Greetings from Texas

[Vandis2]

Greetings.

I have become enthused about nightvision via reviewing almost all of Roland's youtubevideos (Rolaides Bench)

Looking for direction.
I have a nice LUMIX SLR Digital camera that I am considering dedicating to IR nightvision ($120 US).
It has a zoom lens
Is there any chance that I could mount it to my Nikon scope?
And what problems or challenges might I face?
If anyone can point me to other forum threads that treat of this I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Mike

[terry1001]

Greetings.

I have become enthused about nightvision via reviewing almost all of Roland's youtubevideos (Rolaides Bench)

Looking for direction.
I have a nice LUMIX SLR Digital camera that I am considering dedicating to IR nightvision ($120 US).
It has a zoom lens
Is there any chance that I could mount it to my Nikon scope?
And what problems or challenges might I face?
If anyone can point me to other forum threads that treat of this I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Mike

Welcome to the forum, might be a good idea to add your location to your details before the management catch on!
Not familiar with that particular slr but generally speaking modern cameras are not suited to use with ir light unless they are converted which is an expensive job and means that it isn't suitable for anything else. The other problem is the weight and size of slr cameras which would make them very difficult to fit to a scope. Your best bet is to read through some of the diy threads on here and look at all of Roland's videos which cover several of the possibilities. The most favoured camera, particularly for use on centre fire and longer range rifles is the watec 902h. For air rifle and 22lr shooting some of the Sony 1/3" sensor cameras are a cheaper alternative. Once you have read some of the information if you post your requirements there will be plenty of advice on a build suitable for you.

[Hilbily]

Welcome Mike

I haven't read of a thread using a DSLR, but I am quite new to this myself. I don't think it will work very well but you have nothing to lose hanging it behind a scope for a look see.
Your going to need a good IR light first no matter which way you end up going, If you are up to it make/convert a light, I would recommend the t-20 rangerlight threads. you can buy a 1 and a 3 watt 850 light off fleabay, I got the 1 watt and it doesn't hold a candle so to speak, against the standard IR converted T-20, much less the rangerlight version.
The olson black 850nm and 940nm and the pcb stars can be bought at Mouser off the net, you want the more powerful ones that the part #ends in S, your going to need a 1amp driver for the light, it and the T-20 can be bought online from chopstick land.
Look up the specs for the sensor in your camera the spectral response will tell you if it can see the IR.
I have read a little on DSLR cameras because I am interested in the OLED viewfinders, some DSLR cameras record in NTSC or Pal, which is what the security cameras and TV's use. I have wondered if one could be hacked for the nice mega pixel viewfinder.

Regards
Mike

[Vandis2]

Thanks for the tips guys.
I just updated my profile.

Actually I found a company that will replace the filter on my Lumex SLR digital camera to dedicate it to IR for $130, which is close to what I would pay for a Sony IR camera.

I think the manual lens zoom on the camera will help me get that perfect setup.
I wonder if there is a need for a plastic shroud to block out the light from around the scope eyepiece or is this not a factor?

Lastly my big question now is how sensitive the light sensor is on this camera.
I am researching this now.
And what about a picatinny adapter that will carry the camera directly behind the scope?

As I said I have learned alot from Rolaids Bench on light sources, mounting hardware, etc.

I will start searching this forum to see if anyone else has gone in this direction

[PESCA]

I believe that a company called Seben do a fitting for scope-mounting a camera.

Welcome to the forum, Mike. Enjoy!

George

[terry1001]

It was quite common to use camcorders behind scopes but it seems as though most people are now using some form of cctv camera as many of these are optimised for use with ir light (not all so be careful). They are also much lighter and smaller which greatly simplifies mounting and the lenses are cheap and available in a wide range of focal lengths. I would think that using a slr is not going to be simple or very effective. I prefer to use a shroud of some sort between scope and camera, this is often an integral part of the mounting system, as it keeps stray light out of the camera.
The key questions before starting a build are what do you want to do with it and how much are you prepared to spend. Do you want to shoot at 30 yards with an air rifle or 300 yards with a 308? There is a lot to think about before you start spending money so that you end up with a working unit which meets all your requirements.

[SikaStag]

Welcome to the forum.

Ian

[Vandis2]

The key questions before starting a build are what do you want to do with it and how much are you prepared to spend. Do you want to shoot at 30 yards with an air rifle or 300 yards with a 308? There is a lot to think about before you start spending money so that you end up with a working unit which meets all your requirements.

I take a bit of pride in "long shots" from 250-350 yards with my Remington 700 SPS .243 centerfire, which will require a very light sensitive sensor and a good torch light to spot them.

[terry1001]

The key questions before starting a build are what do you want to do with it and how much are you prepared to spend. Do you want to shoot at 30 yards with an air rifle or 300 yards with a 308? There is a lot to think about before you start spending money so that you end up with a working unit which meets all your requirements.

I take a bit of pride in "long shots" from 250-350 yards with my Remington 700 SPS .243 centerfire, which will require a very light sensitive sensor and a good torch light to spot them.

OK, there are guys on here who do just that and they will be able to offer advice based on their experience, mine is confined to air rifles without recoil. I suspect that the way to go will be a watec 902h camera with a 16mm or 25mm f1.2 ir lens and an illuminator with an Oslon Black ir led and a decent focussing lens - as made by Sika Stag on here (he replied earlier on this thread). There are also threads on building high performance spotters if you need one, I'll be interested to hear how you get on.
I don't think that you will get enough sensitivity from a normal (photographic) camera or camcorder.
I would warn you that this can become addictive.

[michael40]

Firstly, welcome to the forum.

The Panasonic has a great 1/2'' ccd but it's not suitable behind a day scope really , I have tried and even though it likes the ir illuminator keeping the camera inline is a big problem .

If you want long range then get a watec off ebay and a 66 mm ir light off Ian, that will get you out past 400 yards. It will depend on your day scope though, I'm using an mtc 4-16x50 mamba and took a fox at 286 yards with ease with the 243 over the weekend.

It can be very addictive, but some of the most enjoyable shooting I've done .

Enjoy

Atb, mike