u/Final_Editor_2400

Shot around 4 pm, I love it

Hi, all. I’m a plumber in Texas, and lately I’ve been looking for another handheld thermal camera for work. I borrowed a few from coworkers and compared them to the one I already own. Most of these are older models and only show up on eBay. The prices are listed prices, not actual selling prices. I just wanted to see if they’re worth using in real work.

First is my Hikmicro H21 Pro. I mainly bought it because it’s so light. It shows emissivity, distance, battery, temperature points, and all the other information directly on the screen while scanning, which is convenient, but it also makes the image area feel cramped. One reason I have been thinking about replacing it is the screen. It is pretty small, and the vertical layout is not great for the kind of work I do. Most of the time I use thermal cameras for finding leaks, and sometimes it feels easier to just use a phone thermal camera. I also did not realize until I compared it with other cameras how long the calibration pause is on this thing. Sometimes it freezes for over two seconds. The thing that annoys me the most though is the gallery. You cannot preview photos properly. It only shows file names, so you have to open pictures one by one to find what you are looking for. After using it this long, I am tired of dealing with that.

The FLIR E5 was loaned to me from an old work buddy. Even though it is an older camera and the resolution is nothing special now, the sensitivity is impressive. I checked a few hot spots and cold spots around jobs and it reacted very fast. But it only gives you a center point, max, and min temperature. Sometimes I just need the temp difference between two spots, and that didn’t work. There is barely enough room for the cable, so every time you plug it in the cable gets bent. My coworker already had electrical tape wrapped around that area, so I am guessing it is a common problem. The gaps around the body are also large. I had the same issue with one of my older FLIR phone thermal cameras. It is annoying to clean.

The Testo 868 came from the same coworker. When he handed it to me he said, Nobody would pick this thing today. After turning it on, I understood why right away. The image quality is blurry. It does have super resolution, but it does not help. If anyone used one before, let me know if mine’s normal or something’s off with it. One thing I did like was the menu controls. It uses a directional pad instead of making you press stiff buttons, and that felt good to use. I won't go into other details. Given its price, its image quality would disappoint nearly everyone.

The Fluke TiS60 was the heaviest one by far, but also the most solid feeling. I borrowed this one from work. I don’t think I’d spend this kind of money on one. Even used on eBay they still go for over two thousand dollars. Honestly, cameras like this are usually bought more for company image than regular daily use. It’s an old device, yet it still delivers decent clarity. However, its smoothness has declined, and ghosting appears occasionally during use. The charging port also annoyed me because it uses a special Fluke charger instead of something standard. Here's another annoying issue. The original data cable is missing. Customer support suggested using app for transfer, but my phone can't connect to the device. I cant export the photos I need.

A younger coworker brought in Thermal Master Thor001. I did not expect much from it, but it surprising me. The first thing I noticed was the screen size. It looked huge compared to the others. Later I checked the specifications and saw it has a 3.5 inch display. The image looks clean. It allows manual adjustment of the blending ratio between infrared and visible light images, while many devices do not support this function. I used that feature while checking moisture behind a bathroom wall. It made it much easier to locate and follow the pipe without opening more drywall than needed. However, the menu system goes very deep and there are a lot of functions buried in there. I see why some people would want those features, but for my daily plumbing work, I don't need them.