TP: Infra-red with exisiting A-mount cameras

I can start the ball rolling on this one with two links to my own site (and I'll be sure and update or redirect the links when I change my website), plus some background ... I can't show you many photos though (yet).

This was my - failed - attempt at using the 7D as IR
Hoya R72 on 7D
Several people talked then about still being able to use the image, frankly I think its better to find a less ghostly set-up rather than spend more time on the mac than in the field.

And this is a great plug-in for PhotoShop that might interest you
review of Pseudo IR
This article was written last year, the software site has been updated a few times, and I am yet to grab this download for the mac (the above was PS7 on a PC, need to try it on PSE4 on a mac next). So this is shooting normally, and then faking your IR effect in PS.

I think I mention on one of my articles or a thread somewhere that while researching the topic of IR I found that Canon dSLRs seemed to be the better way to go. That isn't bad news. Perhaps a used Canon D30 (not 30D), the older 3.2 mega pixels jobby. if you really want to do IR then a spcific set-up might be the way to go. That said, I've not done α100 IR yet.

I've seen forum threads with much better results straight from camera on the α100 than the 5D or 7D ... so might be an idea to try the α

As someone who used Kodak's High Speed HIE infrared film a good few times (wasn't as impressed with Konica's and Ilfords SFX was a bit short in the reds it would capture) ... I'm coming from the 'how it should look' field. And how it should look is shockingly grainy! IR in film was not about fine grain and smooth results. Part of the appeal was grain.

a.n.other reason I added the Olympus E-400 to my tool box was to get back into IR. I never tried it on my α100 ... and for me don't really have a lens to use it with on the α or the Oly, but I'm thinking about it. IR can be very rewarding. I have the 14-42 kit lens that might serve well as an IR only optic?

My suggestions are to pick a wide angle lens. You don't need an f1.8 or f2. You need to adjust focus to get in line with the IR light ... but if you shoot a wide and stop to f8 you can largely not bother with any refocusing.

Quick note on technique. Tripod is a must. Set the scene. Then screw in the filter and take the shot. But you need to be in manual exposure. Sunny day, try starting off at 1/4 f8 or f11 ... then peak at the image on the screen ... and adjust your settings accordingly. Your image will be all shade of red. The next bit is to edit at home on you computer. First step is to turn it black and white, then play with contrast and brightness. You should need to spend a great deal of time in post. Lush spring green is the hot topic for IR. And people's lips turn white. I leave the other discoveries up to you. Oh, and white clouds and BLACK sky.

IR - RED ... it the red wave lengths beyond the red spectrum. So for example a Hoya R72 blocks out the light with a shorter wave length than 720nm. So all the greens and blues etc. Blue being at the other end of the spectrum tends to go black (landscape photographers take interest).

Filters, glass:
Hoya make the R72 which is affordable if bought off Mr eBay and in a small size. They also do an RM90 which has a price tag to challenge most people's lens prices! The 72 is 720nm and the 90 is 900nm I guess, the bigger the number the longer into the IR spectrum we go. I seem to remember than Ilfords SFX film had increased red sensitivity to about 780nm, but it didn't show very much.

Filters, gel:
this is the only practicle solution if you want to use a big filter thread ... and the price is very affordable. Lee Filters do an infrared gel (thin sheet of plastic) and this is bigger than Cokin P, so you need to buy a blank Cokin P gel holder, but the gel down to size ... and you can do all of that for about the price of a Hoya R72 glass screw in 55mm mount. I can't remember the nm, I think its 800-ish.

Of course, the old filum way was to have a grainy result ... you might be able to pull of a new age digital image with fine grain?

(this is just a quick and dirty mind dump on IR to get this new TP rolling, I think I'll spend some time and re-write it as an article and then update this thread, in the meantime, hope that helps)

I've had some success with a cheap R72-equivalent (77mm AUD65 from ebay) on the 17-35D and A100. Exposures are long - in the seconds for ISO100 and bright sunshine - but it does work. There's a central bright spot (haven't tried masking it out but will one day) and the lens is highly flare-prone since the anti-reflection coatings seem ineffective past about 800nm.

Make sure you take RAW images and you'll need to turn the red channel way down since some visible light does get through to it. All the IR is in the G & B channels.

for example, both with the 17-35D:

I"m surprised this topic is so thing when we have a pretty long thread for IR images. If anyone is interested, I could post my work flow on a non modified A100+ R72 filter.

Here's one for a Minolta 7D:
http://www.ir-photo.net/ir_dynax7mod.html

This site is good for anything infrared photography related.

This covers some aspects of Sony Alpha infrared photography:
http://www.dynaxdigital.com/taking-photos/a-guide-to-infrared-photography/

Edited by cleoo - 29 November 2012 at 17:06

Jocelynne wrote: I am considering to convert an A300 for IR photography. Does anyone have opinions and suggestions concerning such a conversion? What does an IR conversion of the A300 require?

Converting an A300 should be straight forward and simple, the only things you need are a screwdriver (phillips ph00x40) for disassembly, an IR-Filter and a glass cutter (to be able to replace the hot mirror with the IR filter cut into the same dimensions).

Jocelynne wrote: What Alpha lenses are best employed for IR photography?

See here: Lenses and unmodified cameras for Infrared (IR)

More info to be found here:
DIY Sony A100 infra-red conversion
IR+UV: photography beyond human visible spectrum

And of course IR pictures to be posted in here then finally

Edited by Micholand - 18 July 2013 at 19:05

Try this one: IR+UV: photography beyond human visible spectrum

Typo was corrected, so original link should work again

Edited by Micholand - 18 July 2013 at 19:06

Good information on conversion can be found here. However, LifePixel does not handle Minolta conversions so I had these folks convert my 7D and I have been happy with the results.

Edited by Roger Rex - 06 January 2014 at 16:14