WindFire Mini IR Lamp Zoomable 5W 850nm/940nm LED Infrared Flashlight Night Vision AA Battery Hunting Torch-to Be Used with Night Vision Device (Infrared Light is Invisible to Human Eyes) MINI 850NM

I have a lovely SioNYX Aurora night-vision color video and still camera system. On most star-lit or moon-lit evenings, one does not require an IR illuminating flashlight for additional light. But, many evenings absolutely require additional light sources and this flashlight is very inexpensive and easy to use. I bought two, in the expectation that one might not work. That wasn't necessary but I don't regret doing so for several reasons. One of the two flashlights required some effort to get the rear on-off button to actually work: the flashlight stayed in the "on" position for a while and it took removing and tinkering with the end-cap to finally get the switch to work properly. As it is an IR illuminator, you can not tell with your eyes whether the illuminator is on or off. (there's no light or other mechanism to indicate this. So, this makes operation difficult if you don't have your IR camera handy. There's no documentation that indicates whether the illuminator is eye-safe.. and the slapped on yellow triangle suggests it IS NOT so I don't advise you to risk staring into the lens to try to figure out if it is on or off. Because I'm somewhat of a risk-taker, I observed without eye-protection that when ON the diodes revealed a gentle reddish glow that disappeared when turned off Until they illustrate this illuminator is genuinely eye-safe don't suggest using that method. The illumination outdoors in a very dark sky does not travel as far as advertised but I did not test it in total darkness (like cave conditions.) It was decent at five feet for strong illumination and declined but was perceptible perhaps 25-30 feet maximum Still I found it useful for recording and viewing in the dark with an IR camera like the Aurora.

At first I thought it wasn't working very well ... not very bright using smartphone to view it (Some cameras can see IR light, but invisible to human eye) However I discovered that the seemingly low light was because the camera I used was not tuned to 650nm IR. Viewing the flashlight on my security cameras showed that it was working well. Only 4 out 5 stars because absolutely no manual included or linked to, and I like manuals. Overall well built and a good value, now all I have to do is find a way to get my smartphone to show 650nm better.

I like it for what it is and what it costs. Buy a couple to keep here and there. Through the lens of a PVS14, the illumination is comparable to the light given off by visible-light flashlights of the same size and shape; it's just in IR. Just like those flashlights, do not expect to use this to identify subjects beyond 100yards at full-beam focus. I like that it easily fits in the counterweight pouch of my headgear, so even if I forget my larger torch, this is always within reach. The zoomable lens is of the pull-out type, but it has enough positive grip to it that it doesn't just loosely slide back and forth like flashlights of this type do. I have run it on both lithium and alkaline AA; there is no noticeable difference in beam brightness. One star removed because there are no markings to help distinguish it from the 20 other visible-light flashlights sitting in a drawer that look identical to this.

Wanted to test out IR Capabilities with my Night Vision Camera+ Zoom Feature- Not as powerful as I thought it was going to be

Pretty good for what it is. Thought it would be brighter with 3 leds in it.