Thermal Camera - FLIR C5

Location: On top of the Photo booth in the Electronics room.


The FLIR C5 is a thermal imaging camera used to visualize temperature differences and measure surface temperatures.


Settings Menu

Before taking measurements, check the following settings to ensure accurate results.

Emissivity (ε)

Emissivity describes how effectively a surface emits thermal radiation. Incorrect settings can cause significant measurement errors.

Settings → Measurement parameters → Emissivity

Material / Surface

Emissivity

Wood, plastic, matte paint

0.90–0.95

Painted or anodized metal

0.85–0.95

Shiny or polished metal

0.05–0.30

Black electrical tape

0.95

Reflective Surfaces

  • Aim the camera at a slight angle to avoid reflections from yourself or the camera. Avoid extreme angles.

  • For more accurate measurements, apply matte black electrical tape (if safe), let it reach the surface temperature, and measure the tape with emissivity set to 0.95.

  • Angling the camera reduces some reflections but does not eliminate errors caused by low emissivity.

Other Measurement Parameters

Settings → Measurement parameters

  • Reflected temperature: Usually set to ambient temperature (~20°C). Especially important for reflective surfaces.

  • Distance: Enter the approximate distance between the camera and the object.

  • Atmospheric temperature / Humidity: Defaults of 20°C and 50% are generally sufficient for short-distance measurements.

Camera View

The camera view provides several options for visualizing and measuring temperatures.

Image Modes

  • MSX: Thermal image enhanced with visible outlines, making objects easier to identify.

  • Thermal: Pure thermal image for analyzing temperature differences.

  • Digital camera: Regular visible-light image without thermal information.

  • Picture-in-picture: Thermal image displayed within a visible-light image.

Measurement Tools

  • Spotmeter: Measures the temperature at a selected point.

  • Hot/Cold Spot Box: Displays the highest and lowest temperatures within a measurement area.

Color Palette

Changes how temperatures are represented by colors.

  • Iron: Good general-purpose palette.

  • Rainbow: Helps distinguish small temperature differences.

  • White Hot / Black Hot: Useful for clearly showing hot or cold objects.

Changing the palette does not change the measured temperatures.

Temperature Scale

  • Automatic: Adjusts the color scale based on temperatures in the image.

  • Manual: Allows a fixed temperature range, useful when comparing multiple objects or images.

Capturing Images

Press the camera trigger to save an image. Ensure the correct measurement settings are selected before capturing.

File Transfer

Saved thermal images can be transferred directly to a computer using a USB cable.

  1. Turn on the FLIR C5.

  2. Connect the camera to your computer using a USB-C cable.

  3. Open the camera in your computer’s file manager (shown as FLIR Camera).

  4. Navigate to Images → DCIM → 100_FLIR.

  5. Copy the desired images to your computer.

  6. Safely disconnect the camera when finished.

  7. Store the camera in the camera bag and put it back in the box together with the USB cable and manual.

Important Reminders

  • The camera measures surface temperature, not internal temperature.

  • Reflective surfaces can show reflections of people, lights, and surrounding equipment.

  • Ordinary glass is not transparent to the thermal infrared wavelengths measured by the camera.

  • Get close enough that the measurement area is fully covered by the intended surface.

  • Reset emissivity to 0.95 after use for the next user.

  • Never rely solely on the thermal camera to determine whether equipment is safe to touch.