A night vision system includes an image intensifier tube and circuitry coupled to a digital storage medium that periodically samples a signal provided by the image intensifier tube and stores the sampled image to be viewed in near real time or at a later date by a data analyst. The night vision system includes a casing surrounding the image intensifier tube and the associated circuitry along with a port for accepting a power and/or signal cable for providing power to the image intensifier tube and image signal data to the digital storage medium. The system may further include a daytime camera and a switch for toggling the image signal data input to the digital storage medium between the daytime camera and the image intensifier tube.