- This topic is empty.
Converting camera to IR
-
the plan was always to buy the 5d and then convert my 20d, but since i’m a college student and more or less broke all the time… well, lets just say that isn’t going to happen any time soon. since i got the r72 filter, i’ve really gotten bit by the ir bug and i’m re-evaluating my plan. bhphoto.com has a rebate going on all canon dslr cameras (until the end of june), so the price of the rebel xt is $500 and eventually $400 when i get the rebate back. i’m thinking of getting this camera on friday when i get paid and then getting it converted by life pixel. i did a search on this site, but i couldn’t find anything in the 500+ results it gave back. i’m going to have them do the conversion. can anyone vouch for life pixel? or do you know of someone that will do this for the same price or cheaper and are reliable? also, i’m leaning towards the enhanced color ir (680nm) instead of the normal ir (720nm), the sample pics looked good, but does anyone have a reason why i shouldn’t get the enhanced color ir?
thanks in advance.
bethIf it helps, Des got a Fuji S3 converted for pure IR, it meant he could use it like a regular camera at sensible shutter speeds, the results are incredible..
Si
thats what i want to do, but with a rebel xt. that should be (unless i’m mistaken) what the conversion by life pixel will do.
bethBeth have already PM’d you. But just to resay, I have used life Pixel before and found them to be fine and were very prompt about replying to emails i had etc. (http://maxmax.com also sell converted bodies, don’t know anything about them though)
If you are serious about IR then getting a camera body converted is the way to go. Messing around with the R72 is a pain i think. Since converting I can take picture hand held with decent exposures like say 125th sec at F16 iso200
For you own ref below is a sample image i took today of a place you should know. This is straight from the camera no post processing done at all (just resize). There are many processes to convert the D70 image to black and white or three colour which is amazing too
The other option other than going digital infrared is to shoot infra red film such as Kodak HIE which is also excellent
Best of luck
Martinthanks again martin!
yea, i think i might recognize that place, i’m glad that the water level is back up, the last two years when i’ve visited there is a sandbar island in the middle of the pond..
great pic *cough*showmore*cough*
i think the r72 is a pain too, but love the results.
how are you enjoying the parkway?
bethStarted the parkway today. Did not get on at the very bottom we started at Fancy Gap which is about 35 miles south of Mabry Mill. Made are way today up as far as the town of Roanoke. Will continue on parkway tomorrow morning making are way to Wash DC. Weather was excellent today and the scenery was totally excellent much better than i was expecting. To be honest i found th smokys a bit disappointing but parkway is making up for it now. One of the best drives i have ever done really really good up there with driving through some of the Alps in Europe. Looking forward to tomorrow. Did not get great pics today so i didn’t do the place justice. I posted about 16 pics at the below link if you want to see more:-) Prefer your ones:-). Will try to get some better ones tomorrow. Thanks a mill for the suggestion of doing the parkway as it will finish of the US trip nicely before heading back to Ireland to rest for a few days before heading off to Corsica for three weeks hiking:-) (really enjoying taking the three months of work)
http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s121/mhughes1973/USARoadTrip2007/?start=all
Cheers
Martini love them all martin! much better than my small handful of brp pics and i’ve ridden the parkway half a dozen times in the past 4 years. thanks for sharing, i recognized most of the buildings, now you have me wanting to take a trip to down the parkway..
have a great flight home and hope you enjoy corsica (and take lots of pics for us!)
have another question, what filter would i need to take normal pics with an ir converted camera? cause i’m thinking that if it has a longer exposure with the filter on then that might be useful for the rare occasions when i shoot waterfalls, rather than trying to stack alot of filters on top of each other..
bethbeth wrote:
i love them all martin! much better than my small handful of brp pics and i’ve ridden the parkway half a dozen times in the past 4 years. thanks for sharing, i recognized most of the buildings, now you have me wanting to take a trip to down the parkway..
have a great flight home and hope you enjoy corsica (and take lots of pics for us!)
have another question, what filter would i need to take normal pics with an ir converted camera? cause i’m thinking that if it has a longer exposure with the filter on then that might be useful for the rare occasions when i shoot waterfalls, rather than trying to stack alot of filters on top of each other..
bethSorry might just be stupid me. Don’t fully under stand the question you are asking. When you say “what filter would i need to take normal pics with an ir converted camera” i presume you mean you want to take normal colour photos with the IR Camera. If so you will not be able to take normal pictures again you will only be able to take IR shots. If you want to be able to take normal shots and IR shots you will need to get a clear glass filter put over the sensor and then use the camera as normal for colour and you will be back to using the R72 screw in filter for IR.
if the questions is that you want to do long exposures with the IR converted camera then you will have to put filters on the lens to reduce the amount of light just like we have to do for colour photographs eg stop lens down to F22, lower ISO down all the way, put a polarizer on it to reduce 2.5 stops are else you ND filters.
Any more questions just shout im all ears
Martin
i probably screwed up reading something, but i thought there was a filter i could get to screw on the front of the lens on an ir modded camera to take pictures in the visible spectrum.. :oops:
thanks for the response.
bethbeth wrote:
i probably screwed up reading something, but i thought there was a filter i could get to screw on the front of the lens on an ir modded camera to take pictures in the visible spectrum.. :oops:
thanks for the response.
bethNo definatelly no filter to do this. Basically with a modded camera they put an R72 or similar right over the sensor. This filter will then only let IR light through (im sure some normal light gets through but very very little)
M
ah, oh well, there goes that idea, lol.
thanks martin, sorry, i’m a little slow with this new stuff..
bethMartin, just to weigh in on this topic.
Will there be excessive smearing from IR if I get a glass filter instead of an IR filter (for normal colour work)? Would I be better off getting an IR reject filter for this application? Along with the R72 for the IR work obviously.
Of course they usually recalibrate focus for the IR filter.. Sigh. Choices.Q: Will there be excessive smearing from IR if I get a glass filter instead of an IR filter
Honest answer is i do not know for sure. But i would suspect there would be a small bit of extra red/white and black not much through you might not notice it in some shots but you will in others. I would email LifePixel.com to get the correct answer as they have many years experience with itQ: Would I be better off getting an IR reject filter for this application? Along with the R72 for the IR work obviously.
Might be an idea but i would talk to LifePixel.com to see how big an issue it would be to let the IR through. All early digital cameras let all the IR through it is only in the last few years cannon, nikon etc have started fully blocking it out. Talk to Life Pixel they are good at getting back to youQ: Of course they usually recalibrate focus for the IR filter.. Sigh. Choices.
Focus is a problem with IR. as you know IR light focuses nearer than normal visible light. This is not an issue for me doing landscapes etc cause i use big depth of fields and normally focus about 1/3 into the frame (eg 30 feet) The focusing only becomes a problem if you are focusing on a subject that is about 5 feet are less from you, it all depends through on the aperture your using if you are using say 5.6 and above this might not be an issue.Hope this helps :-) any more questions shout im not n expert on IR but i’ll answer whatever i can
Martinlife pixel received my camera yesterday (june 27th) and i got the return trip ups tracking info today after business hours. so i guess the camera will ship back to me tomorrow and i’ll have it on tuesday. now thats fast service.
beth
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
