Topdon TC002 - Thermal Camera for iOS

[@dainazinas]

Erm...... you know that Fahrenheit and Celsius are completely different temperature scales, right?

[@hobbyistnotes]

Hello. Have I said something weird about scales? Just to be clear I am from Russia where we used Celsius and now I am living in US where people use Fahrenheit, so I think I have enough experience with both scales.

[@hobbyistnotes]

Oh u right, I just noticed it, I have compared readings from FLIR in Fahrenheit to Celsius on Topdon which makes Topdon more accurate. Happens, my bad.

[@NOT_A_TOP_FAN]

I’m done with buying anything that has apps or components with phones. What I’m starting to find is continued support/development for mobile and iOS basically goes away and your product basically only has like a 3 year shelf life. That’s said……. A few months back I did borrow my friends Flir One Pro (iOS) and recently picked up the TC004 LITE. Both have 160x120 pixel quality and the Topdon basically having all better specs, but when I compare the vids and photos I have on my phone from the Flir One Pro to the Topdon TC004 Lite, the Flir BLOWS it away. Despite both having the same pixel count, the Topdon is super muddy compared to the very crisp Flir. I don’t know if it’s because of the benefits of having the cameras on the iPhone to create other overlays vs. not having that in the handheld device or what…. I bought the TC004 lite vs. the non lite because I was happy with 160x120 clarity on the Flir, and thought it would be similar, but it’s really not. The non-lite tc004 has the 256 pixels, but I don’t know if it’s worth trying or not. Nobody had done any reviews on the Lite model, so I took a flier on it, and if you don’t have anything to compare it to, it’s fine….but having recently used the Flir, the Flir is just better….but then I also don’t want anything on a phone…So maybe that’s why the other high end hand held devices cost so much…lol

[@hobbyistnotes]

At this point I own 4 thermal cameras and personally I like Topdon the most, it doesn't have battery and having 24hz refresh rate is much nicer than Flir's 8hz. Due to dual camera setup Flir does look sharper but now Topdon also added mode where you can align picture from the phone camera on top of thermal image if you need. I kind of agree about shelf time and at this point 2 of my Flir cameras wouldn't really work for regular people as I had to hack my way around to make them work as Flir doesn't really care about legacy support. To compare new USB-C iPhone came out and Topdon right away released 4$ Lightning to USB-C cable and device works with new USB-C iPhone. I am currently working on new review of handheld thermal camera that is in the same price range, there I probably will talk about all of this and compare images those cameras output.

[@mad4acs212]

Topdon kinda better only cause of the fps. It's more smooth and that's it) But I've expected better readings tho (

[@hobbyistnotes]

Yeah at 380(C) closest this thermal camera showed was 340(C) quite a margin I would say...

[@williambaker9506]

I suspect this thing bricked my iPhone....*UPDATE* It did not brick, just drained battery completely see full response below.

[@hobbyistnotes]

Oh wow 😮 what iPhone?

[@williambaker9506]

@@hobbyistnotes 13 😕... gonna take it up to the shop, will confirm if so.

[@hobbyistnotes]

​@@williambaker9506 Have you used extension cable or just device itself? I have couple iphone SE around may be I can reproduce the issue.

[@williambaker9506]

@@hobbyistnotes ok, update (and I'll update my original comment to be fair to Topdon.) Since this device uses your iPhone battery (most of these thermal cameras operate on their own internal battery and you have to charge them independently outside of your iPhone) if you leave it in the phone and walk away for a while, it'll drain your battery to a level that your iPhone usually has a stop in place. (Usually your iPhone will stop it for services like wallet/find my iphone for emergency use. This camera drains it past that, and you will have to have to most likely start with the restore or dfu mode to bring it back up. So, I take it back, it did not brick my iPhone... And for what its worth, I compared the Topdon TC002 to the Flir One and Prime cameras, it I think the resolution/clarity/faster updating while in motion beats those two.... The temp calibration seems a little off by a few degrees, but I haven't had much time to play with it to confirm... It's worth the $240 (amazon with instant rebate). Occupationally im sure it pays for itself, plus it's just fun to finally own one.... Been a dream of mine since the movie Predator..... I enjoy snapping photos of people and telling them "You are one ugly MFR."

[@hobbyistnotes]

@@williambaker9506 For some reason I haven't got notification from your reply. But I am happy to hear that your Iphone is fine. As person who have few Flir cameras I prefer it to use the phone battery, simply less batteries to deal with and I find it very frustrating when you want to shoot something and it's just discharged...