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HuntTXhogs and I secured one of these nifty little bits of kit for use and evaluation from the manufacturer.
He had it for a couple of nights to check it out. I had it for three nights and I it out hunting, but did not get to use it much. Then we hunted together with some friends and got video from a series of hunts last night where we switched off running the Sionyx.
Here are my initial impressions. The camera it marketed with night vision in mind and while it is digital night vision, as long as there is sufficient (but low) light, you can actually have COLOR night vision (there is also traditional gray scale digital NV as well). Comparing with my old Gen II typical style night vision, the Aurora does presents a better picture until it gets awfully dark and the sensor cannot generate a good image. With the Gen II at this point, it is still difficult to make out shapes in the dark, but there are shapes that can be discerned that are no longer visible to the Aurora. A similar observation was found with the Aurora and Gen III PVS-14.
The Aurora can be helmet mounted or weapon mounted. It would work as a shot cam (which I hope to try soon), but not very well in front of or behind a daylight optic. Here, the issue is one of latency. If you pan quickly while looking through the Aurora, you can see that the image lags ever so slightly, but it is noticeable and as such, you would not want to rely on the image for ethically trying to hit game. Of course being digital, it does not suffer from exposure to bright sunlight that would kill or be unfriendly to traditional night vision.
The Aurora can be supplemented with IR or regular lights, depending on your uses and need.
The vids are starting off here with being under fairly good conditions with a full moon. The first night I hunted, it was cloudy, but with cloud glow from the moon and I was surprised by how much I could see with it. This was an orientation period for me and I don't have video. Taking it with a clearer sky and full moon and it was pretty darned amazing.
Here are my first two videos and I have a 3rd in the works. I will get HuntTXhogs to add in his portions, and more importantly, his observations as well. We plan to use it when we can during various nights and various conditions to see how well it works overall and what its limitations are. While it can go on a helmet or rifle, the Aurora should in no way be considered heavy duty tactical kit. There are better and more costly products that fill that niche. This is a budget-oriented, fun, utilitarian day/night camera that is intended for the civilian/recreational market. These units list for $800 and over the holidays are being sold for $600 (somebody will ask, LOL), but aside from being given a chance to use their product in the field, neither HuntTXhogs or I have any affiliation with the manufacturer or a vendor selling the SiOnyx Aurora.
He had it for a couple of nights to check it out. I had it for three nights and I it out hunting, but did not get to use it much. Then we hunted together with some friends and got video from a series of hunts last night where we switched off running the Sionyx.
Here are my initial impressions. The camera it marketed with night vision in mind and while it is digital night vision, as long as there is sufficient (but low) light, you can actually have COLOR night vision (there is also traditional gray scale digital NV as well). Comparing with my old Gen II typical style night vision, the Aurora does presents a better picture until it gets awfully dark and the sensor cannot generate a good image. With the Gen II at this point, it is still difficult to make out shapes in the dark, but there are shapes that can be discerned that are no longer visible to the Aurora. A similar observation was found with the Aurora and Gen III PVS-14.
The Aurora can be helmet mounted or weapon mounted. It would work as a shot cam (which I hope to try soon), but not very well in front of or behind a daylight optic. Here, the issue is one of latency. If you pan quickly while looking through the Aurora, you can see that the image lags ever so slightly, but it is noticeable and as such, you would not want to rely on the image for ethically trying to hit game. Of course being digital, it does not suffer from exposure to bright sunlight that would kill or be unfriendly to traditional night vision.
The Aurora can be supplemented with IR or regular lights, depending on your uses and need.
The vids are starting off here with being under fairly good conditions with a full moon. The first night I hunted, it was cloudy, but with cloud glow from the moon and I was surprised by how much I could see with it. This was an orientation period for me and I don't have video. Taking it with a clearer sky and full moon and it was pretty darned amazing.
Here are my first two videos and I have a 3rd in the works. I will get HuntTXhogs to add in his portions, and more importantly, his observations as well. We plan to use it when we can during various nights and various conditions to see how well it works overall and what its limitations are. While it can go on a helmet or rifle, the Aurora should in no way be considered heavy duty tactical kit. There are better and more costly products that fill that niche. This is a budget-oriented, fun, utilitarian day/night camera that is intended for the civilian/recreational market. These units list for $800 and over the holidays are being sold for $600 (somebody will ask, LOL), but aside from being given a chance to use their product in the field, neither HuntTXhogs or I have any affiliation with the manufacturer or a vendor selling the SiOnyx Aurora.
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