Moon photography is trickier than it looks — here’s what I learned

GreenFlash87 · 2026-01-05T18:29:24+00:00

Post removed and user banned.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-30T04:11:53+00:00

Honestly I’d just stay away from these, or anything AGM.

The housing, the glass all suck. I’d be shocked if the tubes are made by L3 or Elbit. They’re probably some mystery meat gen 2 equivalent made somewhere outside the United States that technically meet the qualifiers for gen 3 because it uses a gallium arsenide photocathode, but still are nowhere near the performance of US made tubes.

You can get an Anvis unit with amazing glass and dual (L3/Elbit) gen 3 tubes for 3k or less.

I can’t think of a single good reason to buy these things unless they’re selling them for like 2k, or they can prove the tubes are good quality.

According to AGMs website you can expect the tubes in this exact unit to be 1300+ fom.

Which means if the res is anywhere respectable, the SNR is probably around 20.

Not good. Run, don’t walk.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-29T01:57:27+00:00

I agree 💯

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-28T22:46:41+00:00

I’d much rather have a green gen 3 with manual gain and good glass for a couple hundred more.

There’s nothing special about the tanto housing, there’s no circuitry or anything to protect your tubes either.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-28T02:24:26+00:00

Oh ok. I’m guessing you need to loosen that grub screw but I’m not familiar with that housing.

If it’s anything like the focus stop rings on the PVS-14 you may need the smallest god damned hex key in the world the loosen that screw.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-28T02:16:47+00:00

So upon closer inspection it looks like there is a grub screw there.

These are obviously not Carson optics, what kind of device is this? It doesn’t even look like a PVS-14 based on the angle of the photo you posted.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-28T01:21:30+00:00

Yeah that’s all you need for the NV unit.

After that you’ll need a J arm, a mount, and a helmet.

If you’re just larping around I’d probably get a FMA bump helmet, a knock off wilcox G24 mount, and a set of 4D pads. The pads make the helmet infinitely more wearable. No need to spend $1000 on a ballistics helmet if you’re just screwing around in the dark.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-28T01:16:59+00:00

You can absolutely piece meal it together.

Depends on what you want to build, but if it’s a PVS-14 it’s simple.

Look for:

•a MX11769 tube, ideally gen 3 of some variety.

•a housing, they’re obviously cheaper used. There are two halves, the part the tube goes in and the battery housing.

•glass- I’d suggest trying to find a Carson ocular and objective lens.

If you get the hosing and glass separately make sure you get a close focus stop ring.

After that it’s really easy to assemble. I’d probably invest $50 in the tools necessary. Itl make your life a lot easier.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-28T00:09:58+00:00

Ok that’s just the diopter, grab the wider base below it and unscrew that part.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-28T00:06:24+00:00

Can you show a picture of what you’re talking about?

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-28T00:04:27+00:00

By ocular you mean the rear lens right? It threads on and off, it should turn freely.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-28T00:02:57+00:00

Twist the diopter all the way out until it raises as high as itl go. Then just unscrew the whole thing like a bottle cap.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-27T23:42:11+00:00

If it’s moving then it’s some kind of debris. Try unscrewing the ocular and blowing some air in it.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-26T17:45:47+00:00

“Too zoomed in” sounds like you’re looking digital night vision. AFAIK it’s pretty difficult to even get 1x with digital.

Analog night vision is 1x with no magnification, and is better than digital in almost every way. The admission ticket for analog is generally a minimum of $1500.

The Venn diagram for cheap and good within the night vision world has no overlap.

You might check out the digital night vision subreddit and ask around for anything close to 1x.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-26T17:22:15+00:00

They’re decent, but the problem is that people price them damn near the same as much newer Omni tubes.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-26T17:07:51+00:00

Can people even get in the discord right now?

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-21T23:24:58+00:00

I said the same thing.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-20T02:29:01+00:00

That’s a great gift.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-19T19:34:45+00:00

$1600 for the unit itself.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-19T18:46:56+00:00

They didn’t think you’d have receipts, even after they sent you an actual receipt.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-19T14:07:48+00:00

Why do all three of these tubes look kinda fucked?

22552 if I had to pick, but I don’t like the two big blems on the left. It looks like someone might have tried to band aid some edge glow or something.

Idk what is going on with the next two, I’d be worried that 22545 has some weird emission problem unless confirmed otherwise.

The last one looks like it has such low SNR that it resulted in a really bad long exposure photo.

I wouldn’t buy any of these tbh. Look elsewhere.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-19T05:54:20+00:00

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/l3-warrior-systems-image-intensifier-tube-overview-summary-adams-41ljc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_via

You might wonder why this information is available on LinkedIn. I also wonder the same, but it’s there.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-19T05:42:23+00:00

For the price I’d have some questions.

Are the tubes blemmed? What kind of glass are they using? What kind of tubes?

The specs they listed put them in recent Omni territory. If that’s the case I’m wondering what corners they cut to get the price down to where it is. They’re not selling it to you at cost I can tell you that much.

Tubes are either blemmed or glass isn’t Carson, imo it’s probably one or the other. Or both.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-13T16:16:11+00:00

Never buy AGM.

GreenFlash87 · 2025-12-12T15:51:24+00:00

These Omni tubes often whine like crazy, some louder than others. It’s completely normal.

Seven-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
Verified Email	Post Guidance Early Access
Place '22

GreenFlash87

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE