hoola

Bought a cheap point & shoot Vivitar converted to infrared off E Bay last month . Really really liking it . However its limited as can't change lens , little controls, etc . So decided i'd like to do infrared with my Nikon D5300's . Very expensive to convert body to infrared and then I lose it as a regular body/camera . SO am thinking to use a filter instead . 720nm R72 filter . Pretty strong filter factor though . I think as much as 6 or more f stops . Anyone have any experience with this way of doing infrared ? Any advice ? Any comments ? I will be primarily wanting to do B&W and some color . Thanx in advance .

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

I've tried and It's too hard. Since you can't see thru the IR filter you have to compose each time without it then put it on to take the pic. ISOs/shutter speeds suffer too.

hoola

What if I use live view(which my Nikon D5300's have) ?? Will view still be dark ?

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

That does solve the too dark viewfinder issue. But you will still have very long exposure times which will require a tripod. The shorter exposure times with my converted camera allow me to shoot hand-held.

hoola

Curious : Who did your conversion ?? Kolari seems to be one to go with if I convert camera.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

I used Lifepixel. They and Kolari are the two biggest conversion companies. Both seem to have happy customers.

Jeffcs Loc: Myrtle Beach South Carolina

LifePixel I had a Olympus PenF converter to 590 (super-color) normal exposures hand held one thing I’ve noticed better lenses perform worse than cheeper ones

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

I used to use the 720 filter, but exposures in the region of 6 to 15 seconds at f/8 to f/16.

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

You will be sorry. It’s better to convert a camera. If you use a filter you can’t just pick up a camera and shoot. You set up the camera on a tripod compose your scene put on filter and do your exposure then take the photo.

For each lens you may need a different size filter. Also some lenses have hot spots and are not good for infrared shooting. Kolarivision.com has a list of lenses good for infrared.

I suggest you read the information on 2 websites before making any decisions Kolarivision.com. And Lifepixel.com

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I've tried that with a Sony DSC-F-707(with which it really worked well), D700 and D800e. It worked well, as long as I'm happy with black and white final "prints". With the Sony I could actually see the IR image in the view finder. I wish I had purchased a larger diameter filter, but the 52mm was pretty expensive. I use it with older lenses that have the depth of field scale on the lens.
--Bob

louiseed Loc: N.H,

Consider converting the camera to 'Full Spectrum' it will be able to use any of the spectrum wavelengths for IR plus still use the camera in normal color mode. Each wave length will have its own filter or combination of filters.

Katcas Loc: Rhode Island

I have both a fully converted Nikon 7100 to a 720 nanometer. You do a custom white balance. I have no issues composing via viewfinder or live view.

I purchased then a Fuji XT2 and had a full conversion. Now I choose what I feel the best composition would be by nanometer. Certain situations may call for just a little more color so I’ll change filters. I often scout locations ahead of time and determine how I’d like to shoot them. I don’t feel like I’ve lost out in the moment because I have one filter on or another. Both companies sell what’s called a hot mirror filter which is as if you are shooting a camera without a conversation.

Infrared is a journey. If you have a camera sitting in the corner that you never use - convert it! Explore. You’d be amazed what infrared adds to your portfolio.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

All modern lenses are color corrected for the range of wavelengths that make up visible light. Color correction compensates for those wavelengths so they all come to a sharp focus on your sensor. There is no optical compensation in your lenses, however for infrared waves that are outside the visible light spectrum.
So you must compensate for that when you focus. Some older film cameras and lenses had a mark on the focusing ring that showed the position to focus at infinity when using infrared film, but DSLRs do not. Focusing on your LCD or through your TTL viewfinder will NOT allow you to make that compensation since you will only be viewing and focusing on visible light. You really need an infrared converted camera to eliminate the frustration you may encounter by simply using a filter.

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

I used to use my Nikon for IR but there are several factors to consider. You have to buy an expensive filter for every size lens you wish to use, you have to compose then put on the filter so you no longer can see what you are doing or if anything moved. You also have to focus on a different point for IR. A standard lens focusing on a point is not the same point of focus with IR Light, I am assuming you knew that right? There is an IR mark on your lens to show where it needs to be slightly moved to once normally focused, in order that the IR image will be correctly focused. Then there is a very long exposure time of many seconds and finally a long camera processing time before you can use it again.

In the end I bought a converted camera which allows me to use it like a normal camera, see the shots immediately, even freeze someone jumping in the air in IR or photograph a horse trotting by, none of which I could do with my standard Nikon and a dark filter.

As for live view, I don't know how you can see anything, since it still goes through the filter and lens anyway, if shooting with a standard camera and IR filter on the lens. Go with a converted camera, you will be much happier and use it far more often, trust me, I've been through it. I bought a converted camera from a company that did conversions, I had the choice of using my own camera to convert or they had a selection of used cameras that they had already converted. I went that route and bought one for just a little more than it would have cost me to convert my own.

That was years ago, it was the Panasonic DMC-LZ10 Lumix which has a Leica lens with a 5X optical zoom and was only 10MGPXL but it did what I needed and I'm still using it today.

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

Here is a link to some photos I did a few weeks back, with that camera, though these are lower quality in the slide show to keep size down. Click on this to down load to your desk top, a thin box will appear at the bottom of your screen and then you choose save or open to see the images.

https://d2m23yiuv18ohn.cloudfront.net/Video/pSAeGN7UsjrAlFgEVP1Qmg/1080p.mp4