What is Thermal Imaging? In short it's a camera that takes pictures of temperatures and images. It's not an x-ray camera . It cannot see through things it only sees temperatures. It looks just like a camera but with a special lens. What is a Thermal camera good for? It sees temperature variations in objects that you and I cannot see. If you had a leaky roof where water runs down into your wall but not enough to show immediately , this camera often times will see the temperature difference on the wall it was behind. If there was a lack of insulation in walls or ceilings where cold or hot air were coming in, this camera would see the area where this was happening. If there were a heating or air-condition duct not fastened properly and letting conditioned air escape this camera would pick this up as well.