Fungus,
The budget end of the thermal imaging camera market has literally ‘exploded’ in recent years. The availability of relatively cheap imaging cores has driven this and new cores are being developed in China that will further improve the situation in the market.
The UTi80P is a novel design that sits in the ‘basic pocketable camera’ camp. We have seen the Lepton inside mobile phones, the FLIR C series and Seek Reveal and Seek Shot cameras. All of these are designed to offer basic thermal imaging functionality that fits easily in the pocket or tool kit. Sometimes you do not need or want a larger, bulkier, camera with you. It is a little like DSLR Vs Digital compact cameras ….. each have their pros and cons and are best suited to somewhat different roles. In the case of the UTi80P, it is a neat little unit but it is somewhat ‘resolution challenged’ for some tasks. It was such a pity that the higher resolution Lepton 3.5 was not used in it but that would have increased cost which may have been a factor. With the development of better, lower cost imaging cores by companies like Infiray (IRAY) and Guide Sensmart we are seeing more affordable cameras on the market. The UTi120P is a result of this core development and has better resolution….. but still falls short of the 160 x 120 pixels or higher that people are now used to seeing when a Lepton 3, Seek Thermal or InfiRay core is used. 120 x 90 pixels is definitely better than 80 x 60 pixels but since the UTi80P was released we have seen other cameras coming out of China that offer better “bang for buck” in terms of resolution, performance and functionality.
I bought the UTi80P because it was offered to me for £99. That seems about the right price for me in terms of the units usefulness in my applications, so I bought it. I would not have paid much more than £99 simply because there are other, better, cameras on offer from Uni-T and Infiray for not a lot more money. That said, I would not have bought them either as I already have several similar cameras in my collection. The UTi80P is, IMHO, a niche product that appeals to some thermal camera users for its portability and simple measurement capabilities. The UTi120P is similar in this respect. Some members of this forum get excited about new thermal cameras that offer excellent imaging at minimum cost or at least lower cost. The Chinese cores are still not at bargain prices but the likes of the Uni-T UTi260B and Infiray C210 have shown that, at this end if the market, paying a little bit more than that being asked for a basic camera can gain the buyer a far more capable device. For a manufacturer, this budget end of the market must be a bit of a nightmare as he market is demanding cheap prices for traditionally expensive technology that can be relatively expensive to manufacture. Profit margins may be slim compared to other products produced in China.
For those who want “pretty pictures”, the UTi80P and UTi120P would not be the best choice in the current market. From my perspective as a user of these ‘tools’ for electronics etc, the resolution just needs to provide the data points in a scene that are useful to me in interpreting the situation. XVGA resolution is just not required ! Comparing a decent (Fluke) IR thermometer with the UTi80P, I would prefer the UTi80P as I gain thousands of data points of reasonable accuracy plus I can see the exact point on the target that I am measuring. Context of measurement can be very important. Using a standard IR thermometer, you are kind of working blind due to the crude “spot size on target’ approach to that simple single pixel based system. Handheld IR thermometers and industrial static mounted versions definitely have their place in equipment maintenance and monitoring but comparing a decent FLUKE IR thermometer price to a reasonably priced and budget thermal cameras price shows the price gap is narrowing !