braindamage Loc: Appley Bridge, Lancs, U.K.

I am intending on trying some IR pics this winter mainly landscapes, waterfalls etc and I would really appreciate any suggestions on which lens and brand of filter would be best for the subject matter. I am thinking of shooting in bright conditions to get maximum contrast. Many thanks

Bijan M. Pirnia

If you're shooting digital, you don't need any special lens or filters or anything else; just your camera. You can shoot color; then convert the image into regular black & white or infrared in photoshop. You'll get several benefits from this : You don't have to spend money on infrared filter or film. They're both quite expensive. Second, you get a lot better gray zone range (highlights to shadows range) when you convert from color to black & white or infrared. Third, even after converting the image to black & white or infrared, you can still tweak the image by moving the dial on red, green, blue, and yellow. Trust me, you get much better quality this way. I do it all the time. Even if you're shooting film, you still don't need extra accessories such as filters. You can scan the color image to a CD, download it and go from there. You can treat it like it was shot on a digital camera. If you want to see some samples, you can go fineartamerica.com, click on COMMUNITY, then click on ARTISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS, then type my name (BIJAN PIRNIA) in the rectangular box. You'll see quite a few regular and infrared black & white images all converted from color. No filter or infrared film was used. good luck to you.

braindamage Loc: Appley Bridge, Lancs, U.K.

Thanks very much Bijan I shall explore your suggestions.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

You may get good results this way, but it's not infrared, it's a Photoshop imitation of the IR look. There's no such thing as "converting to infrared." There are some IR groups on the internet which specifically ban Photoshop IR.

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

The best way to take IR picture is to convert your camera by removing the IR blocking filter from the sensor. but this is require pro. service and expensive. The cheaper way is use IR filter such as Hoya R72. I used it with a P&S bridge camera and got good result after PP with Photoshop. Here's a sample.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I have a camera that has been converted for IR photography. It is a full spectrum conversion which means that I have to supply a filter in front of the lens. This gives the ability to use 590 nm or 720 nm or even 850 nm for different effects. Photoshop can simulate a bit, but it is not the real thing and this is so much better.

What to watch out for are hot spots near the center of the picture. I have a lens that does this (the original kit lens). And the other lenses I have do not have this problem.

Also, I find that my auto focus is fooled and it shoots slightly out of focus. if I manually focus, the problem is solved.

The camera is a Sony A55. I find that all my older Minolta Maxxum lenses work just fine. And my newer lenses work fine too. Just not the original kit lens. But I also don't have filters to fit all of my lenses.

braindamage Loc: Appley Bridge, Lancs, U.K.

Thanks John

braindamage Loc: Appley Bridge, Lancs, U.K.

I like your shot very much many thanks

braindamage Loc: Appley Bridge, Lancs, U.K.

Thanks for the help.

blacks2 Loc: SF. Bay area

I have been doing infra-red for more year as I can remember, first in film and now digital but I am only doing it in black and white. The only way to get great infrared id to have a camera converted. Clouds and green foliage are prime factors. I attach two images I did on Saturday and they were done with a cheap P&S Panasonic TZM3, 7.2 mega pixels converted to strictly B&W infrared.
IR is fun.

1

(Download)

2

(Download)

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

I'm another advocate of converting a camera to IR. Many years ago, I used to shoot a lot of B&W IR film in 35mm and 4x5. I didn't like IR color film because it was just too far out, with the red skies and all. I also didn't like having to use a dark red filter for the B&W film which was very difficult to view and focus through, and having to use a tripod because of long exposures.

After I had switched to digital, and heard about IR converted cameras, I knew I had to try it. I also saw some examples of faux color IR with the blue skies from switching the red and blue channels, and I knew that's what I wanted to try. I got the enhanced color filter from Lifepixel, which let it some visible light so you can do color. It also does good B&W, lower in contrast than stronger IR filters, but I can increase contrast in post.

Here are some examples of my faux color IR:

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

Love those color, the blue sky is brilliant!

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

The first one looks similar to an early morning pic I took in the '90s after a night of freezing fog. That analog photo was not IR and completely natural.

joe west Loc: Taylor, Michigan

here's a ir shot, done with a nex c3 and a 590nm filter installed in camera...

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan