John7199 Loc: Eastern Mass.

I recently saw an exhibit of Infrared film photos and it got me to wondering - Is Infrared possible with a DSLR? If yes How?

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

If you do not get your DSLR converted , you would need to purchase an IR filter to fit the lens. The filters are very dark, so tripod needed, as the exposures would range from 10 seconds to 30 seconds. Converted cameras will be the best bet for hand-held shorter exposures, and the ability to view through the normal viewfinder, compose, focus etc. I had a Nikon D70 converted, no regrets.

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

Actually you need to get your DSLR converted and you need to purchase an IR filter.

DSLR cameras generally have a filter fitted over the sensor which blocks IR (most of it). Very little IR will reach the sensor. There are IR filters designed to block visible light and if you add one of these to the existing filter that blocks IR, the only light that reaches the sensor is the small amount of leakage that manages to get through these two filters. Your exposures will have to be very long before you get any image at all. And incidentally, you will find focusing extremely difficult because no image is visible and auto-focus will not work.

Converting the camera means removing the filter built into your camera that blocks IR. If you stop there you have what is sometimes called a full-spectrum camera. Actually that is a bit of a misnomer because the sensor is not designed to capture IR and it only captures the upper end of the IR spectrum; still such a full-spectrum camera takes interesting photos and such a camera is particularly good for astronomical shots.

If you add an IR filter to attach externally then you have a variety of choices to filter out all but some narrow band of IR and you will get different effects with different IR filters. Generally the images will have a very strong red cast so post-processing is advisable to produce a monochrome image.

Another option is to include an IR blocking filter in the conversion process. In this case, a filter is added inside the camera; the camera is less versatile but arguably more convenient to use.

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

I'm glad I agreed with most of what you wrote!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Yes you can, you can do it the old fashioned way ( just as it was with film, using filters), or you can have a camera converted to take infrared images only, there are quite a few companies that provide that service. Or you can shoot as always and convert your images to infrared in pp!

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

You can't convert images to infrared in pp. You can make it look something like infrared, but it's not an image created by IR light. Some IR websites don't allow fake software IR. I do a lot of IR with a converted camera, and I can guarantee you can't get the results I get with software alone.

John7199 Loc: Eastern Mass.

Thanks!

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Take a look at this site:

https://www.lifepixel.com/

Or this site:

https://kolarivision.com/

These are two companies that specialize in IR conversion. But even without converting a camera, there is a lot of good information on IR Photography on these two sites.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

IR is easy to achieve with DSLR, without conversion, but the exposure time is L o n g. For minimal cost you can convert an older camera easily DIY. My conversion took me about an hour with 15 minutes fining my d---d screwdriver set!

IR discussion: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-547605-1.html

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

Those are excellent sites. I’ve used both companies to convert cameras to infrared. I highly suggest converting a camera to infrared. It makes shooting very easy no tripod needed.

John Howard Loc: SW Florida and Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.

Go to lifepixel.com and read the tutorials. They do conversions and explain the process of managing the files and color swapping. I had an old Sony mirrorless converted and it makes very striking BW images. It is great because mid-day is the best time to shoot IR, when you don't want to be shooting regular light. Also, read about the lens you use. Because the IR light bends slightly differently, you are better off with a mirrorless camera that focuses on the sensor. You can also get a hot spot in the center of the image due to the reflections inside the lens. I had to experiment with quite a few lenses to find one that did not have this problem, which is more frequent on zoom lenses. Have fun.

Flickwet Loc: NEOhio

Does the auto focus of a DSLR work accurately in IR, or is focus compensation necessary?

Bike guy Loc: Atlanta

I sent my old Panasonic LUMIX to Kolarivision for a conversion to a 720 wavelength IR camera. I can focus, choose f stop, shutter speed etc. Minimal cost for a small camera like this.
I’m having lots of fun experimenting with it.
I have actually taken some interesting,eerie photos with it.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

Yep, if you’re handy at all it’s very easy. I wanted to play with IR without making a big investment so I bought an old Lumix Z7S on eBay and followed online instructions. It took minutes. I bought a stick on filter ring and a cheap set of filters on Amazon and I was in business.

Flickwet Loc: NEOhio

Yes, focus compensation is necessary, I just looked it up