Dummy FLIR Camera for £1500 - yep seriously.

[Fraser]

I have a short story to share that may be of interest or warning to others......

I spotted an incomplete FLIR HS307 thermal spotting scope the other day. I immediately noted the sellers comments regarding no battery tray and something just did not look right about the unit. The seller is reputable and was asking £1500 for the HS307.

So what did I note was wrong with the unit ?

1. Lens surround is missing but that is only cosmetic.
2. The TAU lens is missing its numeric descriptor from around the edge. It should say "19mm"
3. The TAU lens was flat ! That really looked odd. (Gloss black plastic sheet)
4. The LCD viewfinder looked too black compared to my units. (Gloss black plastic sheet)
5. The battery contacts were not missing, they had never been fitted ! Neither had the temperature sensors normally attached to them.

I contacted the seller and advised him that I believed the HS307 to be a dummy camera. The auction stated "Sold as seen in the pictures" so someone could get a nasty surprise if they bought it for £1500. I offered the seller what the unit is worth to me in case parts. He declined.

Today I revisited the auction as it had ended. I contacted the seller and the unit was still available and mine for £200. I asked the seller to open the front access panel, below which the SD card and USB ports reside, and send me a picture. He did and I attach the picture here.

What did it show ? ...... a lot of fresh air inside the casing ! As I had suspected, this unit is a sales dummy used for display only and intended to counter theft. Such units were common with mobile phones and PDA's etc. They show you the units design but are totally non functional dummy units of no value to a thief.

I advised the seller of my findings and confirmed that he had a dummy unit comprising just an empty case and no electronics whatsoever. He was shocked and clearly had not believed my earlier Communications. I advised that the unit was sadly not worth £200 to me in plastic parts. It was then that the seller revealed that he had paid a lot of money for the unit thinking it was a real HS307, just missing a lens surround, Eye cup and battery 'tray'. I felt sorry for him as he will likely make a significant loss on the unit. Someone conned him or if it was an auction item, he did not know what to check before bidding. Buyer beware and all that.

The seller has relisted the unit at £300 and, on my advice, made it clear that the unit is a dummy. Sadly I do not see anyone paying anything like £300 for what is a plastic case, some rubber buttons and dummy TAU lens barrel. I was interested in the ipunit as a curio as much as anything else but the seller has way too much money invested in it for me to be able to buy it for its true value.

The original auction is here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FLIR-HS-307-Pro-Handheld-Thermal-Imaging-Camera-O-/323530397317?ul_noapp=true&ul_ref=https%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F0%252Fe11051.m43.l1123%252F7%253Feuid%253D1295c10c6e694a1ca086192b56dfa0f9%2526bu%253D43215708310%2526loc%253Dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.ebay.co.uk%25252Fulk%25252Fitm%25252F323530397317%2526sojTags%253Dbu%253Dbu%2526srcrot%253De11051.m43.l1123%2526rvr_id%253D0%2526rvr_ts%253D1392f4a11670abc01fe607cafffe48ba&nma=true&si=huzM8Zg1qmatice%252FyD9N4MGyfiE%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Be very careful when buying expensive thermal cameras. Make sure they work, and if not, make sure they are complete with no screws missing etc.

Fraser

[Fraser]

I forgot to say.

I had also noted that the hot shoe was not showing its usual RCA connector poking out of one of the rear holes.

Even the Hot Shoe adapter visible in the pictures is just the plastic shell with no electronics.

Fraser

[Fraser]

Some pictures of what a FLIR HS should look like......

[Fraser]

You may wonder why the lens surround and Eye cup are missing.......

Those are actually operational parts identical to a real HS series scope. The Lens surround is actually a bayonet mount blanking assembly with integrated lens cap. It is removed in order to fit a X2 supplemental lens to the mount. These parts are now hard to source and expensive. Either they were stolen from the retail display (hence disposal of unit) or they were removed and sold separately by the original owner before selling the dummy casing.

Fraser

[Fraser]

The current auction with B.I.N of £300

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dummy-FLIR-HS-307-Pro-Handheld-Thermal-Imaging-Camera-O/223230332654?hash=item33f9908eee:g:ZYwAAOSwgSpb3C-R

Fraser

[cuda12]

I recently bought an as-is auction for a mint looking Vivax transmitter for utility locating, I figured to take it apart and fix whatever it needed as I have spare parts units, well it came and was really light yep a sales dummy! I contacted the seller who sold MM by fluke etc so he was no blind dummy but that is how he played it off. I did not lose to badly I will use the case to fix a working cosmetically challenged unit.

[Fraser]

Well someone had a need for an HS series shell ..... the unit sold !

I hope they are not disappointed with their purchase.

Fraser

[Fraser]

I know that system well. It is an early scanning thermal camera with a linear (strip) cooled imaging array. They rarely, if ever have any gas in the Cooler. Possibly part of decommissioning. Basically an interesting piece of kit to tear down but a £60 paperweight, none the less. There are basically no useful parts for use in modern thermal imaging. The lens is the best part, if provided.