When the lack of daylight interferes with your wildlife observation, security protection or spying on your neighbour’s cat using your garden as a toilet, the Bresser Digital NightVision 5x42 could help you take things to a whole new level with digital night vision and recording functions.

The 5x42 can be comfortably used with one hand and the 340g weight is just heavy enough to provide a steady picture without causing fatigue in the arm or hand. So what sort of features have we got going on here? There is both photo and recording options that save onto a removeable Micro SD card - good for recording evidence or data, although it has been designed to be used during dusk and dawn, but the integrated ‘IR illumination’ means it can also be used in total darkness. The large 42mm objective lens gathers enough light for viewing in dark environments, and the 5x magnification lets you spy on…I mean ‘view’ things further away in good detail and has a maximum observation distance of approximately 200m.

Other features include a Tripod thread for more stability, a protective carrying case, monocular eye piece and LCD screen. The power supply requires 6 AA batteries which only give 6-hours constant use, for the power-hungry device that it is, it would do much better with a rechargeable lithium battery. The buttons on the 5x42 are hard to press and makes for awkward setting adjustment, it also takes a little time getting the focus right. However, the image quality is good, with sharp details when out in the countryside or on holiday, getting to have a sneaky peek on the night-time wildlife was such a pleasure it became quite an addiction! RRP £382

4 out of 5

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Pros

Good clear picture

Digital recording or photo capture

Engageable IR illumination (range up to approx. ca. 100 m)

Tripod connection thread

5x magnification

42mm lens

Cons

Each through batteries

Buttons hard to push