MILITARY & SPORTING OPTICS Washington DC

While pretty much any pair of binoculars can be used at a sports event with good results, more serious applications call for optics with a more sophisticated edge. This is the case for customers with law enforcement or sporting purposes in mind.

Hunting enthusiasts will be in the market for a spotting scope that can bring a wild turkey into focus at a considerable distance. Police customers might be looking for thermal imaging weapon sights. Both of these customer bases will have uses for night vision equipment of various degrees of light intensifying capability.

There are other groups with high-powered requirements for optics: boaters, bird watchers, and amateur astronomers among them. They'll be prepared to spend hundreds, or even thousands, on optical equipment that meets their needs.

However up-to-date that spotting scope or pair of night vision goggles might be, it's so, well, 20^th century compared to the newest wrinkle in sporting optics: digiscoping. Now offered as ready-made kits by several of the major sporting optics manufacturers, digiscoping entails photography using a digital camera connected to a field spotting scope mounted on a tripod.

When the high magnification through the spotting scope's eyepiece is combined with the zoom of the digital camera, a long focal length can be achieved, enabling both wildlife photographers and hunters to get up close and personal with their subjects, pictorially speaking.

Moreover, the digital format can render high-resolution detail at a fraction of the cost of upmarket telephoto lenses.

Speaking of spotting scopes, while they might be associated mainly with hunters, these scopes are also appropriate for bird watching, use on a shooting range, taking in a scenic view, amateur astronomy, or law-enforcement applications such as surveillance.

Depending on the type and design of the spotting scope, magnification might range anywhere from 10X to 250X, via either fixed or zoom eyepieces. Because the magnification is potentially so high, a spotting scope can go well beyond the range of most binoculars.

Spotting scopes come in one of two basic body designs: straight or angled. The barrel and eyepiece are parallel on a straight scope, while on an angled scope, the eyepiece is 45 degrees from the barrel axis to bend the light path.

There are advantages to each design. An angled scope is easier to share among members of a group, allows use of a shorter tripod, and is said to be better for spotting animals in treetops. A straight scope is easier for beginners to use, is easier for viewing animals at ground level, and poses less of a strain on the user's neck.

Remind your customers, though, that the spotting scope's greater magnification comes at the expense of field of view, and so binoculars are still called for to get a wider perspective.

Strangers in the night

Although first developed for the military, night vision devices (NVDs) have long since crossed over into practical applications in civilian life.

Tactical police units employ night vision goggles, binoculars, and scopes for surveillance and other low-light conditions. Hunters may use NVDs (also called image intensifying devices) devices to spot game in darkness that once would have prevented the animals from being seen. Homeowners might employ NVDs as part of a home-security system.

All NVD work on the same basic principle: They gather existing ambient light (e.g., starlight, moonlight, or infra-red light) through the front lens, whereupon the light, made up of photons, goes into a photocathode tube that converts photos into electrons, which are then amplified and thrown against a phosphorous screen that changes the electrons back into visible light. Where they differ in capacity—and therefore, to a large degree, in price—is the generation of technology they represent. A 4^th generation NVD is going to be more powerful than a 1^st generation device. It's also going to cost far more, and for the beginner, a 1^st generation device will probably work just fine.

In fact, a 1^st generation NVD will probably suffice for most low-light situations. It can also be sold to a larger customer base, and not only because it's less expensive: Federal regulations prohibit exporting 2^nd and 3^rd generation NVDs without a license from the State Department, and prohibit exporting 4^th generation NVDs altogether.

In contrast to the multi-alkali photocathode used by 2^nd generation NVDs, 3^rd generation devices use a gallium arsenide photocathode, which offers a significant increase in photoresponse and tube life. Generation 3 NVDs work well in all situations, including those in which Generation 2 devices might fall short, and can offer greater clarity. They are also likely to cost considerably more.

Generation 4 night vision technology, according to NVD manufacturer ATN, "represents the biggest technological breakthrough in image intensification of the past 10 years. By removing the ion-barrier film [from the tube] and 'gating' the system, Gen 4 demonstrates substantial increases in target detection range and resolution, particularly at extremely low light levels."

According to ATN, the use of filmless technology and auto-gated power supply in 4th generation NVDs results in an improvement of up 100 percent in photoresponse, superior performance in extremely low-light conditions, and at least triple the resolution in high-light conditions.

"With significant improvement in contrast level and in performance under all light conditions, 4th generation represents the top of the line performance in the night vision market," according to ATN. "Gen 4 technology improves night operational effectiveness for military users of night vision goggles and other night vision devices. The filmless MCP provides a higher signal-to-noise ratio than Gen 3, resulting in better image quality (less scintillation) under low-light conditions. The gated power supply further improves image resolution under high light conditions, and the reduced halo minimizes interference from bright light sources. These improvements also substantially increase the detection range of the systems."

Retail prices on NVDs may range from under $600 for a 1^st generation scope to $6,000 or more for something in the 3^rd generation. The more costly devices will probably be of interest only to law-enforcement or professional users, unless your customer happens to have lots of disposable income he doesn't know what to do with.