jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I'm thinking of having LifePixel convert my D40 to IR, using their Super Color filter. They say that the D40, among others, doesn't do the custom WB very well. I thought I'd ask others before taking the plunge. I had a D70 converted with the normal IR filter, and that works fine.

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

i'm familiar with shooting UV in the medical field but what does IR give you?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Go to leave pixel.com and see the variety of images you can get. Processing with PS, etc., can get an assortment of results. Do a Search here, and you will see some.

MW

I think they say the same about the D60 which I use for IR. I used my front lawn to create a custom white balance and then used Adobe DNG Editor to reverse the red and blue sensitivity before doing B&W conversion in LR. I don't experience in issues in this regard. Maybe it is more important if you plan to due false color IR.

A bigger issue with the D40 and D60 is the lack of live view which is a way to deal with the fact that autofocus with visible light doesn't always result in very accurate IR focus. Without live view, the work around is smaller apertures and experimentation.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It worked perfectly with my D70 using green grass as a reference for WB. that's what you did with the D60, and it worked okay? I have a D3100 I could convert. That has Live View, but it's also on LifePixel's list of less-than-perfect WB cameras.

"Fortunately many cameras still do set a custom WB just fine and even the ones that don’t are totally usable and we get them in for conversion on a daily basis. Currently the following cameras have issues with setting proper WB:

Nikon D40, D60, D90, D300, D300s, D3000, D5000, D7000
Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro
Olympus EVOLT E-520"

MW

What would be symptom of a WB problem with a D60? Using mine I don't detect anything obvious. When would I notice it?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

If your pictures aren't turning out red, then your WB must be okay.

UtahBob Loc: Southern NJ

I suspect that you would notice it if you tried to create false color images (yellow trees & deep blue skies for example). Since you are converting to b&w in your ir workflow the in-camera custom white balance setting is getting you what you want for your final image.

I say this because I spent a good hour getting an in-camera white balance on a D7000 with a hoya 72. I was able to get a b&w ir image in post that I could live with but nothing false color. My D70 works great with the hoya 72. Now you might say a converted camera wouldn't have the same issue but I think the only difference between a converted camera and one using an ir filter such as the hoya 72 is the exposure required - longer shutter speeds and larger apertures. You'd still need the custom in-camera white balance with the converted camera. This is just a suspicion on my part but it would make sense given that the D7000 is one of the cameras listed that may not do in-camera custom wb acceptably for converted cameras.

I recall reading somewhere that even after the custom in-camera white balance, you can adjust the wb even further using adobe's dng converter. I didn't try that with the D7000 images.

If the D40 behaves like the D7000 in terms of setting a custom in-camera wb, then I would be hesitant to do a conversion if my target was false color. I think the cleanest way for Jerry to figure this out if no one here responds would be to put a hoya 72 or equivalent ir filter on the unconverted camera and see if you can process to an acceptable false color image. If you don't have an ir filter you might be able to have your local camera store let you borrow one for the test.

UtahBob Loc: Southern NJ

I just remembered where I stuck my raw. Here is a screen shot from viewnx2 of the straight out of camera shot using the best custom white balance I could set on that D7000 with a hoya 72 on it (this is an unconverted body). In my opinion, it really does not look red so I think the wb is probably the best I could manage. If you execute a levels adjustment and then desaturate, you have something usable for further pp but doing a channel swap doesn't really get me anything usable.

I'd probably trust the conversion guys on their opinion but it depends on what your end goal is - now that I look at this in b&w, I might have to take out the d7000 and try some b&w ir with the hoya.

Good luck on this ... Bob

(Download)

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I used to shoot IR film in the old days, with the deep red filter. The advantage of the conversion is short shutter times.

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

I'd listen to LifePixel. I had my D300 converted and have a hard time getting an CWB and with a super color filter it's even harder to get a CWB. Another company to convert your camera is Kolarivision.com

SqBear Loc: Kansas, (South Central)

Jerry I tried your link (but it was not hot in your post) like this; leave_pixel.com and leavepixel.com neither worked for me. Used two different browsers, still says it not a good link, sorry.

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

http://www.lifepixel.com

fotogk Loc: Tuftonboro, NH

lifepixel.com

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Sorry about that. Maybe I can blame it on autocorrect. :oops:

I guess you found that it's -

http://www.lifepixel.com/