Sionyx Nightwave vs Black Oak Low Light Cameras

[FWT]

I snagged this from another boating forum. Admin's, is it permissible to copy a link to another forum site, where there was some technical discussion about the setup by the creator of the comparison, that might be useful to readers here?

Readers on the other site still wonder whether either or both can hold up to weather and water intrusion. In the end there is more to the story than picture quality, though things certainly begin there.

 

[Mambo42]

I see there are no reactions to this topic. Have been researching FLIR, Sionyx etc for the last week. Would like to have a Raymarine FLIR, but the prices are out of this world, so started looking at Sionyx. Still expensive, but quality seems to be good enough.

Is anyone using Sionyx already and have some input on good and bad parts about this camera ?

 

[HeadedToTexas]

Both of those are video captures from a stream that was also displayed on an MFD, right? As opposed to hand held devices?

 

[Trawler_traveler]

I snagged this from another boating forum. Admin's, is it permissible to copy a link to another forum site, where there was some technical discussion about the setup by the creator of the comparison, that might be useful to readers here? ...

Thanks for that, very interesting.

We have a bottom-of-the-line FLIR to try to avoid floats but it takes a lot of concentration to pick them out.



-Sven

 

[FWT]

Thanks for that, very interesting.

We have a bottom-of-the-line FLIR to try to avoid floats but it takes a lot of concentration to pick them out.



-Sven

Thanks

I ended up getting the handheld version, which can be mounted and the image displayed in a tablet. But I have yet to do anything with it other than stand in the backyard, which because of the ample ambient light isn't much of a test.

Time will tell with a better test.

 

[Mambo42]

In the mean time I have seen a lot of videos on Sionyx on Youtube and I do understand the principle, amplification of ambient light. Am just curious if it will have enough ambient light when I am out at sea, no light pollution from cities etc, just the moon or stars.......will I see anything or nothing. Military grade will let me see everything, but will this one do the same ?
I do have the Raymarine AR 200 and Cam300 onboard, but that is just augmented reality, it won't show me fishing pods or an anchorage when I come in at night.
A flir would do that, but 7000 or 10000 USD is a bit over the top for me.

 

[FWT]

As I understand it:

Flir and similar work by detection of temperature differences. Things like crab pot floats will retain the heat difference in the early evening hours but after midnight will have equalized with the water temp. So coming into port after sundown quite useful, but in the hours before dawn much less so. In fog you are blind.

But probably the best for man overboard detection.

For the low light technology, moonless / cloudy nights are obviously problematic. However that can be mitigated with infrared flashlights to light up the path ahead in light spectrums not visible to the eye.

Illuminator Kit

Flir does make a camera that combines low light and infrared into a single camera. $22,500 if you are up for it.

M364C | Teledyne FLIR

 

[Greg QS]

I dont have either of theses cameras. I have a Nite trac camera.
https://www.gonitetrack.com/

I have had it for several years. I came up from Florida with this boat 2 years ago. We drove 24/7 100% outside . 4 days 4 nights. The camera was invaluable for the night diving. If the moon or stars are out worked great. In a pitch black night not so much. In that senecio I ran with the flood on and could see much farther on the cam than with the naked eye.

The range on these things is fantastic. On a black see it finds the lights on the ships before you can see them by eye .

This camera also has a large IR blaster. This makes black nights pop better like going into a dark harbor.

I can only imagine the newer stuff is better.

 

[Circumnavigator]

I have never understood the appeal of the devices discussed above. We own a monocular low light viewer which works well even on very dark nights, but have used it very rarely, maybe half a dozen times. That's in around 40,000 miles, much of it offshore and maybe a third at night.


Our Furuno radars on Fintry and Morning Light, when properly adjusted, will pick up lobster pots and other small objects and certainly government marks and other boats -- it just requires practice to set them up and interpret the results. On entering harbor, I just overlay the radar on the chart and can see everything.



On the new (sail) boat, I've budgeted for a 24" Furuno Doppler radar, but no FLIR. If I were getting a trawler again, it would be a 6 foot Furuno radar.


Jim

 

[Mambo42]

I have never understood the appeal of the devices discussed above. We own a monocular low light viewer which works well even on very dark nights, but have used it very rarely, maybe half a dozen times. That's in around 40,000 miles, much of it offshore and maybe a third at night.


Our Furuno radars on Fintry and Morning Light, when properly adjusted, will pick up lobster pots and other small objects and certainly government marks and other boats -- it just requires practice to set them up and interpret the results. On entering harbor, I just overlay the radar on the chart and can see everything.



On the new (sail) boat, I've budgeted for a 24" Furuno Doppler radar, but no FLIR. If I were getting a trawler again, it would be a 6 foot Furuno radar.


Jim

If only the fishing pods were anything more than 5 liter milk cannisters I would agree with you. Unfortunately they dump them absolutely everywhere, there is no logic and there are no rules. I have had to go hard port or hard stbd so many times that I know I don't want to risk that at night, not in the Aegean sea.
And since we come into anchorages at night I don't mind having a bit better view. I do have a Led bar onboard, but other than lighting the bow of the boat I cannot say it is very helpful.

 

[Greg QS]

I have never understood the appeal of the devices discussed above. We own a monocular low light viewer which works well even on very dark nights, but have used it very rarely, maybe half a dozen times. That's in around 40,000 miles, much of it offshore and maybe a third at night.


Our Furuno radars on Fintry and Morning Light, when properly adjusted, will pick up lobster pots and other small objects and certainly government marks and other boats -- it just requires practice to set them up and interpret the results. On entering harbor, I just overlay the radar on the chart and can see everything.



On the new (sail) boat, I've budgeted for a 24" Furuno Doppler radar, but no FLIR. If I were getting a trawler again, it would be a 6 foot Furuno radar.


Jim

I do agree with you the radar when properly set up and interpreted correctly is a powerful tool. Now take that low light viewer you have and have it on your screen full time at night. You can see logs in the water, small floats like back bay crab pots, ripples an disturbances in the water, a Wake from a container ship and items very close to the boat . All of these do not show up on you radar. Pull into a crowed mooring at night and you will be thankful you have it.

Its one more tool to boating safely and confidently. We have the technology out there , why not use it. If you don't boat at night or rarely its not necessary. If you do, I feel its a must. But I'm weird. I boat at night every weekend in the summer. And today compared to the Flir. While it has it/s place. The starligth camera technology blows the Flir out of the water in price.
The camera will definitely reduce your stress driving at night. Who knows it may help you venture into the dark even more.

 

[Tenedos]

I had bought the highest-end handheld FLIR (Oceanscout 640) and honestly found it to be useless, it wasn't practical to use on a boat and the image quality was not good enough for me. So we didn't even use once, and ended up selling on eBay last week.

Maybe the boat mounted ones are better or more practical? Debating whether to get a Sionyx for the new cat, maybe better when combined with an MFD.