PROS: High Infrared Resolution, low price, great thermal sensitivity, large internal memory and screen size
CONS: Noisy images, Manual is full of typos and bad english
| Product | Type | Resolution | Battery capacity | Waterproof | LCD screen | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PerfectPrime IR0018 | Handheld | 220 x 160 | 18650mah | No | 3.2″ | Click for more info |
PerfectPrime IR0018 Specifications
| Type | Handheld |
|---|---|
| Resolution | 220 x 160 |
| Pixels | 35200 pixels |
| Connectivity | USB Micro-B |
| Temperature range | 4 -> 572°F( -15.5 to 300 ?) |
| Accuracy | +/- 2 °F |
| Thermal sensitivity | 0.07? |
| Distance | |
| Storage Type | SD Card |
| Battery capacity | 18650mah |
| Dimensions | 9 x 4 x 3.3 inches |
| LCD screen | 3.2″ |
| Refresh rate | 9 Hz |
| Applications | Surface Temperature, Hardware Troubleshooting, Electrical Wiring, Heat Leakage |
| View Angle | 27° x 35° |
| Features | Waterproof, Dustproof, Manual Focus, Visual Camera |
PerfectPrime IR0018 – Specs & Review
This is the PerfectPrime IR0018 handheld thermal camera. You’ll find it on Amazon by its full chinese name: “PerfectPrime IR0018 Infrared Thermal Imager Camera with IR Resolution 35,200 Pixels & Temperature Range from-4~572°F, 9 Hz Refresh Rate, Black”. If the design seems familiar, you’re not wrong because it is very similar to the Hti HT-18. The shape, the cover on the lens, the buttons and the layout, everything is almost identical.
My assumption is that they are being built by one supplier and then rebranded. I’ve read about a user who has a home inspection business who relied on Flir cameras but gave the IR0018 a try and got the same level of results. And he is not alone, people have been using these low-cost PerfectPrime thermal cameras to inspect their HVAC, to diagnose their car engine and have been successful at it.
On the back it has the infrared sensor and also a 640 x 480 image resolution visual camera for image enhancement by applying an image overlay.
Let’s go into the software and menu a bit in our PerfectPrime IR0018 review.
The first thing you notice is the main screen, showing you the thermal image. Over the thermal image you have some additional elements.
You get 3 spot thermal measurements on this infrared IR thermal imager. The center spot which is fixed and the other two moving spots which show the coldest and hottest points. What I like is that unlike other thermal cameras, it also shows you the temperature next to them. There is also a color scale on the right side of the screen. You can turn all of these off if you want from the settings menu.
The device lets you choose between 5 modes when it comes to image blending. The first two options are to have only the infrared image or the visible light image. Then there are 3 levels in between: 25%, 50% or 75%. You can easily toggle between them.
You have 5 color palettes to choose from that include Cool, Iron, Black, White and of course Rainbow. It would be great if the color scale would have the lowest and highest values displayed because it gives you a better understanding of the temperature differences and helps you associate color with an approximate temperature.
One important feature is to adjust the image registration which basically means visual and thermal image alignment. Whenever you change the angle and distance, there may or may not be a slight misalignment, which you can correct through this calibration process.
The camera lets you change the emissivity depending on how shiny the material you are inspecting is. The shinier the less emissivity, that’s the rule. 0.88 is the one if you want to check the human body temperature at the forehead, I know this might be useful these days.
Now, let’s have a look at the settings menu, where you get a few options:
- The Auto Power-Off feature that turns the camera off after 5 or 20 minutes which can be deactivated.
- Adjusting the screen brightness, be it low, medium or high.
- The language can be changed between English, Chinese, Italian and German.
- You can adjust the temperature units to either show Celsius or Fahrenheit.
- Date and time down to the second can be set.
- The center spot measurement can also be turned off.
PerfectPrime IR0018 – Thermal imaging quality
The IR0018 thermal imager camera has an infrared resolution of 220 x 160 pixels totaling 35,200 pixels, narrowly beating out the competition that it has in its price range where 32,000 pixels is the average. The 220 x 160 resolution looks sharp and crisp on the 3.2″ LCD.
Since the camera has two kinds of sensors, an infrared sensor and a visual camera which outputs visible images it can blend the two images together providing you with much more defined outlines and shapes for the objects that you are measuring. It is certainly not at the same level as Flir’s MSX image enhancement technology, in fact there is a great chance it only overlays the visual image from the visible light camera and the IR infrared image without performing any kind of noise reduction or sharpening like the Flir cameras do. But the PerfectPrime’s advantage is that you can change the degree of image blending however you want.
The images are exported in JPG format, but they do not store radiometric data. What is that? It is basically thermal data showing the temperature for every pixel in the image. Why is that useful? If the data is stored, you can change the color palette, color scale and take measurements in different points after the thermal image was taken.
In terms of refresh rate, the camera can achieve a 9Hz frame rate and there it can’t get better at least for now while EAR Export Regulations in the US stay this way. The camera doesn’t have a manual focus mode.
The only problem is that there is more noise in the image than what you would get from a Flir camera. The images are usable though, but the noise is more noticeable in areas where there is low thermal contrast, basically where the temperature differences between the objects in view are very small.
PerfectPrime IR0018 – Temperature Range, Accuracy
So what about this camera’s temperature range? It can measure anywhere between 4 -> 572°F( -15.5 to 300 C). Now the thermal scope is different from the operating temperature and storage temperature range, so you need to be aware of that, don’t expose it to too much heat. We found this to be usable in most environments, whether it is electrical inspection for fuses that might overheat to inspecting a car engine to see if all pistons are running properly.
For a low-cost infrared imager, its sensor has a fine thermal sensitivity with only a 0.07° C needed in order to trigger a change in measurement. The measuring accuracy is as good as it can be, since the camera has a thermal accuracy of +/- 2° C.
The viewing angle is a bit narrow with a 27° x 35° field of view with the shortest focus length being 0.5m, that’s how much you need to be away from the object you are measuring for the pixels in the images to be as sharp as possible.
PerfectPrime IR0018 – Battery life & Memory
This moderately cheap thermal camera has 3GB of internal memory built-in which PerfectPrime claim can store over 2 million images, but those calculations need to be verified. The point is that you can store more thermal images than you can inspect in a lifetime.
In terms of battery, the camera has a 18650mah built-in rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery that will ensure at least a few hours of thermal imaging. But I wanted to be sure that other people have the same viewpoint, so I went to Amazon and by looking over people’s experiences with the IR0018 I have noticed that there were no complaints on battery life. The only problem is that the battery is hard to replace because the enclosure is glued together.
This handheld thermal imager has a 3.2″ full angle TFT display. The color display screen is clearly visible in daylight and it has a decent resolution. Its brightness can be adjusted for power saving. Its dimensions are 90 x 105 x 223 mm and it only weighs 389g, so it has the standard gun size, making it compact and easy to hold just like most hand tools.
One thing to note is that the user manual for this handheld thermal imaging camera doesn’t provide very accurate instructions and it is full of typos, so you are better off trying things yourself and figuring them out. In the box you’ll find a lanyard power supply / charger, printed manual and a micro USB cable.
It uses an SD Card as a storage medium with a 3GB memory card included in the package.
So where can you use the IR0018 thermal imager camera? You can detect electrical heating and air conditioning issues, so it can be used as an HVAC thermal camera. It also has applications in mechanical equipment failures, solar panel evaluation, night vision but also heating and plumbing problems like water leaks.
People use it to check for roof leaks or missing and compromised insulation too. Wherever there are hot spots, this camera’s IR sensor will detect them.
Perfect Prime also makes other great thermal imaging devices like the PerfectPrime IR0019 and PerfectPrime IR0280
