If you recall earlier this year I reviewed the SiOnyx Aurora night vision camera. The Aurora is a handheld digital camera that has a rather sensitive CCD sensor to low light. In the right lighting conditions, it is arguably better than night vision. The regular Aurora retails for $799. Well, on July 9 they launched their new Aurora Sport and it retails for only $399.

The Aurora Sport has all the same features as the regular Aurora except for the GPS function. By not installing the GPS feature for the Aurora Sport they are able to bring the price down to about half of the regular Aurora. I will be honest, I have never used the GPS function in my Aurora and so the Aurora Sport is a great idea to get them into more hands at a better price point.

So other than the lack of GPS geocaching for your images and videos, the Aurora Sport has the same sensor and recording as a regular Aurora. Here is a video I shot with my Aurora. This is typical if you have the right lighting conditions.

Another big difference is the color of the Aurora Sport. It looks like R2-D2 compared to the original which is black with green accents.

The one cool thing about the Aurora is the aftermarket support for it. Lions Gear Solutions makes a bridge to run dual Auroras but he also makes a new articulated bridge for more flexibility. Like the better bino night vision goggles, the Machos allows each individual Aurora to articulate and roll up or down.

Here is a video I recorded using my Aurora and Lion’s Gear bridge.

Given the price point of the new Aurora Sport, you can buy two of them for the price of a single Aurora, bridge them and have binocular digital night vision.

For the tactical crowd, yes, the R2-D2 color scheme is not discreet nor tacticool. But a little Krylon spray paint will fix that real quick. Just cover up the microphone holes, front lens and rear eyepiece. The Aurora Sport is water resistant so it should be fine if you paint it.

The Aurora Sport is up for pre-order on SiOnyx’s website.