Future of IR Thermal Imaging - (buy now or wait) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: hgg
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2014, 07:42:13 am
content: Hi everyone,I always wanted to buy an IR thermal imaging camera but the high cost was always prohibiting.Its a great tool with countless applications.I have decided to go with the FLIR E4 camera which looks like a very nice price/features combo.The cost is still relatively high at 1200e in Europe.There is also the new iPhone Flir accessory which doesn't look bad, but I am not a real friendof the 'fallen humanity' paradigm ... Apple. Besides that, it has only a 2 hour battery life max.Finally the economical solution from Fluke VT02 is a joke in my opinion with very low resolutionwhich can only be useful at very short distances from the objects being photographed.That's why I have decided to go with the FLIR E4.My question though is, shall I go with the E4 or should I wait more? It looks like that the pricesof thermal imaging devices are starting to fall. Does anybody have any info for any new camerassimilar or better than the E4 which will sell at lower prices in the near future?Thank you.George.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2014, 09:48:47 am
content: Even the un-hacked E4 was probably about the best value at the time, the hacked one is streets ahead of anything.If you're on a budget, you may find an old i3 a bit cheaper (dealers will be keen to clear old stock), which can be hacked to 160x120.The FlirOne is nowhere near being the same thing, and not competing with the likes of the E4.

author: hgg
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2014, 10:04:16 am
content: Hello Mike,The thing with the Flir i3 is that it does not have the MSX edge detection which I think it a greatway to view thermal images.

author: emptech
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2014, 07:00:21 am
content: I'm new to this forum, just discovered it via a youtube video on the e4. I purchased an e40 about a year ago. It suits my needs, I looked at several models, comparing Fluke and FLIR. Although I own lots of Fluke equipment, I felt that Fluke just purchased a company, didn't really design the equipment as FLIR did.I've had problems with my e40, their documentation stinks. You would think that for all that money, they would have some detailed info on their product. I've used their tech support, but have found out more about the camera by just playing with it. More recently my problems have been connecting to a mobile hot spot on an android phone and viewing the live video remotely, finally got it working.It would seem reasonable that the binary file that is downloaded to the device could be patched, we've done it for years on Motorola two way radios, etc, and it seems that's whats happening on the e4.So that being said, anybody played with an e40 yet?Jim

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2014, 09:24:40 am
content: Quote from: emptech on January 18, 2014, 07:00:21 amI think at least one E40 user reported in the E4 teardown thread that they had managed to hack to E60 spec with a method very similar to the E4.A lot of people would like to know what wifi hardware is in the Ex0 series to see if can be added to the E4 - any chance of a teardown...?

author: emptech
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2014, 04:29:12 am
content: Mike:I'm usually not afraid to take things apart, don't mind lifting the hood to see what's inside. I've done sowith cameras, lenses, etc. Looking for screws, I've seen three above the LCD, but there are probably morehidden elsewhere, perhaps under the lens ring which has to be removed to add an auxiliary lens. I don'thave the time to take it apart right now, too many other unfinished projects.What would you be looking for, a module plugged into the main board?I wish somebody would make up a flow chart with all the camera settings. The user manual could be a lotbetter.I remember many years ago, patching data files to be downloaded to a device, having to re-calculatechecksums in order for the s/w to accept the modified files. I suppose creating a new CRC would be about thesame.One thing, I sure don't want to brick this camera, I paid about $4K for it.If anybody out there has any questions about this model I can answer, I'll try.FLIR could have done better with their tripod socket. There is a threaded hole but no way a tripod couldbe attached. FLIR sells an adapter, got to hold one once, pretty mickey mouse. I machined my own, muchbetter than theirs. It's nice to have a machine shop, sorry, no cnc here.What video editing program do you use? I used to use Media Studio Pro, they got bought out by Corel,who killed the product. I since moved to Magix, but am not impressed.Jim

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2014, 09:02:37 am
content: Quote from: emptech on January 22, 2014, 04:29:12 amThe case looks similar to the E4 - take a look at the E4 teardown vid - there are screws hidden behind the lens surround.QuoteCould be a plug-in module, could be on the main board - should'nt be hard to spot as it will be in a shielding can.QuoteSony Vegas (the cheapest version).

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2014, 12:00:22 pm
content: Reference the tripod socket adapter.... I wish FLIR had bothered to include one on the E4. Even a poorly positioned one is better than none at all ! I saw a 3D Plastic adapter for the Exx series on thingiverese. Looked pretty good.http://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=flirThey named it "FLIR Camera Tripod Mount"

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 24, 2014, 12:33:21 pm
content: Quote from: emptech on January 22, 2014, 04:29:12 amLike Mike I use Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12. Have never found a need for the full Vegas package.Used to use Corel (ULEAD) Video Studio, but Sony was faster and had better audio waveform display editing ability.I really liked NCH VideoPad but it had compatibility issues with my camera files.