Four Types Of Thermal Cameras And What You Might Use Them For
Thermal cameras are fun. All they see are heat signatures, of which you may take video or still shots. These cameras first became popular with the first Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, Predator, back in the '80s. Now they come in all forms and can be used in a number of ways.
The Smartphone Accessory
The smallest thermal camera, or rather the accessory, is plugged into your smartphone. When you open your camera, the accessory activates. The device turns your smartphone's camera into a thermal camera, which many people use to scan their homes for intruders while homeowners safely stand on their lawns rather than enter their houses. As such, detecting intruders this way allows homeowners to call the police and stay outside until the police arrive.
Handheld and Tripod-Mountable
These thermal cameras have a long, stick-like handle that allows you to walk around, peer through the imaging lens, view heat signatures on the digital imaging screen, and take videos or photos. You can also mount it to a tripod for stationary recordings. These are typically used by paranormal investigators to catch images of cold spots or "peek-a-boo" specters who peek out of walls and dart back in. These spirits appear human-like, but their heat signatures show up in blue, black, or violet images on thermal cameras.
Hunting Cameras
Thermal hunting cameras capture images of the animals as they scuttle, hop, creep, leap, and fly by. Putting one of these cameras out at night near a tree stand helps hunters determine if they will be able to catch and shoot anything during certain hours of the night, should they choose to hunt in darkness. A night scope also reveals heat signatures so that hunters can shoot at night, but night scopes do not record or take pictures.
Drones
The latest in thermal cameras are tiny accessories you can attach to your drone copter. This is kind of fun if you want to send your drone out at night to see wildlife and not terrify the animals and bugs. They are especially useful if you are a researcher stuck in a jungle and you want to scope things out ahead to prevent anacondas from dropping on you or avoid large predators sneaking up on you. Since jungle animals are very stealthy, a thermal camera on a drone copter prevents those surprise attacks. It keeps you safe while you hunt for some specific quarry.