Night Vision Downrange IR Signatures & Illuminator Comparisons

[jwramp]

Did an exercise over on ARFCOM here recently and figured I'd re-post it here. You can find most of my content put together on my personal page here as well.

Since it seems to be a popular subject of discussion without much actual content out there, I'm going to be photographing a number of different near-infrared illuminators from downrange perspectives to attempt to compare them to each other and provide imagery that is similar to what one might experience in real life. The issue with just standing downrange and taking a photo back towards the IR source is that most digital sensors nowadays are more sensitive to higher wavelengths than the human eye, so NIR sources shine very brightly and with a purple hue. I've posted photos in the past comparing different devices, but they were only useful as that, comparisons between them, and not as a reference for how bright or dim they are to the unaided eye.

After obtaining an optical filter for the front of my DSLR lenses that cuts NIR energy at a similar place to the human eye (700-750nm and above has no transmission), I'm gathering devices to bring to a range or field soon and get on camera. Before diving in, I figured I'd put the call out in case anyone else has devices they'd like to see compared that I don't happen to have in my personal collection. Suggestions would be PERST lasers, Torch PROs, other high power .mil lasers, Streamlight spotlights, etc. Please feel free to reach out if you're interested in sending something over for the exercise - I'll probably get at it in the next few days if no one reaches out this weekend. While I've got everything there, I'll probably also update this video with some through-the-tube footage to compare actual NV performance.

Here's the devices I have on hand and am planning on using so far:
Princeton Tec SWITCH MPLS - UNKNOWN OUTPUT
S&S Precision MANTA - UNKNOWN OUTPUT
CORE Survival HEL-STAR 640-09 - UNKNOWN OUTPUT
Amazon Special - 5000mW, 850nm
Streamlight TLR-VIR II - 600mW, 850nm
Surefire X300V - 120mW, 860nm
Armasight MSI8000 - 1300mW, 850nm
NiteCore CI7 - 7000mW, 940nm
Surefire Incandescent with IR Filter - UNKNOWN OUTPUT
PEQ-2a - 50mW, 820nm
DBAL-D2 - 600mW, 850nm
MAWL-C1+ - 130mW, 860nm at mid-setting
{SENT IN BY OTHERS}
ModLite IR-850 Head - 1100mW, 850nm
Fenix TK25 - 3000mW, 850nm
Fenix TK25 - 3000mW, 850nm w/ 950nm glass filter
Sniper Hog Lights 38 LRX - 1350mW, 850nm
SHL 38 LRX - 1350mW, 940nm
Zenitco PERST-3 - 500mW, 850nm

An example of how they look with an unfiltered digital sensor (in broad daylight too):
(DBAL-D2, X300v, MAWL-C1+)

(Streamlight VIR II, Amazon Special, X300v)

Here's an example of other downrange testing I did last year before obtaining the IR-cut filter -

RESULTS

Here's the table of images we shot from downrange looking back into the emitters. Should be big enough to zoom in quite a ways and get a good look at each hotspot. Let me know what you think. I've got some thoughts but look forward to hearing what others have to say when seeing these. I'll follow up in another day or two probably with all the NVG footage of what each looks like shining out on the range and at my beautiful assistant. Special thanks to him for running all the lights and all the guys that sent in additional units to test.

The footage looking the other direction via night vision is now up. A full moon was rising to the left of the range, and had started to illuminate some of the treetops. Most of the range was in shadow though and quite dark. They were shot through an L3 unfilmed white phosphor NV device.

IR Illuminator Comparison 2020


And a screengrab from the grid:

 

[aslrookie]

I wish this would’ve been posted before I bought the modlite IR850, but I don’t regret my purchase one bit.

 

[WillHugh]

Cool info, thanks for putting this together! To me the most interesting comparison is the mawl and the D2, considering from a performance standpoint they are similar, but utilize different methods for illumination (led vs laser).

When the D2 first came out people really minimized the down range signature as not significant, but when the MAWL hit the market all of a sudden the tune changed and the D2 supposedly put out a huge glowing orb. From a switchology and form standpoint the MAWL is the clear winner, but the signature of the D2 doesn't appear to be much different, especially at 25 yards and beyond.

Not sure how much signature matters in a practical sense to the average user like myself - I always figured if you were close enough to look into the business end of an illuminator it meant you were probably already in big trouble.

-Will

 

[LibertyArms]

Awsome job. Great info. Really shows guys practical/ tactical uses and what is or can be see. Need to do this at long ranges now ? Haha

 

[TNVC_Will]

I wish this would’ve been posted before I bought the modlite IR850, but I don’t regret my purchase one bit.

Is that because of the visible signature or something else?

 

[aslrookie]

Is that because of the visible signature or something else?

No, there was just hardly any feedback on the performance of the light. I think it's an awesome illuminator though.

 

[aslrookie]

I would actually like to have a Modlite 950IR for helmet/handheld use when walking around.

 

[DownRangeThermal]

Nice Job!