Everyone call FLIR now. I don't know how long this NACHI deal will last.

[jmichalski]

Originally Posted by jwisecup

Joseph, I think this is a great camera for the price. It would work well for home inspections. The reporting software is easy to use. With the prices continuing to drop, I think that Thermal imaging is going to continue to pick up, in the next 5 years I expect at least half of all inspectors to use this tool.

With that said, the reasons I did not buy this camera last year was I am used to a higher picture resolution and I found a used camera for the same price with higher resolution. Since that was what I was used to with my old Flir Prism (12-14 years old, very heavy and no longer supported by Flir, but man, what a great picture), thats what i bought.
I also have a IRISYS 1000- not a good picture at all-wouldn't put it in my reports. If you are thinking of buying one of these-also known as Wahl-CALL ME!! Some of the other Wahl models may be good-but the one I have was alittle over 2 grand, and, well like I said, call me before you buy this one.
Sorry this is so long but to wrap it up here the picture resolution stats(may not be exact-but close
FLir cam 160 by 120 (I think the b-cam is the same)
Iri sys 1000 120 by 96
Raython Ir Pro 320 by 240 (one I currently use)
Hope this helps,
Jamie

TOTALLY helpful! Thanks! That's just the insight I was looking for. How do you think the Flir model advertised above would compare to getting a used one of higher quality (as you seem to have done)? Just trying to benefit from your wisdom...

[Jeremiah Anderson]

Another thing to consider when looking at cameras is the range of color pallets available on the camera and the ability of the software to further refine the image once downloaded to your computer. The software that supports the BCAM's is easy to use, allows for further refinement of images, and best of all its free with the purchase of a new camera--not something you will typically find when purchasing used.

Sure the FLIR BCAM SD may not have the best resolution out there; however, what impressed me the most was the additional features such as the color pallets, dewpoint and insulation alarms, laser spot meter and not to mention the advertised 7-hour battery life and 1,000 picture capacity. In my opinion the cost associated with a higher resolution camera is not worth it for the needs of a property maintenance inspection. Of course if one is doing more sophisticated inspections FLIR offers cameras for those applications at a higher price.

The people at FLIR have clearly studied the needs of property maintenance inspections and come up with a camera that fits those needs at an affordable price and have an excellent marketing effort underway. This is marketing at its best.

[Timothy J. Gardner]

I've just purchased the Bcam SD model - PE's price is exactly the same as Flir's, only without the 2% NACHI discount.

I also had a hard time getting Flir responding to my requests, even when I said I want to buy now! It seems they have a strict information/sales quote pipeline that is bottlenecked in the sales dept. I threatened (tongue in cheek) to buy another brand and it still took 45 minutes to get someone to take my order.

Never had such a hard time getting somone to take my money!

I hope their product support is more responsive.

TG

[Jeremiah Anderson]

Originally Posted by tgardner

I've just purchased the Bcam SD model - PE's price is exactly the same as Flir's, only without the 2% NACHI discount.

I also had a hard time getting Flir responding to my requests, even when I said I want to buy now! It seems they have a strict information/sales quote pipeline that is bottlenecked in the sales dept. I threatened (tongue in cheek) to buy another brand and it still took 45 minutes to get someone to take my order.

Never had such a hard time getting somone to take my money!

I hope their product support is more responsive.

TG

I was lucky to find a local sales represenative who covers three states was only a 20 minute drive away. He had a demo unit and allowed me to try it out. They have been very easy to work with.

[phinsperger]

Can someone enlightlen me as to why IR cameras are so expensive. Is it simply a mater of supply and demand ot is there patent technology holding the price. China should be able to make this cameras for about the same as video camera.

[ekartal6]

The prices will drop when there are more than four companies making them.

[John McKenna]

I wrote FLIR an email and this was included in some of the
response:

"I would recommend the Building Science course over Level I.
It is a certification course and will deal with the building
industry much more than Level I."

So... how much is the total package for:

THERMAL IMAGING CAMERA?
TRAINING?
SOFTWARE?

Is there free training anywhere?

[Lawrence G. Harrington, Jr.]

Hey Nick,
How about talking to FLIR about a group buy, instead of the 2% deal. Example:
50 purchase = $5800
100 purchases = $5400
150 purcuases = $5000

or something like that. 2% ain't nothen. But thanks for trying.

[wforsyth]

That's what I've been working on. It only makes sense for a large group. 2% like you said is nothing. 10%, 15%...then we're starting to get somewhere.