The fixed-focus camera works between 30cm (12 inches) and 550m (1,800 ft) and the 2.4-inch color screen is protected with Gorilla Glass.
The simple menu system provides access to other useful features too, such as Level and Span adjustments (a little like manual exposure, allowing you to isolate a thermal range), and Emissivity adjustments (manual or pre-sets). There’s also a 300 lumen LED light, should you want to surprise someone you’ve spotted in the dark.
For our money, that makes it the best thermal-imaging camera for night use today.Ĭombined with its 15Hz refresh rate (most are 9Hz), it can easily be used to spot animals or people in the dark, or through dense foliage. While the FLIR C-Series produces useful images in good light via MSX, this camera can do so at any time, since it doesn’t rely on visual light to boost its resolution.
FLIR Tools is available for Windows, iOS and Android, though the Mac version has been discontinued (despite MacBooks appearing in FLIR’s promo shots). If you can stretch to it, the C5 model adds more analysis features and Wi-Fi so you can get images to your phone and to your software.įLIR’s analysis software, FLIR Tools, allows you to change the color palettes and take readings from 4,800 measurement points in the image files, a little like using the eyedropper in Photoshop. The ability to type notes in via a touch keyboard can be handy, too. Of course the low resolution boosted with visual only works in good light, so a small LED light is provided, although that only offers limited assistance at night.īoth versions have a 3-inch touchscreen and can store around 500 images onboard to transfer via Micro USB. The visual camera can also provide a picture-in-picture option. This patented method uses an edge-detection algorithm on the higher-resolution visual light image, overlaying this with the IR image to make the picture easier to comprehend. The IR maxes out at 160 x 120 on the pricier C5, allowing it to take advantage of Flir’s MSX technology. With a rugged body that’ll survive a bit of workplace rough-and-tumble, both have two cameras and a 5 megapixel optical lens. The FLIR C3-X and FLIR C5 (opens in new tab) are good-looking compact thermal imagers that are well suited to DIYers and contractors.