PROS: Low price, 6-hour battery life, SD Card slot, wide temperature range, Image blending (Visual + Infrared).
CONS: Low IR resolution, Low Refresh Rate.
| Product | Type | Resolution | Battery capacity | Waterproof | LCD screen | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PerfectPrime IR0002 | Handheld | 60 x 60 | 1.5V x 4 Alkaline Battery, 6 hours | No | 2.4″ | Click for more info |
PerfectPrime IR0002 Specifications
| Type | Handheld |
|---|---|
| Resolution | 60 x 60 |
| Pixels | 3600 pixels |
| Connectivity | |
| Temperature range | -4°F to 572°F (-20°C to 400°C) |
| Accuracy | +/-2°C |
| Thermal sensitivity | 0.15°C |
| Distance | |
| Storage Type | SD Card |
| Battery capacity | 1.5V x 4 Alkaline Battery, 6 hours |
| Dimensions | 10.1 x 6.3 x 3.8 inches |
| LCD screen | 2.4″ |
| Refresh rate | 6Hz |
| Applications | Detect spills and leaks of chemicals, HVAC, Fire fighting, Locate the source of abnormal leaking of heat, Enable drug-enforcement, Moisture detection, Measure body temperatures, Night vision, Building inspection |
| View Angle | 20° x 20° |
| Features | Waterproof, Dustproof, Manual Focus, Visual Camera |
PerfectPrime IR0002 – Specs & Review
The PerfectPrime IR0002 is a neat little handheld thermal imager for a very attractive price.
If you look on the back of the device you’ll notice 3 key things: An infrared sensor, a visible light camera and an LED lighting lamp. This is because the IR0002 overlaps a visual image over a thermal image.
But let’s look beyond the datasheet and manufacturer specs and see what it is like to use it in real life.
When you are capturing thermal images, you’ll notice that there are 3 spots on the screen, a fixed center spot thermal measurement (for which the temperature is shown on the upper left corner) and two dynamic spots that constantly move and show the location of the hottest spot and coldest spot. The dynamic points don’t display the temperature, just the spot. If you don’t want the dynamic spots, you can just turn them off.
You can choose how much you want to blend the thermal image and visual image in 25% increments, so 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. To seamlessly switch between them, you press the left and right buttons. My favorite is between 50% and 75% because it lets me clearly see the thermal heatmap while still having the outlines and edges of the objects in picture.
To capture an image, you just press the trigger. If you hold it for 5 seconds, the LED light will turn on. In terms of color palette, you have a choice of: High-Contrast, Spectra, Iron, White and Black.
There is also the option to adjust the emissivity between 0.01 and 1.0. Now most of the time you won’t have to adjust it, but when you are measuring shiny metals, human skin it is worth adjusting it manually to get a more accurate measurement. It is the same with the ambient temperature. All of these settings take a little time to adjust but they add up to a big difference.
In the settings menu you can change the date and time, the brightness of the screen and the temperature units (Either Fahrenheit or Celsius).
PerfectPrime IR0002 – Thermal imaging quality
First of all the resolution is not something to brag about, the IR resolution is 60 x 60 pixels totaling a number of 3600 pixels, falling just about 1200 pixels short of the industry average in this price category.
But the infrared vision camera is also supported by a 0.3 megapixel visible light camera. The image enhancement algorithm overlaps the two images together. What I’ve noticed on several thermal cameras with lower infrared resolution is that they are much more usable if they have this feature. When using just low-res IR you always have to try and make sense of what is going on in the picture.
The images are captured in BMP format but without having the thermal data embedded in the image for each pixel as this is a non-radiometric thermal imaging camera. It is worth pointing out that at this price we didn’t expect this thermographic feature.
The refresh rate is lower than you would expect from an infrared camera, it only has a frame rate of 6Hz. This means that the image is updated only 6 times a seconds, so don’t expect much smoothness. It is also a fixed focus camera, so there is no manual focus mode.
PerfectPrime IR0002 – Temperature Range, Accuracy
The PerfectPrime IR0002 thermal imager has a narrow viewing angle making it suitable to detect heat in smaller areas and since it is so narrow, more detail will come out from the sensor. Usually the wider the viewing angle the more pixels you need in the image.
In terms of temperature measurement accuracy, this thermal camera performs very well with a +/-2°C accuracy, the standard for measurement precision in most cameras in its price range.
Then there is the issue of the temperature range that this camera can detect. According to PerfectPrime, it is -4°F to 572°F (-20°C to 400°C). As far as normal usage is concerned, it should be able to perform thermal detection in most types of inspections and troubleshooting.
The last spec from the datasheet that we will be looking at is the thermal sensitivity which is rated at 0.15°C which means that there needs to be a 0.15°C change in temperature for the camera to pick up on it.
PerfectPrime IR0002 – Battery life & Memory
When we look at the storage options, things look perfect. The camera has an SD Card slot so you can expand the internal memory as much as you want. The device comes with a 4GB SD Card included in the package but some buyers have reported that they received a 16GB memory card.
Then we get to the battery and here things get interesting because the IR0002 doesn’t have an internal battery, instead it uses 4 AA batteries that will offer you a 6-hour battery life, so it is very energy-efficient and thus it offers 2 hours more than what the average thermal camera in this class offers. The advantage here would be that the batteries are easily replaceable.
Bear in mind, if you plan to use this professionally for things like temperature screening, you will probably need to buy rechargeable batteries together with a charger as it is more cost-effective. For occasional home use where you just want to see if the fuses overheat, if the heater or AC are working properly and the windows are properly insulated, you might get away with normal batteries.
In terms of build quality, the camera feels nice to hold, of course the casing is mostly plastic and it is not waterproof or dustproof as PerfectPrime has not provided an IP rating for it.
The camera comes with a 2.4″ LCD, just shy of the 2.8″ standard that you will find on thermal imagers that cost the same.
In terms of warranty, you get a 2-year warranty for the camera and there is a 60-day money back policy from PerfectPrime.
