Flir C3 Infrared Camera Review

Hello Everyone. Today we're going to have a look at the new Flir C3 Thermal Imaging Camera with MSX and Wi-Fi,  a truly fully-featured thermal camera that fits in your pocket for fast and accurate thermal inspections. For those familiar with the Flir product line, the Flir C3 takes all of the high-end of the Flir C2 and adds some new special functions like the super useful WiFi capabilities and picture-in-picture.

The Flir C3 is designed for hard-working professionals in HVAC, Electrical Contracting, and Maintenance fields and with this in mind, the FLIR team set their sights on convenience and ruggedness. The Flir C3  is tough enough to hang out in a tool bag or belt, and can take up to a 6 foot drop with no problems. Now don't go throwing it around, but accidental bumps, scrapes, and drops are fully accounted for in the design. Efficiency is the name of the game with new design, including MSX imaging and WiFi transfer and streaming capability. MSX is Flir's proprietary design that uses a built-in digital camera to take visible light details and then etch them onto the thermal image in real-time. This means that in contrast to your typical “blobby” thermal image details like electrical panel numbering, all kinds of labeling, molding, and edges are displayed clearly on your thermograms. This means that there is no more guess work in what you are seeing. It is always obvious in saved images and reports what you are looking at. Additionally, for extra clarification, the C3 now includes a picture-in-picture mode that creates a small thermal box in the middle of a normal digital camera image, so you can get thermal data on a specific target while making it extra clear what you are seeing in the surrounding environment.

The newest and most exciting feature for the new Flir C3 is the addition of WiFi functionality. This allows for several highly-useful functions. The first is wireless streaming of the onscreen data to another device, like a tablet or smartphone. Now the Flir C3 won't record thermal video like higher end cameras, but if you want to stream results to a supervisor or have another team member go into a specific area and view their inspections in real time along with them, the Flir C3 will do this brilliantly. This excellent feature can reduce the time it takes to work as a team for increased efficiency and maximum clarity on the jobsite. The other obvious benefit of WiFi communication is transferring the thermal images wirelessly to software like FLIR tools, which allows you to create reports on the job. No more complicated analysis, just shoot your images, transfer them to the software, type a few notes, and then email your reports instantly. Especially for independent contractors looking to “wow” customers, this feature is indispensable. Nothing nudges out the competition like easy-to-understand, fast results for customers to view in real-time. The additional data you can acquire also makes repairs a no-brainer for on-the-fence customers. If you can show overheating electrical panels or water damages in simple images immediately, your customer is much more likely to pull the trigger on a potential project which translates to more money for you or your team.

As far as the nuts and bolts are concerned, the Flir C3 features 80x60 thermal resolution (4800 pixels), a 9Hz refresh rate, 100mK thermal sensitivity, 14 to 302°F temperature range, and onscreen area boxes and spotmeter.