XVision specializes in digital optics. At SHOT Show 2025 I got a chance to see their Flex series of compact thermal scanners and sights. The Flex2 won Outdoor Life’s “Best Thermal Optic” award because of its high resolution and compact size. These thermals ran from $2500-$3000 MRP, but what caught my eye was their Shadow 100 night vision scanner because it has an MSRP of $149.
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Night vision goggles (NVGs) used by military combat units cost thousands of dollars. But with “Digital Night Vision” goggles have made night vision affordable for civilians; in the hundreds of dollars (and sometimes under a hundred). GTMedia sent me their newest N4 model test and it is a good example of this type of NVG.
All digital cameras are sensitive to inferred (IR) wavelengths of light outside our eye’s visual spectrum. Digital NVGs are essentially portable digital video cameras and displays. These Digital NVGs are essentially Gen 1 night vision, only able to see images with the help of active IR illumination (an inferred flashlight).
The N4 is a compact and lightweight Digital NVG unit that has the form factor of a binocular but is in reality a single lens digital camera with individual eyepieces that look at the same display. The second objective lens is actually the IR flashlight which illuminates your subjects in beam that can extend out to over 100yrds. The N4 has a built in rechargeable battery and can take both video and 10MP photos while it is being used as an NVG.
The unit is made of lightweight plastic that has a 1/4″ photo socket so it can be used on a tripod or attached with a GoPro compatible bracket to a head strap and worn over your eyes, handsfree. The unit has a focus controls for the eyepieces to see the internal low-res LCD display and for the digital camera. My unit had a slight defect in the camera focus which limited the distance of sharp focus to 20ft-60ft. GTMedia sent me a replacement unit after I sent them videos of the problem which was mechanical in nature.
In testing I was able to see a man sized figure at a distance of 100yrds but because of the IR illumination, the image was mono-chromatic. The unit is able to see in full color but it’s camera is night very high fidelity and the video footage I was able to get was lackluster; about the same as low-quality security camera footage. The footage I did manage to get felt more like an analog horror game.
The 1x through the unit is more like 5x and is disorienting and makes to walking while wearing it in the dark, awkward and potentially dangerous on rough terrain. The light weight shell makes it easier to wear and travel with but feels fare too fragile to drop. It could do with some silicone armor and a stronger GoPro bracket connection or an adapter for NVG J-arm.
The unit did work and could allow me to identify animals or intruders at night but it is not a combat optic. Because Gen 1 NVGs require in IR light source, these can be easily seen at a great distance by Gen 2 or Gen 3 NVGs and identified. In a SHTF situation, the N4 is outclassed but it is better than not having night vision. There is an old saying, “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is the king.”
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GTMedia direct: https://gtmedia.global/products/gtmedia-n4-night-vision-binoculars?DIST=QEM%3D
| Photo resolution | 10MP(3648*2736)/8MP(3456*2448)/5MP(2592*1956)/3MP(2048*1536)/VGA(640*480) |
| Video resolution | FHD (1920X1080@30FPS),HD (1280×720@30FPS) |
| Lens | F1.2 large aperture, f=25mm |
| Lens angle | FOV=10 degrees |
| Display screen | Inner screen 1.54inch (320 x 320) high-definition TFT |
| Auto-off | 1 minute/2 minutes/3 minutes/5 minutes/10 minutes/off |
| Infrared LED | 3W,850nm strong infrared focusing,7-gear intensity adjustable |
| Max distance in complete darkness | About 250-300 meters |
| Daytime focus distance | 3 meters to infinity |
| Digital zoom | 5X times |
| Power supply | Built-in 3.7V 2000mAh lithium battery |
| Dimension: | 150 x 125.5 x 64mm |
| Weight: | 390g |
Night vision (light enhancing) scopes have been used by hunters and soldiers since the Vietnam War but even today these devices can cost thousands of dollars. With progress of technology, these devices have shrunk in both size and price. The Commander NV100 is a digital video camera that is designed to mount directly onto a typical rifle scope and turn it into a night vision scope. Oneleaf technologies sent me an NV100 to test out.
Almost all digital video cameras can see in IR light but most have a built-in optical filter that block out most IR light which can distort and fog an image in normal light. Using the NV100, you are looking at its built in digital display viewfinder much like you would with an old-school video camera. In fact, when using the NV100 in normal light, the image looks slightly blown out with a glow on objects, a side-effect of IR light.
The NV100 can record 1080p videos and photos onto a micro-SD card. It runs of a rechargeable CR18650 battery which can be recharged using a micro-USB cable. The unit can also record sound and output though a 3.5mm headphone jack, though the audio sounds compressed and low fidelity.
In practice the NV100 is equivalent to a Gen 1.5 night vision monocular. To a small degree it can passively enhance low-light images but in reality, it does require IR illumination to function as intended. The unit has a built-in IR illuminator and visible red laser to light up and aim at targets.
The NV100 can be used as a hand-held Night Vision monocular. It has a standard 1/4(20) camera screw mount at its base to allow the unit to be mounted on photo tripods. OneLeaf does not offer any type mounting system or adapter to attach it to a helmet or headband.
Where the NV100 shines is its ease of mounting to a rifle scope. The packing includes a 42mm, 45mm, and a 48mm adapter collar to allow you to mount it to your scope (some spotting eye-pieces may be too large even for the 48mm adapter). The NV100 attaches to the collar via bayonet style locking ring; the package also includes a roll of electrical tape to assist in shimming your eye-piece to provide a more secure fit for the adapter collar.
When mounted to a rifle scope, the image you see in the NV100 appears like a low-resolution videocam viewfiender. The unit’s menu system is accessed through the viewfinder and the buttons on the unit function like a D-pad for navigation through the menu system. Adjustments in focus are made through the NV100 large physical focus knob.
I could get a decent focus of an object 100yrds away but I could not get both my target and the reticle in the same plane of focus, despite adjusting the scope’s paralax focus, ocular focus, and the NV100’s focus. I could get both somewhat in focus at my scopes lowest magnification (4x) but found it impossible at magnifications greater than 6x.
I was easily able to see objects 100yrds in low light and even faintly in pitch-black in its full-color video mode. Switching to B&W mode activates the unit’s built-in IR illuminator, an IR LED flashlight with a lens that allows you to adjust the beam from flood to focused. Oneleaf claims it can illuminate objects up to 300m away.
In B&W IR mode, the issues with depth-of-focus were even more pronounced. The reticle was blurred to the point of invisibility when my scope was at 20x magnification. Given that IR illuminators are far shorter range than visible light flashlights, long range engagements using a scope and the NV100 may be a moot point though some users have posted varmint hunts at ranges out to 200yrds or more.
The NV100 does have two shortcomings, the first one is a potentially a deal-breaker for some hunters. In my testing the NV100 has a short 1.5″-2″ eye-relief from the back of its eyepiece (OneLeaf claims up to 2.75″). This is fine for shooting 22LR or even 5.56mm AR’s. But on a large caliber rifle this short eye-relief could easily cause scope bite. OneLeaf does include some larger eye-cups which could provide more padding but a real solution would be to design a viewfinder eyepiece with a minimum of 3″ of eye-relief.
The second issue is minor but annoying. The image the NV100 displays is distorted, with the vertical proportions appearing shorter than the horizontal giving you a squashed image of your target. This is also evident in the movies and photos you take with the NV100.
Overall the Commander NV100 works as advertised without breaking the bank (though the latter is relative the cost of higher-end NV systems costing hundreds more). On my wish-list of improvements would be a firmware update to allow adjustment of X/Y proportions of the image, a lanyard loop to attach a wrist or neck lanyard for handheld use, and an adapter arm to attach it to a GoPro or PVS-14 mount.
The OneLeaf Commander NV100 is available through this Amazon Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4kMPrO6
