hvhart Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 I am looking to buy a thermal imager with still and video capability for under $1000, hopefully around $500. Any suggestions from the experienced are most appreciated. I see some advertised for auto mechanics. Will these work for wildlife at a distance? Anybody have an Innova? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 (edited) I think the better one in that price range would be the FLIR Scout/Ocean (different colors) for around $500-$600. It has both photo and video capability along with brightness adjustment and switchhable color palettes. This is from a couple of camping trips. Distance is pretty good for the money along with fair resolution: Edited January 4, 2023 by hiflier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 (edited) For those who aren't familiar with thermal imaging technology the principle is that it works on temperature differentials. Basically if it's summertime and the ambient air temperature and foliage surfaces in a forest are running at, say, 95 degrees then an animal that has a body temperature also in the 90's may not show up very distinctly- if at all. However, put that same animal in an environment of 70 degrees or cooler and the temperature differences between the animals body heat in the environment will make it stand out. In the cold of winter that same animal will glow like crazy in a forest that has an ambient environmental temp of 40 degrees. Thermal imagers read surface temperatures so will not see through glass but instead will "read" the surface temperature of the glass. By the same token it will read the surfaces of anything between you and an animal which means an animal can be 20 ft away behind foliage and the thermal won't pick it up. I have used mine to locate cold spots in walls and around doors and windows in winter to locate where heat loss is occurring. My grandchildren used to have fun putting their bare hands and feet on a tile floor and looking at the residual "prints" left on the tile surface. Under the right conditions the device will pick up a warm hand print left on a tree or a warm footprint on the ground. I saw a video once where a hunter followed a fresh, warmer-than-the-ground blood trail with the device. And lastly, they are completely passive and so emit no light whatsoever as one takes the precaution to guard against light escaping from the display in the eyepiece. We've seen the heat signature from the supposed Yowie in Australia and other examples. So as long as one understands a thermal's principle, capabilities, and limitations, then knowing what to expect will help one in using the device to it's fullest potential. One more thing, thermal imagers work equally well day or night. Night temperatures tend to be cooler so chances of seeing some kind of a heat signature will be better. FYI the first and third images in my post was a daytime shot. The 2nd and fourth were at night. Edited January 5, 2023 by hiflier 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRockBigfoot Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 6 hours ago, hvhart said: I am looking to buy a thermal imager with still and video capability for under $1000, hopefully around $500. Any suggestions from the experienced are most appreciated. I see some advertised for auto mechanics. Will these work for wildlife at a distance? Anybody have an Innova? Thanks! Anything that you get for around $500 is going to be of limited use… especially at a distance. The Innovas are very short distance inspection cameras. I don’t think that you would be happy with them for wildlife viewing. Save up a little more and get an AGM Taipan TM15-384. You should be able to find it for a little over $1000. Otherwise, you are going to dump money into something that you are going to be unsatisfied with. I just checked. It looks like the Flir Scout TK has gone up to $650. You could previously find it under $500. It is in no way worth 650. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 (edited) Saw the FLIR TK Ocean on the GPS Store website for $509. Probably the best price without going used. Free ground shipping, too. They are currently back ordered but are expected to be available again around 1/20/2023. That's good because it means they might not have been sitting on a shelf somewhere for the past year or more. There is also a manufacturing date code which told me mine had been built only three months (10/02/2018) prior to me purchasing it. BRB, granted it doesn't have zoom capability but a large biped with no clothes on, and even a Human will stand out at 100 yds. That's about maximum with these devices for telling two legs of four. And since all thermals have limitations when it comes to ambient temperatures and obstructions this was one unit I could afford that does what I want it to do. If I had a thousand or three to drop on these things I would, but I didn't at the time and I still don't. I simply wanted to tip the scales in my favor because winter is my season and the perfect time to have such a device. If I see something standing and radiating heat out there at 50yds to 100yds away? And there's snow on the ground? Well then....it's done it's job and it will then be time for me to do mine Edited January 5, 2023 by hiflier 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiiawiwb Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 I agree with BRB's analysis about saving up for a better thermal if you can do so relatively quickly. The difference in what you can see and do with it is substantial in my opinion. If it will take a long while to acquire the marginal amount, I'd go with the FLIR Scout now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madison5716 Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 If you get a FLIR first, then save up for a better thermal, then you can bring a friend and have two looking out at the woods. We use ours like that. Mine is the FLIR, and I can see heat signatures, and then NorthWind uses his incredibly fantastic Pulsar thermal to actually see in detail what it is. Our 2020 sighting was on the FLIR - you can see it on my website - but if we'd had the Pulsar then we could have seen SO MUCH MORE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Agree with all Don't know what the Australian group was using but you'll have to agree that there really isn't much detail in the heat signature they got. But by no means did it not provide the parameters for strongly suggesting a Yowie. Follow up research in any thermal situation will always be needed as long as there is an image indicative of something worth pursuing. In my case a visual profile of something not wearing clothing or sporting eyeglasses that's looking my way from a distance this winter will be reason enough to go in and look for tracks. And that is my whole reason for having a thermal- even a low end one. It won't be proof, but the follow up might provide evidence that could lead to it. I doubt many if any of you would stop at the thermal once it showed a live subject. A thermal imager is only a means to an end, not the end in and of itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted January 5, 2023 Admin Share Posted January 5, 2023 This is the one I want. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRockBigfoot Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 I wouldn’t even recommend a FLIR right now. After how they have suddenly refused to service discontinued models, I wouldn’t buy anything with an internal battery from them. I would go with an entry level AGM before FLIR. AGM at least is trying to make their presence known in the market and offers great after sales support Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 I was actually in email contact with FLIR yesterday. I wrote them the evening before and first thing yesterday was a response. And it wasn't a boilerplate automated reply either. I told them I was experiencing contrast issues but upon further testing by myself is was due to nearly everything outside being at about the same 40 degree or so temperature. I scoped out a dog about 50 yards away this morning and it was easy to tell it was a four legged creature, i.e., a dog. Its signature was quite bright and readily apparent. I emailed FLIR and told them that the unit seems to be function fine and that I was in error. I purchased it in winter of 2019, which is nearly four years back now and the battery is still working perfectly, takes and holds a full charge normally. I had read that a factory battery replacement may be needed after two years (it may depend on usage?) but mine's still chugging away just after four. I don't lie on this Forum. Everything I've just written is the absolute truth. The FLIR TK Ocean has served me well and I couldn't be more pleased or have more confidence in its performance. But the bottom line is, and always has been: Pay more = get more. Not denying that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantiS Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 On 12/7/2022 at 5:40 PM, Marty said: Even if it were a Sasquatch there's literally no way to prove it. Yep.. you're right... makes no sense to post pictures and or videos on youtube or in forums or blogs, even the news agencies is no option... Best you can do is keep the proof to your self.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiiawiwb Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 Why does it make no sense? Wouldn't those pictures or videos be helpful to those who are curious about this subject matter and wish to start sasquatching on their own? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantiS Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 1 hour ago, wiiawiwb said: Why does it make no sense? Wouldn't those pictures or videos be helpful to those who are curious about this subject matter and wish to start sasquatching on their own? Sure it would be helpful, but it will also be very discouraging and insulting that 99% of the people who see the pictures making you out for a fraud and a faker.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 2 hours ago, wiiawiwb said: Why does it make no sense? Wouldn't those pictures or videos be helpful to those who are curious about this subject matter and wish to start sasquatching on their own? Yes, you are right in saying that. But I also agree that it wouldn't constitute proof. If proof is what one is after a thermal imager is a great tool to that end because if something gets sighted that has the characteristic of not being Human then it sets up a situation where one can go to the spot and look for the kind of evidence that, when analyzed, may LEAD to proof. I have never looked at a thermal as the last step in a process. It is only a means to an end. Sure, the Australian group had an amazing image....but where was that research heading as a result? Because all I saw what a daytime comparison for the supposed Yowie's size. No mention of any physical evidence collected from the site. My near-future project is to set up a bracket of sorts to mount a video camera next a thermal imager AND an audio recorder looking at the same point in order to get a visual/audio record of anything. Of course it would be a daytime thing if it ever happens at all. Would be kinda cool to have a triple record for study where one device might be able to support what the other devices may be capturing. And THEN go to the spot afterwards and look for physical evidence. And since most here prefer to work solo it would eliminate the need to have anyone along to run another device. All one would have to do is look at the display on the video camera with pre-aligned thermal looking at the same place while an audio recorder is running. I foresee the setup mounted to a light weight stationary tripod, or on top of a walking stick or monopod when hiking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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