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From Fellrnr.com, Running tips
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I use my thermal camera each morning after rising to evaluate muscular and joint health. It's important to let your skin adjust to the ambient temperature for 10-20 minutes. If you skin is in contact with fabric or furniture, that can skew the results. I use an extension cord so the camera is far enough away that I can view the images on my phone comfortably, and I take a photo each day for comparison. I'll use the images to track the progress of injuries, as the hotter areas indicate damage. I'll also use the images to target my [[Massage]], focusing on muscles that are hotter. After a run I'll use the camera to check for imbalances or changes in which muscle groups are activated (hotter).
=Which Camera?=
I've used both the FLIR ONE <jfs id="B00VILVV62" noreferb="true"/> and the Seek Thermal XR <jfs id="B00SSZ5KPY" noreferb="true"/> and I prefer the FLIR, but both have their advantages. Currently, the FLIR ONE hasn't been discontinued, and they are working on releasing the third-generation replacement. (The Seek is available for Android as <jfs id=" B00NYWAHHM" noreferb="true"/>, and there is an Android version of FLIR <jfs id=" B00W5PRY52" noreferb="true"/>. )
* The FLIR uses their patented MSX which uses a visual camera to create an outline image that's then merged with the thermal image. I found that this made the FLIR rather more useful and easier to interpret than the Seek and was a major factor for me. The MSX approach doesn't work so well for close up images, but I've not found that to be too much of an issue.
* The FLIR has a wider angle of view than the Seek, which makes it easier to use. The Seek is only 20 degrees, which for photographers is about a 120mm lens on a 35mm camera. For non-photographers, it's annoyingly narrow. (There is a non-XR Seek camera with a 36 degree view as <jfs id="B00NYWABAA" noreferb="true"/>.)
* I found the FLIR gave me more useful images. This is extremely subjective, but I found that I could interpret the FLIR images more easily and understand the issues more clearly than I could we the Seek. I didn't have the two cameras concurrently, so I couldn't do back to back comparisons.
* The thermal range of both cameras is fine for most purposes, but the Seek covers from -40f up to 626f where the FLIR only covers -4°F to 248°F.
* Both cameras have a stunningly low resolution thermal sensor; the FLIR is 160 × 120 and the Seek is 206 x 156. This is one of the reasons why the FLIR MSX helps make sense out of the blurry thermal images. (The third-generation FLIR ONE is only 80x60, and the FLIR ONE PRO is 160x120, so the "PRO" is the replacement for the second generation FLIR ONE, and the third-generation FLIR ONE is actually a lower end camera.)
* Both seem to have similar absolute accuracy based on comparison with a spot thermometer (<jfs id="B00MNDAKW0" noreferb="true"/>). In theory you might be able to use a spot thermometer to perform a similar analysis, but in practice it's too hard to understand the variation.
* The Seek uses the camera's battery where the FLIR has its own battery. The Seek solution is better as the impact on your phone's battery life is not huge and you don't have another device to charge up. You also have to plug the FLIR in and turn it on, where the Seek just plugs in.
