Dan,

Thought I would give you an update on my Fluke Tir1 purchase.

I used it for the first time at yesterday's inspections. In the field I did not particularly like it. Ergonomicly and design wise I do but I REALLY noticed the resolution difference while using it. Much harder to use, requiring constant adjustment to focus to see things. I think it is a case of the IR reso lution being SO far beneath the onscreen resolution that it is very hard to focus.

This may not be something you would notice if it was your first camera. When i finished the day I was seriously considering exploring trying to return it and buying a Flir B360 with the high resolution. But with the market being like it is, and things being slow, I just hate the idea of spending 10k more.

Today, I compiled my reports from yesterday. I was really pleasantly surprised at how good the images looked on the computer and reports. They were very comparable to what I was producing before, better in some ways because of the advantages in the software.

So, where does this leave us? I still think it is possible that I might miss something in the field because of the lesser specs of this camera combined with the greater need for adjustment. Some of that may just be adjusting from my previous camera, but I think some is the configuration of the Fluke. If it were November of 2007 and I was booked two weeks in advanced like i was then, I would probably get the more expensive one. But I have to grudgingly say that I think this one is good enough and a great value. When things pick back up and or I can cultivate some reliable commercial or roof or straight IR work I might upgrade and make this my back up.

The bigest thing you get with the extra money and higher specs would appear to be ease of operation. This camera requires more work to do the same ting on my part. The other was pretty much point and shoot with minor focus adjustment.