Good bit of gear but the $$ skews my opinion - Yukon Ranger Pro Digital Night Vision 5x42 Monocular

My hunting partner and I use this device for night spotting feral pigs. There are areas that it performs extremely well in and other areas that it does not perform so well. The Good: The Ranger Pro will resolve an extremely clear image at extremely long distances in very dark conditions. I can easily distinguish a calf from a wild pig at 250+ (and probably a lot farther than that) yards in open terrain and am able to read a license plate in near complete darkness from 100+ yards. The IR illuminator is very powerful and penetrating. This device doubles as an excellent illuminator for a Gen 1. rifle scope and will allow your shooter to reach out farther. I also like that the Ranger Pro can be easily connected to a digital camera or camcorder - that's a cool feature even if it isn't practical unless you are in a stationary blind/hide or in a car with a 12v power supply.

The Bad: I wish that there was a digital zoom and/or auto-focus feature. Focusing this device is tricky, can be extremely frustrating until you learn what you're doing (instructions are woefully inadequate, you just have to play around with it until you figure it out), requires two hands and can not be done while walking. The Ranger Pro is not a replacement for a zero-magnification monocular or goggles - it isn't practical to scan while moving. You need to either stop, scan, resume or be stationary in a blind/hide. Also, the LCD screen in the viewfinder, even at it's lowest setting, is bright enough to leave you with a big, purple ghost everytime you look at it and it will kill your eyes' adjustment to the dark for a moment. I shoot with my right eye and so have learned to use my left eye for the Ranger Pro. Don't forget that this thing GUZZLES batteries. Purchasing rechargeable will pay out.

While the Ranger Pro performs on par with or possibly better than Gen 2 in the open, it has serious limitations when there is brush in the foreground or anything that will reflect IR. For example, if you are trying to look out across a field from cover and there is anything close to the IR emitter that will reflect IR (like a thumb-sized twig) then the target behind it will be darkened and obscured. In other words, you must have a clear, unobstructed path between you and the viewing target.

Overall I am pleased with this unit. I'm not sure if I would buy this again knowing what I know now - but the good things about it are good enough that I would have to think very hard on the matter.
Pros: Excellent image, powerful illuminator
Cons: Difficult to scan while walking, difficult to focus quickly, easy to knock diopter out of focus

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.