A thermal camera is a very handy tool to have, and [Learn Electronics Repair] wanted to try out the Thermal Master P2 for electronic repair, especially since it claims to have a 15 X digital zoom and 1.5 degree accuracy. The package proudly states the device is the “World 2nd Smallest Thermal Camera” — when only the second best will do.
The camera is tiny and connects to a PC or directly to a tablet or phone via USB C. However, it did look easier to use on the end of a cable for probing things like a PC motherboard. The focus was fairly long, so you couldn’t get extremely close to components with the camera. The zoom somewhat makes up for that, but of course, as you might expect, zooming in doesn’t give you any additional resolution.
He also compares the output with that of a multimeter he uses that includes an IR camera (added to our holiday gift list). That multimeter/camera combo focuses quite closely, which is handy when picking out a specific component. It also has a macro lens, which can zoom up even more.
We’ve looked at — or, more accurately, through — IR cameras in the past. If you are on a tight budget and you have a 3D printer, you might try this method for thermal imaging, but it doesn’t use the printer the way you probably think.
I have an Infiray camera that’s much smaller than this, I guess I own the world’s smallest IR camera :))
Then please tell us which one it is and whether it has a similar resolution (256 x 192).
He literally says “Ifraray” in his comment.
https://www.infiray.com/products/thermal-camera-for-smartphone/
But he does not say the model
The infiray p2 is almost certainly the same camera as the one shown in the video.
Weird rebrand?
I bought a p2 because it had more than 15fps which seemed to be a USA export restriction. (I imported it from China to Australia, and thus was not limited by American export controls)
I think Thermal Master is a rebrand of infiray. They have some sketchy shell companies they use to get around restrictions and possibly to ghost customers when too many old products have defects.
Maybe it is related to Infiray P2 Pro? In that case there is a macro lens add-on that helps get really close.
Came here to post that. I’ve got that one and the macro lens is working really well
Mmm, it only weighs nine grams (+ cable), which means it doesn’t create too much extra inertia when mounted on a 3D-printing head, for example.
Why nobody talking about HT-301?
384×288 sensor
1.2cm manual focus optics
25fps
extended temp range
It’s 3x the price?
It makes ITAR guys and FLIR company uncomfortable.
Pretty much overnight they their market with selling overpriced 10 FPS 64×64 cameras to people in Europe and elsewhere.
Thanks for the tip. However, the camera is significantly larger and five times heavier (45g). I am actually looking for a very small camera that can be attached directly to the print head and the resolution of the ESP thermal imaging cameras (MLX90640) is too poor. Here the price, weight and resolution are right and there is also a macro lens.
Out of curiosity, why do you want to mount it to the print head rather than a corner of the print bed or somewhere mostly stationary that can get a good view of the bed, printed object, nozzle, and print head? Do you need the resolution over a really small area?
It makes no sense (only for me or better us!) to track the temperature over a larger range. The cooling rates are too fast, the resolution over the range is too low, so that my region of interest is not displayed well enough, and the print head moves into the image. We have a delta printer for pellet printing (heavy multiple print head), so of course the camera is always in the same position as the extruder, but for ‘normal’ 3-axis printers a position directly on the print head would make sense. This camera is small enough, has a fixed focus and the images look very good for the price (we now have it including a macro lens). And somewhere on Github there was a library for reading out the information, so you might not need the app in the end.
The camera is also recognised as a camera without a driver and somehow sends two 8-bit images (i.e. 16 bits) – unfortunately the scaling is not constant, the camera is adapted and without comparison values, reconstruction is not so easy – i.e. without an app. With a driver, it is no longer a ‘camera’. So still some work to do.
Kerry Wong has recently made a comparative review of the Thermal Master P2 Pro Thermal Camera vs. the original Infiray P2 (non-Pro, thus smaller temperature range):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTcDk9CkC0c
The Thermal Master P2 Pro seems to have slightly lower noise.
Pretty much overnight they lost their
fix’d
If you see “digital zoom” in brochures, press releases, manuals, or whatever, just save all of us time by translating that to “no zoom”.
seems like OP tried to do that :)
“The zoom somewhat makes up for that, but of course, as you might expect, zooming in doesn’t give you any additional resolution.”
the thing about digital zoom is that as a UI feature — you know, just for display — it’s a no brainer. it’s genuinely useful. it’s just not impressive…if you could save the image in a file, obviously any viewer can blow up the pixels as big as you want
Popped in to say the same. What a useless thing to market! I usually gloss over any camera that lists a digital zoom spec/claim.
If anyone want to know the name of the cool multimeter (without watching the video) it is an ET13S Multimeter. Some of them are branded Tooltop ET13S.
Thank you
Back in my day, thermal imagers had a single “pixel” (it wasn’t called that) and scanning mirrors directed the IR on to that element to achieve a 2D image.
” but of course, as you might expect, zooming in doesn’t give you any additional resolution.”
Uh.. I would settle for the same resolution. As long as it’s not less resolution, because that’s called cropping.
very happy with this IR cam / VOM for about ~$140 using it in the video on DIY solar swamp cooler
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CCRSZ3FP
Nothing about the software to manipulate pick points of temperature after transfer to laptop. Flir has this and allows for changes to be made after taking all the pics you need and then fix the points you need.