Over at Amazon (update: and Home Depot), Ridgid’s Micro CA-25 inspection camera has dropped in price from $99 to $79. This inspection camera was a good deal at $99 when we posted about it last year, but $79 is even better!
No, it doesn’t come with fancy bells and whistles, such as any of the premium features found on the latest Milwaukee M-Spector camera, but this Ridgid inspection camera is going to be leaps and bound better at inspection, diagnostic, and part-finding tasks in hard to see places, than just your eyes and a well-placed mirror.
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It has a 2.4″ color LCD display, 180° image rotation button, 17mm aluminum camera head with adjustable brightness LEDs, and 3-foot flexible camera cable. It’s powered by 4 AA batteries and comes with a hard shell plastic case, hook, magnet, and mirror attachments, and an RCA cable.
Home Depot’s product description says that the cable and housing are waterproof and dustproof to IP67 standards, but this isn’t confirmed on Ridgid’s page.
Keep in mind that this inspection camera lacks image and video capture functionality. Expect to spend more for such features.
Ridgid is a well-regarded brand in the inspection camera market, with this model seemingly being one of the better entry-level options available. It’s also the only sub-$100 brand-name inspection camera that I know of at the moment.
Buy Now(via Amazon)
Compare(via Home Depot)
More Info(via Ridgid)
I don’t know if this is a permanent or temporary price drop, and so I will resort to my default recommendation for times like this. If you’re more than a little interested, buy now and think about it later. Both Amazon and Home Depot are offering it for $79 with free shipping. Your local Home Depot might have a couple available for in-store pickup as well.
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Also, don’t discount the importance of the included case. I have an inexpensive Extech inspection camera that I got for free after buying a Flir E4 thermal imaging camera, and it didn’t come with a case. Finding a good place to store the inspection camera and its 3-foot gooseneck camera head cable was a source of frustration until I stuffed it into a small tool bag and into the closet.
Andy
Bought this last year at the $99 price point (after reading about it on Toolguyd), used it many times. It is a solid unit. No bells, no whistles, but great camera for the price.