The 7 Best Camera Binoculars
Special Honors
Pulsar Accolade 2 LRF While many of the offerings in this sector can also provide users with night vision performance, this model boasts thermal imaging capabilities that are adaptive to your environment. Their housing is IPX7 water-resistant, and they have an integrated laser rangefinder to help you determine distance to your subjects. pulsar-nv.com
Editor's Notes
August 05, 2020:
While a lot of models that took traditional binoculars and outfitted them with imaging sensors and small screens have become unavailable in recent months, the market for models that utilize small screens and single, shaded cyclops eyepieces has grown, with offerings like the Creative XP Digital Night Vision providing high resolutions in both live viewing and recording capabilities. There's something of a tradeoff here, however.
Anyone who plans on spending a long while out in the wilderness might do better to reach for the ATN BinoX-HD or the Eoncore Recorder, as these can still function without their batteries. That means you'll have less to carry with you, and if you do run out of juice, you can still employ their traditional eyepieces for distant viewing. Shorter trips, or journeys that require night vision capabilities, are going to necessitate the newer style.
Keep an eye out for things like maximum resolution, included memory cards, and stabilization. That Eoncore model has a good resolution, but its images can sometimes be blurry because it doesn't boast the stabilization you see in the ATN BinoX-HD. When you're zoomed in, even the slightest movement can cause big motion blur in an image, so that feature comes in really handy.
April 08, 2019:
While there are a handful of camera binoculars available on the market from brands like Vivtar among others that didn't make our list, it's important to note that many of these suffered from some serious drawbacks. Even among those we included, there were models with flaws that were hard to overlook, like the low light performance of the Bushnell model at number five.
For the most part, users are going to find a capable pair of binoculars with an underwhelming camera system built into them. The Bestguarder NV-800 is a big exception, as it draws on military-grade technology to create a capable night vision system, and its use of a screen in lieu of eyepieces is a genuine innovation.
Keep an eye out for the specific kind of zoom offered by a given set, as well. Our number three option boasts a 4x optical zoom, which means its glass lens elements are actually designed to move, resulting in a much higher-quality picture than a digital zoom would, which essentially just crops in on whatever your image is. That's something you can likely do on your computer to a greater effect.