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Overview

The FLIR E4 and Fluke VT02 are powerful thermal imaging tools for use in applications from industrial inspection to mechanical maintenance and casual DIY repair. The E4 is hands down the more powerful camera - this fully-featured IR camera has 80x60 infrared resolution as well as FLIR's powerful MSX Image Enhancement technology which embosses visible light details onto thermal images. This gives you unmatched clarity and context in your IR images because you can clearly see labels, numbers, and important structural elements. The E4 also has thermal sensitivity of 150mK, accuracy of ±2°C or ±2%, and a 9 Hz frame rate.

The E4 is built to stand up to abuse in demanding industrial environments - this camera has been drop-tested to 2 meters and comes with an IP54 rating against water and dust ingress. The E4 also comes with FLIR's free reporting software called FLIR Tools. Thanks to this camera's WiFi connectivity, you can quickly export images wirelessly to mobile devices with the FLIR Tools App installed - from there you can use the App to analyze and edit images before sending out professional reports.

The VT02 is a visual IR thermometer, not a fully-featured IR camera. This unit only reads temperature for its center spot and while it shows you a thermal heat map, it's really just for show since these images are not radiometric. If you need temperature data for the full scene in your image, the E4 is a better choice. Fluke has actually not published the IR resolution of the VT02 in any of the products manuals or data sheets - this likely means this device has relatively low IR resolution. It's safe to assume the E4 has a higher IR resolution based on these sample IR images.

Sample Images from theE4 w/ MSX:

Sample Images from the VT02 w/ Image Blending:

That said, the strength of the VT02 is that it’s easy to use right out of the box with no training. The unit can measure temperature from 14°F to 482°F with an accuracy of ±2°C or ±2%. It features hot and cold markers and 8-hour battery life, as well as Fluke’s unique infrared heat map blending. This blending technology lets you overlay the heat map over a digital image of the same scene in 5 levels, so you can actually see what elements are hot or cold. The VT02 also includes Fluke’s SmartView® reporting software so you can easily make professional reports.

Conclusion

These cameras are hard to compare because they are technically different products – the E4 is a thermal camera while the VT02 is a visual IR thermometer. The E4 has much higher thermal resolution as well as special features like WiFi connectivity and MSX Technology to help make inspection and plant maintenance easier. The VT04 is lower cost and provides basic thermal capabilities but does not have the infrared resolution or special features of a fully-featured thermal camera.

Want to know more? Check out the tables below or give us a call at 877-571-7901. We’re happy to answer any questions you may have.