thermal for hogs. This might be good for squatchin’ tho.

[@VincitOmniaVeritas7]

What’s the thermals advantage for hunting? Here in Europe I can have thermal as a civilian but “passive” NV is restricted to military only. I believe that “active” NV, that requires an IR illuminator, like the one in this video are allowed.

[@ericg7183]

@@VincitOmniaVeritas7 thermal is perfect for night hunting. Some animals can see into the infrared spectrum, and thermal requires no illumination. Paired with a suppressor, anybody can be the bane of wild hogs, which are a pestilence in many US states.

[@VincitOmniaVeritas7]

@@ericg7183 nice. That was very helpful. Thanks

[@renaissancemarinetv3536]

it would be nice to see how it picks up in actual darkness, without all the man-made light nearby. my big use for this would be seeing in the real dark, possibly even in power outages.

[@dragdragon23]

Other utubes show that it didn't do so well.

[@billclay3643]

It simply doesn’t.

[@dragdragon23]

@@billclay3643 And with the price as well is a killer!

[@billclay3643]

@@dragdragon23 Yeah man, the Aurora is functionally a $100 gimmicky toy with a $500 price tag. You can get a no-BS thermal handheld for like $400, so that should make it clear how much of an overpriced scam the Aurora is.

[@dragdragon23]

@@billclay3643 Got several of those Torrey's and Some other digital NV for far less and Always looking for deals on others that come along.

[@Wisperharry]

Very cool! I live very rural. Just what I've been looking for!!

[@sootch00]

Thanks Mike, It has so many uses and the color is great.

[@broscience5876]

Coach, are you coloring your hair?

[@sli8]

Any camera becomes "night vision" if you shine an Infrared flashlight in front of it, including your cell phone.

[@treborkroy5280]

You have three hands huh?

[@LadyBovine]

@@treborkroy5280 what does the number of hands he has have to do with what he said?

[@jonnyappleseed4723]

Dont need three hands just rail mount the infared light to your nuts sack or a helmet, it frees up your hands and allows tactical operations

[@treborkroy5280]

@@LadyBovine hand for flashlight, hand for camera, hand for firearm...that would be...1...2.....3.

[@LadyBovine]

@@treborkroy5280 How hard is it to mount a flashlight to your nutsack (as suggested) or whatever you want. Anyway that's beside the point. The point is that this is basically a not-so-special camera, and you might not need this (apparently a ways off from perfect) product, as other potentially cheaper solutions can give similar results, depending on the use case.

[@mhydn5prtype]

It's a piece of shit. We want real NVG's

[@stevederjones7340]

I like it because it has several mounting options . It’s just not in my budget. I would also like to get some thermal imaging monocular. My question is the sport is white , is the sport as far as picture quality the same

[@speedster-qe1nj]

The sport has the same image quality, the only difference is the sport doesn't have a compass or navigation features but basically same picture settings

[@jimmyrants4342]

Just being honest...I like FLIR better.

[@joshuanightvision1181]

I'm a agm and pulsar guy myself

[@nanomaine]

Thanks, and I'm looking forward to more Sionyx vids. Check out nutnfancy; he has a great pistol grip idea for the Sionyx.

[@winstonsmith478]

Comparison against much cheaper Gen 1 night vision devices? Don't give a damn about color ability.

[@87stickman]

I'll take the aurora over Gen 1 anyday

[@winstonsmith478]

@@87stickman I want to see an A/B comparison of the same scenes under the same lighting conditions.

[@87stickman]

@@winstonsmith478 the difference is there! Should be enough KZbin videos around to possibly show it

[@JackTavern629]

This is real night vision. Some people consider analog as only real night vision, and that's just not true. If you can see with it during the nighttime, it's night vision.

[@danialphaomega]

Ah hella nah you trying to push this garbage too, I guess I was wrong about you. This is NOT vision PVS14 uses photons to electrons that excite phosphorus screen that can use minimal starlight to see but , the Sony is a glorified IR security camera sootch not worth the $600 for that price you might as well use your smartphone which has a much better low light sensor too🤣

[@bobbymalcich63]

thank you for the awesome video sootchoo!!! i like the night vision sootchoo!! good job on the video sootchoo!!

[@krimke881]

a $100 is insanely pricey. You can build your own pvs-14 with kits, for the same price, so. Then what do you choose? not the aurora.

[@rockeerockey6941]

TY for activating the closed captioning! Interesting device

[@andrewallason4530]

De-balled, you say. Sounds painful.

[@aslanambelu1327]

Colar to see dark world at night i lick,,.wow

[@andrewdisney8475]

How much?

[@andrewdisney8475]

LGBFJB!

[@Castleknight]

So does this work alone, i.e. you can see at night or does it need something else. What is an illuminator?

[@EastCoastMan603]

Ir illuminator - it emits an IR beam to act as a light that then allows you to see “in the dark”. You can use this alone but not in complete darkness. The illuminator is like a dbal or peq that is attached to a firearm and has a Ir laser and Ir illuminator and visual laser etc. you can get just this item and be pretty set up for close up stuff.

[@Castleknight]

@@EastCoastMan603 So the illuminator can attach to SiOnyx?

[@Jester-nt1tw]

It will work stand alone. That said if there is very little light it wont work well either. Basically as the ambient light becomes less, the camera picture becomes grainer (has a lot of noise) and becomes unusable if no light is present (like in a cave). At night, if I go into my basement(lights out) and dont turn towards the two small windows, I cant see enough to move around, if I turn towards the windows, then I can usually see enough to move around just from the light coming through the windows from outside.

[@revolutionaryhippies6972]

Can you do a review on osprey globa lights and scopes. I always see them at gun shows but never see a review on it

[@almostontimehero5415]

Hops reviewed these and said they were awful. I trust Hop's opinion on this topic; PVS-14 or bust at a minimum when talking budget night vision.

[@EX22SNIPER]

That's not "budget"

[@speedster-qe1nj]

The sport is the only model worth purchasing due to price. That explorer package is $1000 package at that price spend a couple hundred more and get a nvm or mum14 it would be money better spent however the sport at 400 is an excellent price and a value that can't be beat.

[@patches6309]

Just unpacked my Aurora Pro and began charging it up! Looking forward to capturing lots of really interesting video @ night! Howl ong does it take to charge up fully? Thank you for this very informative video.

[@dragdragon23]

A rep of the company said their selling the chips to night vision makers and So who knows what it turns into. But for me? I'm not sure, YET!

[@RowCall219]

That thing is trash.

[@minicoopertn]

If you could mate it with a 8X optical scope then use the 2X digital zoom to see how the image looks.

[@andrewdisney8475]

ANOTHER great video! Thanks!

[@gregpollsutube]

We want a “LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC” flag 3x5 How about it ?

[@bouldernelsonbigfoot]

Good Vid. Have you tried the Sightmark Wraith ?

[@tonyelbows8045]

there are other NV options out there for less than $600

[@andrewdisney8475]

Sweet equipment! I'd try one!

[@brianleabo6295]

Looks good like to see it with a better flood ir.

[@rogeliomuniz9146]

Its as good as a gen 1 tube in low light.

[@charlesherron9619]

I’ll be watching.

[@RustBeltFab_]

What does the IR light look like with the naked eye? Can you see it with the naked eye?

[@Jester-nt1tw]

Depends, typical illuminators use 850nm (like around home security lights) the bulbs glow a rather bright red. Some illuminators are 940nm and the bulb is much dimmer and has to be looked almost directly at to be seen. In either case the light itself cant be seen by people unless they have NV. 940nm illuminators typically wont provide as much range and (from what I have read) some NV electronics wont see the 940nm illumination.

[@KevinNiven]

Guys, save your money and only cry once!

[@chistinelane]

We have lives outside of larping.

[@vicentesanchez7168]

That is a Fantastic Night option and very very Good For a Night time Application also a compact design for a rifle mounted design or helmet application .... excellent Mr Sootch Fantastic and very indepth review and detail on review ...

[@jrossnjax7]

To me I'd use it on AR but I don't like the digital zoom and the lag is terrible for $600. That's still a lot of money and one would expect better technology. Just my opinion but great explanation and video.

[@armadilllo]

I still don’t understand the point of it if you need a light to use it, why not just use a flashlight if you’re going to give away your position any video recorder will work, you don’t need that camera, just the ir

[@Iam1uglyguy]

Looks cool.

[@94SexyStang]

Aurora is SUPERIOR to Gen 3 in one area........Urban and Light polluted environments!!....everyone knows Tube NV is basically useless in much urban situations, where Light and Dark extremes mix......this is where Digital kicks ass, and you got Color. I live on the East Coast, and I assure you Gen3 is a waste of money for many situations I need....Digital is just better for me.