thermal imaging video camer

[bruce babien]

is there a cheap thermal imaging camera or is therea way to modify one of those cheap $29-59 cameras advertised everywhere???

[rshayes]

A "cheap" thermal camera is about $6,000 or considerably more. Try putting "thermal camera" in a search engine.<p>The cameras that you are talking about are based on silicon detectors. Most of these are sensitive to wavelengths out ot about .9 micron. There is very little (probably undetectable) thermal radiation at that and shorter wavelengths such as the visible region for objects at room temperature.<p>These cameras can be used in the dark by using an illuminator of some type, such as infrared LED's or a filtered light bulb. They are not really thermal cameras, however.

[Chris Smith]

The only cheap way [$1000] is to build one your self. If Plain IR upper freq is your thing [past the Ir cameras] , you can build one for under $100 purchasing a IR tube surplus. These tubes go to about 1100 nm [some to 1300] and then cut off, where as most B&W Ir cameras start cutting off in the upper 800s. What you want in the Thermal starts around 1300 to 1500nm but you can buy the cells and build a thermal scope your self. You can also couple a single starlight tube orr Channel plate off the out put to bump up its sensitivity to the eye while keeping the gain and noise levels low.

[tcsserv]

This was a hobby-project I wanted to get to do someday, not sure about it since I haven't done it. There is a way to modify a lense covering on any film-camera or digital camera for i/r imaging. I found it researching lasers, holograms, imaging, i/r imaging (infra-red), pinhole cameras, etc. a few years back, sorry I don't have the precise webpage this was on. Goes something like this: With an slr 35mm camera, take up close pictures of a neon light tube that is on. Basically, fill the viewfinder up close with the light while it is on.
Take a few pictures for extras, then have the negatives developed (tell the photo service it doesn't matter if the photos are developed.) When you get the negatives back, cut out the areas with just the white, and put a couple together just enough to cover your lense. [This isn't for nightvision/darkness, it basically is supposed to do a type of Kirlian/thermal photograph.] Then with this lense on the camera, any still camera or a digital camera, take pictures of an object-- try with/without a flash. Then develop pictures or if using a digital cam view them on your computer. Take many pictures to make ajustments/focus/exposure times, etc. Since you can't "see" directly through the viewfiender-through-lense well, you'll have to fine tune it. Note: there is something using the light wavelength filtered by this home-made "lense filter" that allows for thermal imaging or i/r imaging. Once you get the 35mm negatives back, best probably to use them as filters on a digital camera you can edit on your own system, saves the cost of developing. Good luck.