I'm buying a Infrared Camera - please help

[tv84]

Hi all,

Today i'm asking the forum for advice on buying an infrared camera (thermal imager). First time in this Section of the forum...

My target would be a handheld, at least 320x240 resolution, with a max price around 500-600 Euros (or USD).

No specific task for it. Just as another toy to inspect electric equipments, house cooling, etc...

A quick search on the web lead me to the Perfect Prime IR0019 but I have no experience in this field and would deeply appreciate your opinions, suggestions or experiences.

BTW, I also find interesting a FLIR E4 modded to E8 (i love these upgrades... )... Is this better than my previous scenario or just not worthy the extra cash?

TIA

[RBsonic]

If you can work with USB dongle, I would recomand T3Pro or HT-301. They both have same hardware and cost about 600 Euro on aliexpress. Their advantages is a big 13mm lens, 384x288 sensor resolution and 25Hz framerate. But they can work only with android smartphone. You can easy find some reviews for these thermal cameras in this forum.

[Bill W]

If you are looking for a full camera, and don't mind a bit of a project you could also consider eBay second hand fire cameras.
Several have teardowns on here, and also a few 'tear ups' making cameras from the internals after binning the cases.

regards
Bill

[tv84]

If you are looking for a full camera, and don't mind a bit of a project you could also consider eBay second hand fire cameras.

Bill, thanks. Do you have any model suggestions?

[Bill W]

For a Raytheon BST (320x240) :
EEV / Marconi Argus2 and Argus3 (yellow)
ISG Talisman K90 as the recent thread
Bullard T4 (less common in europe)
I will also soon have some reclaimed but tested cores available.


For a Raytheon ASi (160x120 20Hz)
EEV / Marconi Argus3 (blue)
Bullard T3
My 'new old stock' as mentioned by Fraser

ULIS sensor cores
ISG
Recent E2V/Avon MiTIC/P/T - not really into the second hand market yet

ITC cores
ISG E380 (some of them)

The E2V Argus4 and ISG K1000 etc are more integrated cameras, so not so easy to split and rebuild to your own satisfaction.

Another plus with the EEV/Marconi/E2V is the level of support from myself (designed and built them) and Fraser (having taken several apart).

regards
Bill

[kerouanton]

First post after... 2 years probably off the forum. Guess my post is obsolete and you already have acquired what you wanted, anyway here's my 2 cents. I do have a modded E4 since 2015 and am quite happy with it. Many great uses and definitely part of my best acquisitions. However since lots of years have elapsed, there is obviously more performant and less expensive devices out there. Hope you found what you wanted anyway.

Note that framerate and resolution are limited by international regulations, as those devices can theorically be dual-use for military. I wonder if anyone studied the firmware (E4 runs on... Windows CE!)

[Fraser]

Kerouanton,

Be happy with your E4  It remains the best value for money “all in one” camera on the market as it is still upgradeable to E8+ specification and few other cameras have had their firmware studied in such depth. The E4 remains a very competent performer and do not think that some more recent cameras with “prettier pictures” are better than it. There is a trend in the market to prioritise pretty pictures above Radiometric performance and accuracy. That is fine fir many users but the E4 is built around a solid FLIR core design similar to the Exx series and it delivers good Radiometric performance as a result. Less image processing, yes, but thermographers tend not to worry about pretty pictures, just decent accurate data  What has been achieved by this forums members in terms of upgrades to the E4 fixes it firmly in thermographic history as a breakthrough in affordable thermal imaging without sacrificing too much performance in the process. That was NOT what FLIR intended of course but came about due to the upgrade to full resolution, removal of the false noise and addition of useful additional features normally only found on Exx series and above cameras.

I sold my beloved E4 earlier this year because I did not use it. I bought an E40 and upgraded it to E60+ specification and that is my primary lab thermal camera. The poor E4 did not get a look-in so it deserved to find a home where it would be used. The Exx series are significantly more expensive than the Ex series but they do have a performance advantage over the cheaper Ex models thanks to a better lens, manual focus and more functionality.