Here is my thinking on buying a low end camera to “play with”. If you are going to spend $1500.00 for a low end camera like a Flir I7 or any other manufacturer, you are going to have very little luck trying to resell it if you decide not to get into IR. Basically, you just threw $1500 out the window. The thing is, with lower end camera such as these, you are extremely limited with the kind of work you can do and the results that the camera will produce.
If you buy a higher end camera with better resolution and additional features, you will get much better results. Better results equates to being able to actually charge money for the service. Use the camera to try to make it pay for itself and gain a profit. If after a while you decide you do not like IR and try to sell it, taking a small loss isn’t so bad because you were able to actually make some money with the tool. Who cares if you take a $1,5000 loss on resale at that point.