E70527 M332 Stabilized Thermal Camera (320×256 Resolution)

The FLIR M332 (E70527) is a stabilized thermal night vision camera that brings the power of thermal imaging to your vessel in a compact yet capable package. It features a 320×256 resolution VOx microbolometer sensor running at 30 Hz frame rate, which is the standard resolution in FLIR’s maritime lineup, offering a solid balance between target detection range and cost. With this camera, you can see the heat signatures of objects, vessels, or people in total darkness, through glare, and even in light fog or smoke – situations where traditional cameras and the human eye struggle or fail. A person in the water, for example, stands out as a warm shape against the cooler background of the sea, making the M332 a potential life-saver in man-overboard scenarios at night. A small fiberglass boat without lights will appear as a dark silhouette (cooler than the water on a sunny day, or warmer on a cool night) that you might otherwise miss.

The M332 is mounted on the same gyro-stabilized pan/tilt platform as the higher-end models in the FLIR M300 series. This means it actively compensates for your boat’s motion, keeping the thermal image steady when you’re in rough seas or when the boat pitches and rolls. Steady imagery is crucial for interpreting thermal scenes – it reduces blur and prevents loss of the target due to camera shake. You can pan a full 360° continuously and tilt from straight down to straight up (±90°), covering every direction. The camera can also be set to automatically scan a sector or do a continuous rotation, which some crews use as an automatic watchman at night (scanning for any heat sources around the boat).

The optical setup gives a 24° (H) × 18° (V) field of view. This relatively wide FOV is great for general situational awareness – you see a broad area, which increases the odds of detecting a hazard or target without needing to pan constantly. For instance, mounted on a flybridge, the M332 might cover most of the forward view so you catch a kayak or debris early on. If you spot something and want a closer look, the camera offers up to 4× continuous digital zoom. You can smoothly zoom in on the target, effectively narrowing the FOV to ~6° horizontal at max zoom. While digital zoom doesn’t add detail (it enlarges the existing pixels), it can be handy to enlarge a small target to discern its movement or to see if two targets are moving as one (e.g., a tug and tow). Many operators will use some digital zoom (like 2×) as a trade-off between detail and context.

Like its siblings, the M332 is ClearCruise™ AR capable, meaning if you have a compatible Raymarine Axiom display and the AR200 sensor, the system can automatically highlight “non-water” objects in the video feed and label known AIS targets or waypoints. For example, if another boat is ahead, the camera sees the heat and the Axiom can put a green box around it on your screen and maybe even label it if AIS info is available – very helpful at night to avoid collision. The M332 outputs video over IP (for network integration) and analog (for direct feed to a monitor or video input). This flexibility means you can record the feed with a standard marine video recorder or view it on multiple screens.

In practice, how would one use the M332? For cruising at night, you’d likely have it pointing forward, maybe slightly down to catch things floating on the surface. It will display the classic thermal grayscale imagery: warm objects are white or light grey, cold objects are dark. You might see, for instance, the wake of another boat (the turbulence and bubbles can appear warmer or cooler than surrounding water), giving you an indication of traffic ahead even if you can’t see the boat’s lights yet. If you’re anchoring late, the thermal can show you how close you are to other boats or the shore even in darkness, since hulls and land masses will register. For SAR operations, the M332 can be a primary tool to scan for a person in the water – you’d use its stabilization and maybe mount it high for less obstructions, then slowly pan across the search area. The wide view helps cover more water quickly, and you can zoom in on any promising heat signatures. The stabilization is a big plus here; it reduces fatigue in viewing a choppy scene and helps keep a small target in view once found. For fishermen, a thermal camera like this can help you spot birds (flocks of birds have a distinct thermal signature) indicating bait fish, or even see fish on the surface at night (some larger fish warm the water slightly at the surface, creating a thermal contrast – though that’s more specialized). Additionally, having thermal on while underway can alert you to logs or other debris, since sometimes these objects have differing temperatures (a log may be cooler than water on a hot day, for example, making it a dark shape on thermal).

The target audience for M332 includes serious yacht owners and small commercial operators who want the safety of thermal imaging but can work with the standard resolution. It’s a popular choice because it offers much of the tech of the high-end units (like stabilization) at a more moderate price point. If you pair the M332 with a dedicated low-light camera like the M300C (from above), you’d have an excellent camera suite: one thermal, one low-light, giving you options based on conditions. It’s also worth noting the M332’s physical profile is relatively compact – that’s good for smaller boats where a big gimbal might be intrusive. And maintenance is minimal: it’s solid-state, with a rugged core and an automated window defroster for when things ice up or fog over.

In summary, the FLIR M332 provides a significant boost to nighttime safety and awareness, letting you see the unseen. From dodging an unseen buoy to spotting a person in peril, a stabilized thermal camera of this caliber is a force multiplier for the crew. It’s often said that once you have cruised with thermal imagery on board, you’ll never want to be without it – and the M332 is one of the key entry points into that world of enhanced vision at sea.