Okay I need a cheap thermal or infrared camera. Is this possible to construct? Can you buy cheap cameras that detect heat?

Thanks for all your help.

edit: The cheap black and white mod for regular cameras wouldnt work.

Most cameras with "nightshot" use IR. They use a ulb that emits infared light but it isn't the same as infared radiation which I am guessing you want. I am assuming that you want not only to see in the dark but also to see heat signatures. This is more expensive and harder to get for reasons that should be obvious. So, before I go any further, What exactly do you want? are you looking for?

Okay, first of all thanks for the response.

Yeah I know about the night-vision trick but that will not be adequate.

I need to acquire a camera which can truly detect heat, and more specifically, that coming off a person. The quality of the camera need not be very good. The price for the camera needs to be cheap.

I have attempted to think of any common items which may contain technology similar to this, but the night-vision on vid-cameras is the only thing I could find or come up with.

I realize I do not have enough understanding of infrared technology so I will do some more reading. Any help is appreciated.

i think this kinda sums it up

http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkwZthermalQ20infraredQ20cameraQQ_armrsZ1QQ_ fromZR40QQ_mdoZ

...god-damn. Why the fuck is this so expensive.

I always wondered the same thing. I guess that the ccd for far infrared is very expensive to make or that manufactuers know how cool it is and know they can get away with huge price markups.