trapper1 Loc: Southside Virginia

I am interested in trying infrared photography but need advice on the first steps. I have been reading up on what I can find on the subject but would like suggestions on any books, etc., at the very basic entry level. I intend to start with the equipment I have, my Nikon D5600, various lens, Hoya R72 filter, tripod, and Vello remote release. I am mainly interested in black and white images. Any suggestions anyone can make on such publications will be very much appreciated.

avflinsch Loc: Hamilton, New Jersey

You would also need two have the internal IR filter removed from your camera, basically rendering it useless for normal photography.

Strange

I would suggest renting a converted Nikon camera and making sure the investment is what you will use. Once you have made the decision to have an IR camera available full time, buy a D5600 and have it converted by either Kolari Vision or Lifepixel. Both companies websites offer a ton of information.

Luft93 Loc: Finger Lakes, NY

Useless is wrong. A filter limiting light from only the visual spectrum will cut UV and IR radiation and restore color rendition.

At this level of experimentation it would overkill to convert that camera. Try to find an already converted cheaper camera on eBay or convert a spare camera from a shelf.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I am also expanding into IR photography after observing and reading about it for several years. As mentioned, it is a commitment requiring a dedicated camera that will not be usable for anything else. There are about five choices of exactly how to have your camera converted. Websites of the two companies mentioned will help you decide which one would work best for you.

Most IR photography is done manually. So you might start by learning how to comfortably make exposure adjustments, including Exposure Compensation, on your camera. Manual focus will be the norm, so work to identify which lenses work best for that. The lens I had planned to use is turning out to be a poor choice because it requires tiny movements of the focus ring to get sharp focus. Also...magnified Live View is your best focus tool. Does it work well on your D5600?

If this all seems to go the right direction for you, then decide whether to get a second D5600. Or perhaps get your current D5600 converted and use this as opportunity to move to a different camera for your visible light photography.

I have not found written sources that I am ready to recommend to others. Start with the converters' websites.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

For a full-spectrum conversion, you are correct. Other conversions block all visible and UV light. The filters required, however, are expensive and will likely not result in completely accurate visible light rendition.

JBRIII

For experimentation try what you have with a 700 or higher filter on a bright sunny day. Maybe nothing gets thru, maybe not. I have experimented with UV and IR and with the UV I find many lenses work better than than the books or web suggests for flowers under full sun with a regular, non- modified, Canon camera.

If you, think about it, books are written for general conditions, so yes trying to shot urine stains indoors isn't going to work, but flowers outdoors might, but books are written to cover both.

So try your camera with an IR filter, 700, 720 etc., use a tripod and try different exposure times with and without, long time noise correction, manual focus using screen (humans can't see IR). The higher the wavelenght if the filter, the less light that will get thru, so keep it around 700-750 to start. Shooting light bulbs indoors will let you seebif anything gets to the sensor. You can see the filament in incandesant bulbs for example. I believe the same is true for flouresent also.

Finally, while requiring filters, a full spectrum conversion allows more possibilities including UV and costs no more.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Spend some time on the LifePixel site. They have loads of information. Take your time before you have the conversion done. You have lots of choices. Be sure to check their recommended/not recommended camera list.

SHWeiss

https://www.dpmag.com/how-to/tip-of-the-week/infrared-with-an-iphone/?amp

Good article about ir and use of newer iPhone

ecurb Loc: Metro Chicago Area

You can start cheaply by buying a visually opaque filter that passes infrared light. (Kodak 87A.) It will require using a tripod and manual exposure but your only costs will be the filter and your time.

SteveFranz Loc: Durham, NC

My experience has been with a full spectrum IR camera. With a Hot Mirror filter I can take normal color photos. Substituting an IR filter for the HM i can take IR photos, I have several IR filters ranging from 520 up to 900nm. 520 is fairly dark red, you can easily see through it. At 900, everything is blacked out and I have to rely on my digital viewfinder. With both HM & IR I think I'm into the UV spectrum - those pictures look very weird.

As an alternative, some of the new phones have night vision cameras that do very well in the IR spectrum. I just got a Oukitel WP17. In addition to the regular cell phone cameras, it has an IR camera. At night it uses 4 IR LED's instead of a flash. Looking at them I would estimate they are in the 520-700 nm range. In the daytime it just takes B&W IR photos.

A dedicated IR camera (IR only or full spectrum) would cost $200-$300 for conversion if you supply the camera. You can by already converted cameras from $200 - $2,000 depending on the model.

The phone cost me $300. It's a lot more limited than my nearly 20 year old full spectrum Fuji, but it's a lot more portable and I always have it with me.

trapper1 Loc: Southside Virginia

First off, to all who responded, a huge thank you for all that invaluable personal information and advice, it is truly a gold mine for me. I have been trying to learn IR using a Hoya 72mm IR, my Nikon D5600 and a tripod and using a Vello remote release. I have just scratched the surface but am encouraged to pursue IR further. One problem with this setup I have been trying is that I have to remove the Hoya 72 in order to focus using LiveView (at 87, my eyes are not what they used to be) as I cannot see very well using the built-in viewfinder. The first major problem I have found is that to see the subject with this set-up I have to remove and then re-attach the Hoya filter to see and focus on the subject and I find this procedure is more often than not sufficient to move the camera off the subject. This and the time and effort to set up and focus using a tripod convinced me to look into converting a camera to IR.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I have 2 modified cameras that are full spectrum. There is a big difference on the ease of use between the two. The older one is a Sony A55. Instead of a regular mirror, this uses a translucent mirror in which some light goes though to the sensor, and some is divereted to be used for focusing and other uses. This camera will share the same problems your Nikon 5600 would experience. Namely focus is not accurate since the camera is calibrated for visible light focusing. This forces me to only manual focus with this camera. Auto focus always turns out just out of focus. But other than auto focus, it works great.
The other camera is a mirrorless Olympus EM5ii. Mirrorless is the way to go. Since focus is done on the sensor, images are always perfect focus, no matter what IR filter I elect to use. And also no matter what AF lens I use. There is no need to try to calibrate one lens for use with the camera.
With either camera, the camera determines proper exposure. And the cameras are just as sensitive to IR light as they are to visible light.

JBRIII

In case your are not, you must use manual focus as IR focuses at different location. And you must use screen to focus in most cameras as no IR can be seen by the human eye, but the sensor does which is what the screen sees as red. Actually, each wavelength of light does this this with any single glass objective (single element). Cameras use different types of glass and multiple pieces of glass (multiple elements) in what is called a lens. More modern and expensive lenses ofthe use what are called low dispersion glasses to get even better responses. This is big problem for refractor telescopes, chromatic abberation and causes color fringing effects. Older refractors were huge due to long fl to avoid this, think F14, 6" objective = 7 foot tube with all the glass at the end. With cameras they do the best they can for visible, but IR no.

I don't remember exactly what all you said originally, but examining some websites, Polari or Lifepixel and maybe a book or two (some used ones available) on DSLR IR will save you from many pittfalls and disappointment. For example, your photos will show the IR as red, not black and white without conversion in some way.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

One of the challenges with full-spectrum IR is that not even all wavelengths of IR focus at the same point, because IR covers a very broad part of the electromagnetic spectrum. I was originally considering that type of conversion, but gradually changed my mind as I learned more about it.