My new favourite tool - TOPDON TC001 Thermal Imaging Camera
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 มิ.ย. 2024
- In this video we take a look at the TOPDON TC001 thermal imaging camera. This is a great value thermal camera designed to be connected to a smartphone. We take a look at the app, the overall quality and then take a look at some of the use-cases for a thermal camera including electronics repair and looking at the heat loss of a house to find areas where energy efficiency improvements could be made.
Buy the TOPDON TC001 on Amazon (Affiliate):
- UK: amzn.to/3v8Q8cm
- US: amzn.to/3PyPhLh
www.camerongray.me/
/ camerongray1515
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:25 - Unboxing & Specs
06:53 - Demonstration
08:36 - Tour of the app
25:56 - Looking at the thermal performance of a property
31:57 - What does an OLED TV look like?
33:59 - Using a thermal camera to diagnose electronics
38:45 - What does running water look like?
40:39 - Conclusion
AFFILIATE LINKS NOTICE:
Product links under this video marked “(Affiliate)” are affiliate links where I may receive a small commission on qualifying sales. Affiliate programs that I am a member of include, but are not limited to: Amazon Associates, eBay Partner Network and AliExpress Affiliates.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Purchasing through these affiliate links will not cost you any more money, however the commission earned significantly helps fund the production of videos on my channel. - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Buy the TOPDON TC001 on Amazon (Affiliate):
- UK: amzn.to/3v8Q8cm
- US: amzn.to/3PyPhLh
Currently unavailable on both. Good job TOPDON, send one out for review but don't think to actually make sure it's in stock!
How much does it retail for?
@kuro68000 There's definitely stock in both the UK and US stores at the time of this comment (and loads were available when I published the video) If you're outside the UK or US, Amazon has a tendency to link to the UK or US listing which will show as unavailable if it doesn't ship internationally to your country. In these cases you may just need to search your local Amazon store for the product.
@@kuro68000 I just bought mine a few days ago (January 2023) for ~350 Euros. Seems that the price across different European retailers are between 350-400 EUR.
I've watched a lot of reviews and this is one of the most informative and enjoyable that I've seen. I hope other manufacturers see it and you have the ability to post many more. I'm ordering this instead of some others that I've looked at, so thanks much! Subbed.
This is the best and most thorough review of this camera I've seen. Great work and thanks for sharing!
That was such a good detailed review, thank you so much for uploading this! much appreciated!
I was looking this exact Thermal camera up last week. Ordered one and will have it here in a few days even. Fantastic review showing me exactly the uses cases I was hoping to use it for even.
Mine just arrived today and then I found your review, seems I made a good choice. Awesome detailed review and clear to follow, thank you 👍
ahhhhh im so glad you made this video, thank you sir
Best review for this cam i've seen!
After watching your video and others I bought one. Very impressed with it!
I loved the CD demo, that is not typically something that one would think about with a thermal imaging camera.
Exactly, another one I forgot to mention is that glass blocks the IR, so if you look through glass you don't see anything, confused me when I was looking at my glass fronted server cabinet.
Just to follow up to my comment that I made here three weeks ago - as I said, I finally ordered this camera after watching this review of yours, costed me 350 Euro here in Eastern Europe. Received the camera today, and I must admit that it is really amazing - thermal image resolution is superb (for sub 2000+ USD thermal camera that is, of course) and after some quick tests it seems that the factory temperature calibration seems to be almost spot on (talking about +/- 0.3 degrees Celsius which is more than acceptable in this price range). Now, as for the dumb decision of app developers to not store the images in the gallery, I finally settled on using "Share > Upload to Google Drive" option from the Android share menu. Still pain in the ass to manually tap on each image in a row to upload - this is a huge oversight of the app UX developers, imho.
Glad you like it! As for the app, someone who looked to be from Topdon commented here a while ago saying that they were releasing an update in February/March to resolve the image storage issue so suppose there's always hope although Google Drive is a decent option for now.
I'll bear it in mind. Great review.
Haha - I was looking in to buying this camera for a few weeks now. This review of yours just sealed the deal and I just ordered one. Unfortunately I couldn't use your referral links, as I'm from Europe, but ordered one from a local electronics retailer nevertheless. Thanks for the video!
Very complete review. I was looking at a Flir 1 and the image quality is so much better on this one.
Loved the laptop and water recordings! 🤓👍 Looks a really cool bit of kit, sadly not sure I can justify it for the cost, although the insulation bit is a potential way to save money...
I borrowed a Seek camera and it was really interesting to look through it.
I have one of these cameras, it is really good for the money, much better than the older flir one camera.
I currently have the loan of a Flir One for a few days. The Topdon is much better resolutuon, and seems to run rings around the Flir ! I may have to buy one for myself!! (Having seen the drafts and uninsulated areas in my house,itmay well pay for itself...)
Thank you for explaining the clicking noise and freezing, but mine keeps on freezing to the point where I have to go in and out of the thermal option tab for it to work, I’m going to try another android device to see if this is the fault of the device other than that it’s a great device.
1. Does it have Picture in Picture ie. outlines of objects to better identify them in the photos.
2. Is there any way of taking a thermal photo whilst at the same time the phone's camera takes a conventional photo so that you have a side by side comparison of thermal vs. visible like the Flir cameras offer?
Hi thanks for the information about the topdon thermal image camera. But I have a question about the topdon thermal image camera. I understand that it takes its power from the smartphone battery. Is there a way to power it from a separate power pack to save the smartphones battery ?.
Do you have to create an account and sign in with this camera? Does it continuedly or intermittently connect to the internet to phone home?
they already released TC002 for the iphone. I would pay extra and get the infiray T3pro android camera
usb c connector, so it could work with an iPad (with usb c) if they had made an iOS app? (or have they not thought of that yet). I use a Flirone (Thermamec) with my iPhone atm, Looks like a nice little unit tho. When it is plugged in to the phone, does it take any battery power from the phone or from its own internal battery? nice video tho :)
Someone know any macro lens for this camera? Maybe some lens fit to this camera or are good even if i hold it in my hand like lens for seek or uni-t?
I can't find anywhere what the FOV of the lens is. That is whether it is "zoomed" anyhow a bit.
(30 minutes in the video)
You must have a moisturemeter to check if it is moist or if it could spot. The image is telling you thermal difference.
Moist will evaporate, have a schilling effect on the material.
So mey be lacks of insulation or wet insulation.
That's a very good point! There was some work done in that area many years ago to build some integrated wardrobes immediately above that area so I suspect it is just missing and has been dislodged while the work was being done but that's a very good point about the potential for damp insulation instead!
it's funny how software and even AI can improve this camera so much, for example auto alignment of the two images from your phone/camera with object detection etc
This little camera is so cool. But mine makes a double clicking/ticking sound while in use from the actual device. Does your device do it also or is mine defective? Seems it makes the sound when the image stutters for a bit, like if it’s refocusing.
That's normal with thermal cameras, as the camera heats up in use, it occasionally needs to recalibrate itself which, as far as I understand it, involves moving a shutter in front of the sensor which is what you're hearing and why the image appears to freeze
24:32, oooo only the sauciest chats with Sky Help Team, O2 & Avanti West Coast
What is the auto shutter button for?
what is the distance range on this device?
I may be two months late, but I am glad I found this review.
I was looking for a thermal camera for high DC current connections, like for offgrid solar systems.
I was thinking about the mandatory features that I wanted:
- no dedicated internal battery since it limits the lifespan of the product
- good enough resolution of the thermal camera
- good enough frequency/ refresh rate
- USB-C preferred with extention cable
- Android and PC versatility
This one seemed perfect, so I bought it.
It works fine with one phone (A12) and PC, but it doesn't work with a Samsung S21 5G. I cannot find the recommended OTG function.
I also didn't find a way to update the firmware of my unit by phone or by PC, despite the fact that I logged in.
Do you have any advice?
That's strange - it worked fine on my S21 Ultra and S23 Ultra. Do you have the phone in a case? If so, try without it as with a lot of cases it'll plug in and feel secure but won't have actually pushed in far enough to make a connection. I don't remember needing to explicitly enable OTG however the app may ask for various permissions when you first load it that you'll need to grant. May be worth completely uninstalling and reinstalling the app to get another chance to approve these permissions in case you missed any.
@Cameron Gray Thanks for your quick reply. I have tried connecting the thermal camera without the phone's protective case and by using the included USB-C extension with the same result.
I will try reinstalling the app. Lately, I avoided updating all useless apps and this might be another cause. I will try reinstalling and with the current updates.
What about the firmware update? Is there any way to update it? I think this was mentioned in this review being conditioned by logging into the app.
@Cameron Gray I found the problem: since the pandemic, I am disabling the microphone access, the camera access and the location. Once I activated the camera access, the app worked just fine.
Thank you for your review and for your advice.
Kind regards!
I've been looking for a thermal camera to use around the house for a couple years or so. The FLIR Pro One was my initial thought, but I didn't care for the built in battery and the reliability issues that FLIR does not stand behind. And when I compared the specs, the TC001 is a stand out. The Seek Pro is another consideration, but I like the FLIR better except the Seek uses the phone battery which was a plus.
TC001 vs FLIR One Pro
40mK vs 70 mK sensitivity
256x192 vs 160x120 display
25 Hz vs 8.7 Hz frame rate
-20*C to 550*C vs -20*C to 400*C
$236 vs $365
The FLIR does offer some advantages with their proprietary MSX software, but the reliability issues with the FLIR's built in battery put me off, not to mention the much lower specs.
The others I've seen mentioned here, InfiRay T2S+ ($339 at B&H) or SNDWAY SW-8256A ($250 at AliExpress) but the A model is out of stock. The lower performing SW-8256 is $233. Looks to me like the TC001 is the value choice.
On paper better specifications, but are we sure that they are in reality? I'll give you an example, there are cheap amplifiers that declare 400 W, and yes or no they deliver around twenty rms, anyway no one will carry out laboratory tests to the verification, moral, even if the specifications are lower than flir, I believe that the substance remains unchanged, the indisputable improvement is that it does not use an internal battery
25:00
I think that's by design, most people probably wouldn't want random thermal images from work clogging up their gallery of personal content.
Well, yes, but app could easily simply create a folder (album) inside the gallery, and store images there. This current way of getting the images out of the app is pain in the ass. I finally settled on using the "Share > Upload to Google drive" option, as it was the least time consuming. However uploading some 50 images one by one (there is absolutely no batch action options there) from a short field survey still takes like 5 minutes of manual tap-tap-tap labour, and is quite dumb UX decision in my opinion.
How well does this camera connect if you have a thick phone case? flir is adjustable.
Unfortunately it doesn't really work with a case, although the included USB-C extension cable works pretty well in that situation and allows you to angle the camera separately from the phone.
@@camerongray1515 for as little as it would get used, that would probably work fine anyway.
Thanks for the reply.
got one now, brandnew, and have to ask if its normal that it takes photos everey some seconds on its own? as soon as i attach it to my pc theres always that fotograffing sound (click-click) every now and then; when i open the software you can even see its taking a foto (but without visibly saving it to the pc). that really penetrates my nerves, i think mine is defect, isnt it?
This is normal behaviour for all thermal cameras I've used. When it sound like it's taking a photo, it's actually performing a self calibration where it moves a shutter in front of the sensor (which is what makes the noise) where it then calibrates the sensor and then opens the shutter again. This is required for the sensor to maintain accurate readings while the temperature of the camera is changing during use.
ah, cool, thanks a lot! @@camerongray1515
Can you go live with it? Like if you wanted to go live on Facebook. Thanks, great video
It's not a feature that the device itself has built in and I'm not familiar with Facebook live, however if you're able to share your phone's screen on the live stream (or use the Windows application and share your computer's screen) then I can't see why not!
They musn't have had many in stock or you are 'very' influential...lol. 'Currently unavailable' in AMZN uk and Germany.
25:57 Thanks. Selling point for me. Flir has gone downhill.
Based off of what is going on with EU legislation, i would guess that apple is likely to release USB C iPhones in the next few years
When i saw that it had a USB C male connector, i had mixed feelings about it, but the fact that they include an extension cable with a built in USB C to USB A adapter might be enough to tempt me
If i do decide to get one, i could use my Windows tablet with it (which has Windows 11 on it), the tablet only has 1 USB C port and no USB A ports, as well as a proprietary magnetic charger thing (Microsoft)
Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if they were holding off releasing a lightning version until they know what's going on with apple moving to USB-C
I have a feeling that they will simply omit the physical charging port altogether. And, lets be frank here - more and more people are using wireless charging almost exclusively for years now (me and most of my collagues have wireless chargers on our desks, in our cars and on the bedside cupboards), haven't even unpacked the charging cables from the boxes of my last three phones. Same goes for wireless audio - since a decent quality low-latency bluetooth headphones from reasonable brands like Anker and such have fallen below 40€, it makes no sense to keep using wired ones, deal with tangled cables, etc.
@@zusurs from what i can tell, the EU legislation won’t allow apple to release a portless phone (its not entirely clear, but from what ive been able to find out, it seems the only portless devices allowed are things like smartwatches and earphones, not phones)
Even if apple were allowed to release a portless phone, they would have to include a wireless charger in the box, which is something i cannot see apple wanting to do
I have heard reports that apple are working on a USB C iPhone (although i cannot verify if this is true or not)
With a portless phone, there is also the problem of if the software gets corrupted (which with current iPhones you can just plug them into a PC or Mac and reload the firmware)
@@pineappleroad Hm, very good points - I totally gorgot about the DFU recovery mode for iPhones that indeed requires a cable. Well, time will tell - maybe there indeed will be some iPhone models with USB-C in the future. Oh, my, what a day it will be for sure...
Unavailable 🙄🙂🇮🇪🍀
Available on US+UK Amazon and eBay. App update with the output folder fix coming in late Feb/early March.
Did you pay full retail price? so they did pay you for review after all :) This is repackaged $200 INFIRAY P2 Pro/T2S+, like for example SNDWAY SW-8256 etc.
This is why I'm always extremely upfront about the nature of any review samples that I receive. Yes, the camera has some sort of value however if I were to charge for a video (which I don't generally do) I'd for sure be charging more than whatever the cost to the manufacturer is of providing a review sample. I also do not accept any talking points or script from a supplier, something that is commonplace with paid for reviews across TH-cam. So yes, I don't have the psychological influence of having paid for the device, hence why I declare that it was a provided sample, however I still try to be as objective as possible and review it as if I had paid for it to the best of my ability. As for it being a "repackaged" product - it likely does use a sensor from the likes of infiray (in the same way that many brands of action cameras and dashcams use Sony sensors) however it doesn't appear to just be a rebadged white label product. And ultimately, being able to purchase this from a local Amazon store with easy returns can be worth the price difference over importing a less widely available product.
@@camerongray1515 infiray is the actual Chinese manufacturer of the this particular (25hz 256×192) sensor. Sample for free means gift. For impartial review "and then I send it back" or "I liked it so much I decided to keep it and paid full retail price" would be a good start :) Merely agreeing to do something other person asks (like a review) is enough to influence another human being. Even stupid act of accepting handkerchief is strong enough to be measurable - "The Psychology of Human Misjudgment" by Charlie Munger "Sam Walton won’t let a purchasing agent take a handkerchief from a salesman. He knows how powerful the subconscious reciprocation tendency is." TLDR: Its still paid promotion, you got paid with a free gift. Nothing wrong about it, especially since its actually a good product, no need for mental gymnastics trying to convince viewers its not a paid promotion.
Which is exactly why I just state the nature of the sponsorship and let viewers make up their mind... Which is significantly better than the vast majority of reviewers who won't even mention that a review sample was provided. I'm at the point now where I don't view samples as "generous gifts" and have no reason to provide anything but a honest review. I regularly turn down review samples for products where the supplier either asks me to mention specific talking points or asks to approve the video before publication. Ultimately, if I didn't accept review samples, I simply would not have been able to afford to produce some of my most popular videos.
@@camerongray1515 "I don't view samples as "generous gifts" and have no reason to provide anything but a honest review." Human subconscious does, numerous psychological studies confirming this unintuitive hardwired tendency. It doesnt have to be "generous". As mentioned above something as stupid as free handkerchief is able to measurably influence outcome of interaction. You are a clever and inquisitive person (thats why Im subscribed :)), yet you didnt bother researching "manufacturer" (straight dropshipper), components, competition (same products at 2/3 the price). think about it. Its healthier for viewers and especially oneself to accept unconscious effects of even trivial gifts. Btw Amazon links lead to not stocked product. If you are interested in internals mikeselectricstuff did a teardown of oem unit.
I'm not trying to get into a psychology discussion here and I did perform research in advance as I do with any product be it a review sample or otherwise. Just because a product uses a sensor from another manufacturer does not make it a "straight dropshipper". Dropshipping is where a storefront sends products directly from thieir supplier to a customer without handling goods themselves, this is not the case here and while I wouldn't necessarily call this a completely white label product either, there's nothing inherently wrong with white label products. There will always be competitors to products at different price points and this particular device being available from a local Amazon store can in many ways be worth a slightly higher price vs ordering from AliExpress (also factoring in that import taxes can often reduce the cost savings). This particular model is a very popular result when searching "thermal camera" on Amazon and therefore with this video I'm providing a review for people who come across it on Amazon and are interested in buying it. My reviews are not just for subscribers, the reviews of mine that do the best are the ones that appeal to people who are considering buying a product and come across my video having never seen my channel before. Ultimately the consumer is welcome to do their own research and make thier own purchasing decision. If you do not believe that I have been impartial in a video then you're more than welcome to find another review from a different channel... However I pride myself on being completely honest, open and impartial in my channel and I almost find it insulting that you think I'd be bribed into anything otherwise with an item worth less than £300 when there are other channels out there promoting products that they've barely even used while just parroting marketing talking points. I could have easily just not mentioned that it was a review sample and you'd have been none the wiser (as many other channels do)
I've got one. I wouldn't bother. Temperature readings are miles out. It gives you a relative colour picture of what your looking at as in if you're looking at 2 things on the screen, if they are different temperatures, they will be different colours. That's all you get, the actual reading on the screen are so far out that they are meaningless! If you connect it to your phone with supplied cable it doesn't work properly. After 10 to 20 seconds the left hand side of the screen turns orange indicating a warm surface. It does this regardless, even if what your looking at a flat surface of the same temperature. It's useless! Also basic instruction leaflet.
I can't say I've experienced the issue with the USB cable but to respond to your other issues:
Temperature readings from a thermal camera aren't going to be as accurate as one from an actual thermometer as the temperature seen by the camera depends on the distance from the object (as the IR degrades with distance) and the "emmisivity" of the material you're looking at. You can set the distance and emissivity under "Personal Information" > "Temperature Correction" from the app which should help improve the accuracy of the readings.
The "relative colour picture" is what a thermal camera is designed for - the sensor can only see temperature, not light. Higher end thermal cameras (like the one I reviewed in my latest video) contain visible light cameras to augment the thermal image with a regular picture but obviously these will be more expensive.
Also bear in mind that the scale automatically adjusts it's range to go between the hottest and coldest thing in the image. If you're pointing it at a "flat surface of the same temperature" then the scale will shrink to a much smaller range and therefore even the slightest variation in temperature across the surface will cause wildly shifting colours. On the other hand, if the left side of the screen is going orange no matter what you're looking at, then you may have a faulty unit and should return it.
Hi Cameron, Thank you for your response and assistance. I understand everything you say. My main issue is if I fill my screen with a surface of the same temperature, the left hand third of my screen is orange, which also results in it indicating the highest spot reading. If I flip the device left to right, the 'new' left turns orange, resulting in the same as before. No matter what I look at, the left 50 to 75% of my screen is orange with nonsense readings. In the right part of the screen, I see from blue to orange and everything in between.
@@stewartross1233 When you're pointing at a uniform surface, what does the temperature scale say for the highest and lowest values? What is the difference between the hottest and coolest points? It may be a slight uniformity issue however it may just be that the scale is becoming super narrow and the actual difference is extremely small and would be insignificant when it comes to getting a thermal image in most real world situations.
Vorsicht! Windows App Download ist Error! Server ist in Hongkong …
Seems to work okay for me (both the download and installing it under Windows 11) - may be worth trying again or trying a different computer or internet connection.
£279
Made in..............
China as far as I'm aware. Which has the benefit of allowing higher frame rates as thermal cameras made in the US are limited to 9fps where as this can go up to 25fps
Can't understand you 70% of the time...
I listened at 2x and understood him fine. I think it’s you. 🙂
Play it at 0.75x speed