To Fluke? - Or not to Fluke? A Simple Question (About Thermal Imagers).

This is a post in praise of Fluke. I honestly carry no bias in this and many companies make great products that are comparable in lots of ways. This post is just to let you know exactly what you are getting when you purchase Fluke, specifically their line of thermal imagers.

First off - and many of you who are technicians or resellers will know this right off the bat - Fluke is a name that is synonymous with quality. With over 60 years of experience in the test equipment market, Fluke is known worldwide as a brand that is worth every penny. In my personal experience this is true. Once again, this isn’t to say that other products aren’t great too (I don’t work for Fluke and sadly they are not remunerating me for saying this), I am merely illustrating that they make a very high quality product. The other thing that Fluke is known for is durability and most of their products, including thermal imagers, are rugged enough to survive a 6ft. plus drop. That’s just plain awesome.

Fluke’s status as a veritable testing equipment empire also allows them to be on the cutting edge of technology, and offer it at a competitive price. With regard to thermal cameras, let’s take a look at the Ti series. Fluke used to say that in this line you get “Good, Better, Best” (the Ti105, Ti110, Ti125 respectively). Fluke was one of the pioneers in Thermal Fusion where images are blended between normal visible light and thermograms. Their proprietary IR-Fusion interface (see image to the right) is not only useful in reporting but also in the field to improve your location and targeting (plus it looks downright cool, like spy gear or something). And as you move up the line you are going to get better thermal sensitivity, increased resolution, faster image frequency, more software and reporting options, and more advanced “widgets”, so to speak (annotations, links to meters, etc.). Finally, I would be remiss to not mention that Fluke’s advanced software programs are available on all the models up front and receive continued updates and support for the life of the camera.