A company by the name HIKMICRO has reached out to me regarding their line of products. They specialize in thermal imagers and in this article we will focus on one of their thermal imaging cameras, the HIKMICRO E1L Compact Thermal Imaging Camera.
Full disclosure: This is not a review, this is tool news. Tool Craze cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information/specifications/features of any tool listed in this article. Manufacturer marketing claims may not always meet expectations. Tool Craze is not responsible if products do not live up to claimed expectations. Please do your full research before buying any products. Tool Craze is an Amazon Associate, and also an affiliate with the Home Depot, Acme Tools, Ohio Power Tool, Tool Nut, Lowe’s, Ebay, and Walmart and places paid links to these retailers. If you purchase something through a link on the Tool Craze site, Tool Craze may get a small share of the sale.
I’ve never heard of this HIKMICRO company before and I am sure many of you are unaware of them as well. HIKMICRO did provide a company intro so we can get to get to know their company a little better.
Company Intro :
HIKMICRO is a leading thermal imaging equipment and solution provider, specializing in SoC and MEMS design, development, and manufacturing as one-stop solution provider offering thermal detectors, cores, modules, cameras and total solutions to the global market, servicing customers in more than 100 countries and regions. Our mission is to provide professional software and hardware to partners, working together to build a safer and smarter environment, and helping customer “See the World in a New Way“.
The HIKMICRO E1L Compact Thermal Imaging Camera fits in the bottom of their line of handheld thermal imaging cameras but don’t let the words “entry level” fool you, as it packs a thermal imaging sensor with a resolution of 160×120 or 19,200 pixels. While that resolution might seem ridiculously low when compared to camera resolutions of 20mp and more, 160×120 is actually higher than many thermal imaging sensors on the market, especially for its price point of $349.99 (at time of writing). I’ve tried a couple of Flir thermal imagers such as the C2 model which has a thermal image sensor resolution of 80×60 which is only 4,800 pixels. A similarly priced Klein Tools TI250 ($296.19 price at time of writing) has a thermal resolution of 10,800 pixels. The $399.94 (price at time of writing) FLIR TG165-X has a thermal resolution of 80×60 which is the same as the C2’s 4,800 pixels. So while the 160×120 thermal resolution by HIKMICRO’s E1L model might not seem high, it is higher than similar priced models. And any improvement in resolution is greatly appreciated with thermal imagers as the difference in resolution means that you can make out objects better when looking at the final image.
The HIKMICRO E1L thermal sensor also has a refresh rate of 25Hz which means it has about 25 frames per second which is also higher than the FLIR TG165-X and Klein Tools TI250 at 8.7Hz and <9Hz respectively. What does this mean in laymans terms? It means that what you see on screen will move smoother and appear less laggy. The E1L includes a laser pointer to help aid the user in taking temperature readings and the thermal sensor is said to measure from 20°C to 550°C (-4°F to 1022°F). Acuracy is said to be +/- 2 degrees celcius or +/- 2%. Images are displayed on the 2.4″ 320×240 LCD screen. Battery life is said to be up to 8 hours and the model has an IP54 rating which means it has some dust and water protection.
Other features include the ability to take and save thermal pictures and store them on the device for later viewing. It has a USB connection so you may connect to a computer to download. HIKMICRO also has free HIKMICRO Analyzer software to view and analyze the thermal images.
One thing that the HIKMICRO E1L model is missing is the MXS feature found on Flir thermal imagers. MSX is the function of having a thermal image sensor and a regular camera sensor that take two separate images with each sensor and combine them so you have a more detailed thermal image. I found this useful on my review of Flir thermal imager models however keep in mind that HIKMICRO’s higher thermal resolution will add a little more detail than other lower resolution thermal sensors can achieve without stacking a regular camera sensor image.
- Fully Radiometric Measurement with Max/Min/Center and Auto Hot/Cold spots
- Refresh rate 25 hz
- High image quality with <40 mK NETD
- 8 hr Battery life for long-lasting use
Free 2 day shipping – Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
DISCLOSURE:
Tool Craze does not sell this product or any product on the Tool Craze website. Tool Craze does not handle the sale of any item in any way. If you purchase something through a link on the Tool Craze site, Tool Craze may get a small share of the sale. Please refer to the About section for more info. Tool Craze cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information/specifications/features of any tool listed in this article. Please do your full research before buying any products.
Leave a Comment