Cairns Viper?

[fire-dogg]

Is any one out there using the Cairns Viper yet? If so, any pros and cons you have found yet? Is the image quality as good as they say it is? And is it as firefighter- proof as some of the others like the Bullard?
Let me know what you think.

Thanks.

[PFD109NFD107]

Our dept. had a demo of several cameras including the Viper. The picture was amazing but there were several drawbacks that I found with it. First and foremost was the lack of a handle. We were crawling around the burn building doing a search and it was very difficult to hang on to. Like I said the picture quality was amazing but I think alot of it was a sales and marketing tool. I don't think I need a camera picture to turn red when the fire is very hot. My favorite camera out of the ones we demonstrated was the Scott Eagle.

[FF.FOREVER]

I will also agree with PFD on this one. The cairns Viper has the best picture quality on the market that I've seen. Yes the problem with the camera is no handle. Usally the guy with the camera all he's doing is using the camera and telling the other FF's where the fire is. So I don't know how much of a drawback that would be for your dept. My dept uses the ISG K-90. It's a very nice camera, but I wanted to go with the Cairns. Well let us know how your choice of camera turns out???

[FireTIC]

FF.Forever,
Do you mean the Cairns-Viper or the Cairns-Iris in your reply?
I thought you liked the Helmet mount, speaking from your previous posts?

FRD
NJ,PA,NY ISG Dealer

[FF.FOREVER]

To FireTic

Yes I'm a fan of the hands-free unit, but this forum is talking about the Viper so that is what I was referring to. If I had my choice of cameras it would be the Viper for hand-held and the Fireflir for hands-free. Thank you for your consern

[no_name_FF]

Be careful what you say....

When I posted ___MY____ evaluation of a certain camera back in April and said it was awkward, etc. but had a great picture, the manufacturer reps called my Chief and made some veiled threats.....

Now I'm not saying it was this manufacturer, but I am certainly not saying it wasn't this one....

------------------
The above is MY OPINION only and not that of anyone else. I am not representing any organization in making a post here!!!!

[Firecaptain]

Our department is in the process of buying two Viper cameras.

We have done extensive evaluations with five different cameras, Scott, Bullard ( standard and the MX), MSA and the Viper.

By far the viper had better picture quality, and tranmitter capabilities than the other cameras.

We liked, that the view finder would rotate 180o. Limiting exposure to firefighters when looking into attics, around doors, etc.

Also we found, (and our opion) that the handles were too bulky.

Again these are only my opion serving with the Thermal Imager Committee.

[FireTIC]

To Whom it may concern,
A local Fire Department here in central New Jersey bought 2 Viper's and has had some problems. They have been in the shop more than in service from what I'm told. This dept. is looking into returning both cameras for something else.

Try before you buy!

FRD
NJ,PA,NY ISG Dealer

[JAPFPE]

We purchased a Viper at my place of employment (power plant) and everyone seems impressed by the unit. We purchased the camera approx. 6 months ago after an extensive evaluation of the other available hand-held TIC's. The big pluses with teh Viper is the clarity of the display and the flexibility with the screen versus lens angle (180 degrees).

The only problem we've had with the camera have been associated with the batteries. We have gone through 5 sets of batteries. Apparently there was a design flaw in the first generation batteries which was allegedly fixed in the second generation batteries. Not so, the batteries are degrading over time such taht they will not hold the 90 minute charge. Cairns hopes to introduce the third generation batteries by the middle of November.

[flame44]

Based on customer service with their other products i would have to say look elsewhere for your imaging equipment. They take excessive time to repair or upgrade, different excuses each time they are called.
Poor quality control on product