photo:nocpix_lumi
Table of Contents
Nocpix Lumi Thermal Imaging cameras
see also:
- I don't sell any of these nor do I receive any remuneration if you buy them, and I have not personally reviewed all of them, they are listed here to give you perspective
Introduction
- Nocpix is a new branding for the Infiray company introduced late 2024
- the NocPix Lumi range of compact, light weight monoculars are a mid-range in terms of 2025 image quality and pricings
- they are available with various lens focal lengths and in either 640×512 pixel (H) or 384×288 pixel (L) sensors and there is also a 13mm 256×192 pixel (P) budget version
- in additional there is a laser range finder version notated by suffix R with Class 1 laser able to detect distances from 10m-800m and adds ~40g weight and extra 13mm thickness vertically
- these devices as with all outdoor thermal imaging devices - hunting, hiking, search and rescue are fantastic for the main use cases but do have major limitations:
- cannot see through glass windows as these are highly reflective to thermal IR wavelengths so you can't use them from inside your car either - glass windows act as mirrors with thermal imaging devices
- thus unlike a near IR night vision device, a thermal clip on scope cannot be added to the rear of an optical rifle scope as this would block the far IR from hitting the thermal imager, but they must either be used instead of a rifle scope or clipped onto the FRONT of the scope in which case they need to be 1x magnification to function well
- cannot see through fabrics (including polyester, nylon, cotton), clear TPU (0.2mm thick or more), animals, humans, trees, leaves, rocks, tents, hiking tarps, walls, conductive materials such as aluminium foils (eg. space blankets) or concrete
- may be able to see through PVC (sheet or box), 1-2 layers of a garbage bag, plastic bags and through mesh although image is not as clear and there is also minimal transmission through 0.1mm TPU
- may be able to see through fog, rain, snow, smoke, hot dust, blowing sand
- fog impairs thermal visual detail of surroundings as most things become the same temperature so you will need a sensor with sensitivity < 40mk to give good results in these conditions
- cannot see through water - so you will only see aquatic animals when they are on the surface
- the thermal images are generally NOT as good as near infra-red devices for identifying the type of animal
- do not generally display enough facial detail at some distance to identify individual persons other than by their clothing
- warm blooded animals are much harder to discriminate from surroundings on warm days over 20°C
- do not detect reptiles well as they are cold-blooded and have similar temperatures to surroundings
- do not work well at ambient temperatures below 0 deg C as most of the natural environment will have similar temperatures
- DO NOT point it at the sun, lasers, or bonfires as this could permanently damage the sensor!
- this is a particular risk when you are at full zoom looking in the sky near the sun, as you will not realise the sun is hitting the sensor just out of your zoomed in section
- fortunately, uncooled vanadium oxide detectors (VOx microbolometers), which are the majority of the sensors on this page, the burn-in from the sun is generally non-permanent, but may take a few days to recover
- outdoor hunting thermal devices including this range generally do NOT have software that will allow display of an actual temperature!
- For a long storage time, the battery should be partially charged, not fully charged or discharged
- Do not charge the battery immediately after you bring it from the cold environment to the warm environment. Wait 30 to 40 minutes for it to warm up.
- take great care with the lithium batteries
Basic specifications of the range
- 12 micron uncooled vanadium oxide (VOx) sensor technology with NETD <18mK spectral sensitivity and 50Hz frame rates
- low resolution versions offer 1,2,3 and 4x digital zoom which is multiplied to the base optical “zoom” of that model giving 2-8x total zoom for P13, L19 and 4-16x for L35
- high resolution H35 versions offer 1,2,4 and 8x digital zoom which is multiplied to the base optical “zoom” of that model giving 2.5-20x total zoom
- f/0.9 manual focus lens providing 20% more light compared with a regular F1.0 lens
- rear adjustable -5~+5 diopter focus lens with 10mm Exit Pupil and 25mm Exit Relief for easier viewing with glasses
- 0.39“ 1024×768 AMOLED display
- replaceable 18650 lithium rechargeable batteries which can be inserted either end (ie. “reverse polarity”)
- two are provided (three if you buy the laser rangefinder version)
- on my testing, when fairly new, each of these take 2hrs 20min to charge on USB-C and hold 15Wh or 3020mAh
- silent buttons
- advanced Reality+ Al image algorithms for improved image clarity
- electronic digital image stabilisation
- when enabled, image is enlarged slightly
- if LRF is started, stabilisation is turned off
- automatic image quality calibration with ability to perform a manual one as needed
- hotspot WiFi to a smartphone for Live Viewing or transfer of images
- 32Gb fixed internal memory - no SD card slot
- USB-C power for camera but does not charge the battery in the camera (also comes with USB-C charging cradle for two batteries not in the camera)
- variety of colour palettes - white hot, black hot, color hot, red hot, viridian, crimson, violet
- IP67 dustproof / watersealing rating
- ~4.5hrs operation on full battery (6hrs for P13)
- mic for video capture
- ambient operating temperature range -20 ~ +50degC
- Picture-in-Picture (PIP) provides a floating window independent of the full screen. This window shows part of the image which is enlarged to 2× in a certain area centered on the reticle of the main image.
- on LRF models, the firmware upgrade adds N-Link option to the device WiFi menu and a ballistic option, and this allows connection of the device to another compatible Nocpix Lumi device using WiFi hotspot to enable ballistics calculations
Default button operation
| button | current status | short press (0.3sec) | long press (1.0sec) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power button | powered off | - | powers on |
| Home screen | standby power off | Full power off | |
| Standby mode | Wake up device | Full power off | |
| Shortcut menu interface | Return to upper menu, settings saved | Full power off | |
| Main menu interface | Return to upper menu, settings NOT saved | Full power off | |
| Up button | Home screen | digital zoom cycling | Turn on/off PIP function (Turn on/off the LRF function if LRF model) |
| Shortcut menu interface | Navigate up | - | |
| Main menu interface | Navigate up | - | |
| Menu button | Home screen | open shortcut menu | open main menu |
| Shortcut menu interface | Enter the parameters selection state / confirm | Save and back to the home screen | |
| Main menu interface | Enter the submenu / Switch and confirm parameters | Save and back to the home screen | |
| Down button | Home screen | take photo | Start video recording |
| Video recording | take photo | Stop video recording | |
| Shortcut menu interface | Navigate down | - | |
| Main menu interface | Navigate down | - | |
| Up and down button | Home screen | Shutter calibration | Background calibration |
| Up + Menu button | Home screen | - | Turn on/off PIP function if LRF model |
| Menu + Down button | Home screen | - | Switch the ranging mode between single ranging and continuous ranging (if LRF model) |
Lumi P13
- budget 13mm focal length 256×192 pixel sensor with NETD < 20mK
- 2-8x magnification
- base FOV = 13.5×10.1 /24×18m at 100m
- human detection range = 670m
- 134×47×74mm; 310g
- 6hr battery life
Lumi L19
- low definition 19mm focal length 384×288 pixel sensor with NETD < 18mK
- 2-8x magnification
- base FOV = 13.8×10.4 /24×18m at 100m
- human detection range = 980m
- 139×47×74mm; 335g;
Lumi L35
- low definition 35mm focal length 384×288 pixel sensor with NETD < 18mK
- 4-16x magnification
- base FOV = 7.5×5.7 /13×10m at 100m
- human detection range = 1800m
- 143×47×74mm; 335g
Lumi L35R
- essentially as for the Lumi L35 but adds the laser range finder
- L35R version is 147×47×74mm and 375g
Lumi H35
- high definition 35mm focal length 640×512 pixel sensor with NETD < 18mK
- 2.5-20x magnification
- base FOV = 12.5×9.4 /22×16m at 100m
- human detection range = 1800m
- 134×47×74mm
- 345g
- ~$AU3899 in early 2025
Lumi H35R
- essentially as for the Lumi H35 but adds the laser range finder
- H35R version is 147×47×74mm and 385g
My review of the Nocpix Lumi H35R
- note: I am NOT a hunter but am using this as a general purpose tool and wildlife detection whilst camping
some basic tests
- laser range finder struggled on a bright sunny day but I did get some measurements up to 300m
- the laser range finder does not give measurements below 10m
- image seemed to give reasonable landscape / tree details on a bright sunny afternoon with some smoke haze up to around 10km
- hills at 12-13km had minimal detail and tended to blend with the background sky although the separation could be detected and sunlit trees on the top could also be seen on zooming in
pros
- great compact size and light weight makes it feasible to take anywhere with you
- easy to use
- WiFi connection to smartphone is reasonably easy once you address a little issue of the mobile data needing to be turned off
- the 3 provided replaceable batteries are standard 18650 lithium batteries which provides better potential for longevity
- lovely clear images
- buttons are designed so that it is unlikely you will be able to accidentally press them or turn it on
- very nice compact case
- magnetic lens cap is a nice touch
- close focus of ~1m makes it very handy for general purpose uses around the house
- you can customise what the buttons and button combinations do via the smartphone app
cons
- buttons are perhaps a bit too hard to press which tends to cause camera shake when taking a photo - you may need to rest an elbow to steady it
- WiFi smartphone connection can be problematic:
- once you have downloaded the Nocpix app and turned on the WiFi on the camera, you need to select that WiFi on your smartphone and enter the password and hopefully the app will connect to the device
- after the firmware upgrade, sometimes it does not connect if the smartphone is using its mobile data which seems to create a conflict - so turn off mobile data on your smartphone and it should then work
- using Phone hotspot mode does not seem to resolve this and didn't work for me
- when you turn mobile data back on whilst using app and connected, you lose connection but the app will then be able to download a firmware upgrade if one is available and this would then be applied next time you connect to the device
- when you adjust the manual focus you need to remember to place your hand at the top otherwise you block the laser range finder
- there is no way to delete images or videos on the device without using the smartphone app
- USB-C power for camera does not charge the battery in the camera
- you need to reset the date and time every time you remove the battery if camera not connected to USB-C power - presumably due to the reverse polarity functionality of the battery insertion
- the supplied instruction manual is minimalistic, you need to download a more detailed version from https://www.nocpix.com/product-lumi/
photo/nocpix_lumi.txt · Last modified: 2025/04/24 23:06 by gary1