New E series as a whole are not great units for most applications.
They are super low res, no focus ring, no range and span control. Focus and range/span control are basic functions that are needed for most applications.
But they affordable to a lot of users who couldn't justify the cost of a high-end TIC, and are MUCH more useful than a spot IR thermometer.
Maybe less so for evaluating heat loss in buildings, but things like electrical faultfinding and condition checking can easily do without high resolution
the E4 does have range lock, so you can compare images with the same scaling, but you can't manually set the range.
Low end cameras are just that, low end. You will not produce imagery like the ones shown here with these systems. They really should call these systems, limited IR. They are IR but the details missed would render them useless to anyone doing IR professionally.
The FLIR E40 is really the current entry level cam, IMO.
That is a ludicrous statement. Tool snobbery even. TICs have many different applications, and for some users, the E4 is more than adequate for a wide range of tasks.
There is a right tool for the job and a not right tool for the job, not sure how that is "tool snobbery". I don't think you would be doing PQA with a Fluke 116.......does that make the person that owns a Fluke 435 a snob? Sounds more like hating to me.
You are correct with the range/span lock. It does it. It isn't just the one thing that makes it a bad cam.
Look at the end of the day there are two things to consider here. First, these cams exist because of politics, not necessarily because of the interest of the end user. I invite you to look at the legal history of Fluke and FLIR. These cams are a direct attack on Fluke from FLIR. Second factor. I am telling you to go buy a $4k camera. I am just telling you within the FLIR line, you should either not buy a camera or buy an E40.
I am not sure what everyone's time is worth, but as a professional business the time you are wasting screwing around with your lock feature for range and span, someone with a cam that does have it will outperform you over time. If you bill at $80 an hour it only takes 35 hours of your lock/hold range/span savings to be eroded. Once that savings is gone, you are left with a lower resolution, lower temp, no span/range, no focus ring, etc camera, while someone that bought the E40 will have all kinds of time savings features and reporting ability.
I am talking strictly to professionals here. If you are buying a cam to look at something homemade or your wife naked, then the E4 will do what you want.....unless it goes over 250C. However, in a professional atmosphere it is a waist of wages and time, in the long run.