The most important thing a buyer can do, is thoroughly research the devices they are purchasing to ensure they will be satisfied with what they receive. We strongly encourage any and all customers to reach out to us to discuss their needs, wants and whatever else they may have questions about, so we can guide your decision and you can make an informed purchase for maximum satisfaction.
So, what do the options all mean? Let's start by assuming you have read the information page we have written on the website, which will give you a general idea of what is what. But to summarise:
Housings: The component which holds everything together and stores everything such as electronics, lenses and tubes.
Tubes: The heart of all Night Vision devices, and usually the make or break of the unit.
Lenses: The bottleneck-er of performance, allows you to see amazingly, or see hardly anything, no matter how good your tube(s) is.
When you are purchasing, you will be overwhelmed by many options and decisions which may not make sense to you, and that is completely okay! Night vision and thermals are a deep hobby, which take your pockets even deeper. It is absolutely fine for buyers to not understand what's going on, but it is our responsibility as a vendor and retailer to guide you through the entire process and eliminate any confusions which may arise.
At the time of publishing this article, we have not yet released our full build options and kits, however when we do these will include everything a beginner may need to begin their journey into the night vision hobby.
What is PHOTONIS? What is NNVT? These are different tube manufacturers. Photonis is located in France and has over 85 years of experience in their industries. They produce many ranges of intensifier tubes, many of which have been adopted by militaries and law enforcement around the world. They have been a long time favourite of many for their strict quality requirements for their 4G and 4G+ line of intensifiers, and their amazing low light and high light performance.
NNVT on the other hand, is relatively new to the intensifier tube market and can thus provide tubes at a lower, much more competitive cost than what Photonis can. These allow us to stock and sell these intensifiers at a lower price, whilst not fully sacrificing quality. There are many such reviews of NNVT vs PHOTONIS available on YouTube and articles published by other vendors, so I will not delve into that here.
The important thing to know, is that whilst the price differences may seem significant to a first-time buyer, it is important to note that the quality does differ aside from the specifications seeming the same on paper. Photonis tubes are more expensive but offer better high light protection and resolution, as well as M.T.F (contrast), whereas NNVT tubes are cheaper and sacrifice themselves in these areas.
Lenses can differ in weight, light transmission and contrast. Generally, buying cheap lenses will result in worse performance. Our absolute baseline for lens quality are Carson Industries Mil-Spec PVS-14 lenses. For customers who may want weight reduction and improved transmission, we will soon be stocking Rochester Precision Optics RPO-3.0 PVS14 optics. RPO have been a leading manufacturer of night vision optics, as they make the optics for the PVS-31 and GPNVG-18 systems.