There is a small innocuous little device at SHOT Show called the Noctis Pathfinder. It is a thermal fused digital night vision viewer. Yes you read that right, fusion. It shows both thermal and night vision.

Thermal fusion is the best of both worlds. Proper thermal fusion is the combining of image intensification (night vision) with heat detection from thermal devices. Take a look at my DIY Thermal fusion article. While these methods work they are not true fusion. Real fusion like the COTI is expensive and trying to DIY thermal fusion is not cheap since it requires a thermal device.

Welcome to the Noctis Pathfinder.

Sensor: Multispectral Visible/LWIR 280×210 pixels, 9Hz

(IR) Field of View (deg) 12 x 9

Display 400 x 400 Color OLED

Eye Relief 25mm

Digital Zoom 2X, 4X

USB Interface USB Type C

Internal Storage 16GB

Photo Recording Bitmap, Jpeg

Video Recording Raw, Mpeg

Bluetooth Yes

Accelerometer Yes

GPS Optional

Battery Built-In Rechargeable Li-ion

Battery Life > 4 hrs Continuous Operation

Dimensions < 2 in x 3 in x 6 in

Weight < 0.5 lbs

Waterproof Rating IP66

Mount 1/4-20 Tripod Mount Adapter

Human Detection Range > 300 m

Human Recognition Range > 150 m

Human Identification Range > 100 m

The specs claim it can detect up to 300M but ID a person at 100M. I assume this is referring to the thermal as those specs are not used for night vision. Noctis claims that their Pathfinder is a digital night vision device. I have my suspicions that it is just a CMOS senser without an IR filter so while it can see infrared light, it won’t amplify light like the SiOnyx Aurora.

Hopefully we will get to review the Noctis Pathfinder and see if it is a great bang for the buck or if it is just a digital toy. Check out Noctis’ website for more information.