I am going to buy IR camera what is your recommendation? Thanks!
I purchased the Flir ThermaCAM B-CAM from Professional Equipment
I’m glad we can help.
I think it doesn’t matter which one you go with when it comes to the Fluke or Flir. I haven’t heard anyone talk bad about the one they buy.
whispering - Between you and me, you should have bought the Fluke.
Congrats Mark and welcome to the IR family.
Please do yourself a favor and participate in a training session with regards to properly utilizing and properly detecting the images on your B-Cam. There are going to be many IR images that appear to be detecting defects but in fact, are absolutely fine.
Any questions regarding IR, please don’t be shy. We are here for ya.
Mark,
Professional Equipment has a statement below the thermal cameras that says that they cannot ship FLIR products to Canada and other dealers say the same. I am wondering if this has changed, I was dealing with a sales rep from another supplier (NOT PROFESIONAL EQUIPMENT) who sent me a e-mail solicitation about the new I5 and it stated that Demo models were available. So I contacted them and spoke to a sales rep and explained that I am attending the IR training that John McKenna is putting on in Toronto and asked if they could provide a Demo model for the course as a number of inspectors would be there who would like to see this camera in action and it might be a good promo oppurtunity for them. Plus it will better allow me to compare cameras between the Bcam, TIR, I5 etc. Well he said he was going to definately check with the suppliers and see what can be done and would be in touch with me at the end of the day or by Monday. This was 3 weeks ago, 3-4 call backs and messages left by me , one of the last ones was after being left on hold for over 12 minutes and not a single returned call. I am not going to name said company but I think other NACHI inspectors received their e-mail about a month ago. If this is the way they operate I am definately going to look else where, they may not be able to ship the camera to Canada but they can ship other products that I definately will not order through them now. Sorry about my rant but I don't know where customer service has gone, and if Professional Equipment worked well with you maybe I will look into them.WRT Canada-US issues and imagers. I just had the Fluke rep here (Ottawa, ON) last Wednesday. He confirmed that the cross border restriction is still very much there, indeed it goes both ways - i.e. if I want to sell my used imager, I can’t sell it to a US buyer.
Basically, if you buy the imager in the States, the warranty dies at the border and you can’t register it. If something breaks and you need it serviced, a Canadian repair depot can’t work on it and the moment you ship it to source, it will be seized.
I had this same discussion a while back with FLIR Canada, asking them why their Canadian prices were so much higher than the US. Basically, I was told it was not a competing market due to the border restrictions.
All that said, I have a FLuke Ti25 that I was able to get for the same price as the best US location I could find. It has .1C sensitivity, my experience has been it’s a bit better than that. Depending on what you do, you may want to look at this unit or the TiR1, which has 0.07C sensitivity but a narrower temp range. I’m happy with the performance of my unit, its build quality and the ability to export thermal data in non-proprietary format, important for me as I use the data in larger, external applications.
Although they are less expensive, the Ti10 and TiR aren’t as sensitive or as accurate as I needed, but you can check out all the options on this link
http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/ThermographySelect.htm
I hope this helps.
Cheers
-John
Congrats Mark… good choice.
Are you intending to say the other would be a bad choice?
Thank you everyone and I definately plan on taking the training. Do you think the online training through NACHI TC for $199 is good enough to start using my new camera in home inspections?
Uggh, thats not good news. I didnt read the fine print. I paid for it online with Visa on a Saturday night around midnight. So, I will haveto call them Monday morning and look into it further. I hope they can ship to Canada. Otherwise, do you know of any place I can get a Flir B-CAM in Canada for the same price? I will let you know what they say about the shipping when I contact them.
I am shopping and comparing to Mark, let me know what they have to say and good luck. I believe other Canadian Inspectors have purchased cameras from the U.S. I am just wondering if things have changed since they bought theirs or if this is just a territorial thing for distributors.
FLIR rocks… nothing against other brands.
Fluke Rocks… nothing against John.
Mark,
May I ask how much you invested in your camera?
Bill
My order from Professional equipment is canceled due to restrictions of shipping to Canada. I talked to FLIR Canada this morning 1.800.613.0507 and they are offering the B-CAM SD ($4995) for the same price as Professional equipment although they do not have the older model B-CAM in stock. So, it appears I am going to get the SD model, not that it is any better? Resolution appears to be the same…
Thanks Mark! I better start saving my pennies alot more. Did you ever find out if the $199 online class was sufficient to get you certified?
Bill
IR rocks!! 
(but a Fluke owner at heart)
[size=2]But I got to operate a FLIR B360 and thought it was pretty nice.
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Glad you are still going to get a camera for the same money Mark, looks like I’ll have to give FLIR Canada a call. Good luck with IR business!
Ditto.
All Flir IR cameras are the same exact price, no matter where you look. It’s not worth researching for better prices.
If you find a distributor in your area, simply purchase the camera of your choice. There are no deals on these cameras, no matter where you look.