We saw Flir bring out the Flir One, a thermal imager for the iPhone. Well now MSM Labs is making the NVC case for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. NVC stands for Night Vision Camera. The NVC case also acts as a battery backup and has a microSD card slot for storing the images and videos shot with this camera.

Right now the NVC is only a prototype and MSM Labs is looking for funding through Kickstarter. I do have my suspicions about this night vision camera. I have a feeling it is a standard digital camera but without the standard IR filter that all digital camera lenses have between the CCD and the lens. The IR Filter aka Hot Mirror blocks out IR light so the CCD captures only visible light.

There are hacks that one can do to DSLRs and even GoPros so that they can capture IR light. If this device is how I think it is, then it is no different than my Poorman’s Night Vision scope. From the kickstarter video, it seems as though there are two settings. A purplish tint to the image or the stereo typical green image we associate with night vision. Any camera without an IR filter can capture in absolute darkness as long as there is IR light. I think the array around the NVC lens are IR leds. Does that matter? Well it depends on what you intend on using this for. Some people have weapon mounted their Flir One equipped iPhones which can prove to be useful. You could mount this NVC iPhone to a weapon but I do not think you will be able to see very far unless you use another source of light. Even with a SureFire IR light, you wont be able to see past 50 feet. If you had something obnoxiously bright, like a SureFire Hellfighter with an IR filter (different type of filter than the camera filters) so it lets out only IR light, then you could probably see about 100 feet just because there is so much light.

The project looks promising and gives iPhone users more versatility with their phones. If this interests you, check out their Kickstarter and help them out.