Infrared photography is very surreal. The images that an infrared camera picks up cannot be seen by the human eye because it is beyond the light wavelength that the eye can see. This is not a technical article as such (there are links below with much technical content) but to encourage you to have a go. I have searched for many hours on the internet for related info and over the years have collected many links. This site, hopefully will save you the time and frustration of not getting the right information or hitting "dead" links.There are 2 ways of achieving taking infrared photos:
1. Attach "filters" to the camera.
These quite simply , stop the light spectrum that you don't want, and allows the infrared through. Some people have actually used the data media from the old 5" floppy computer discs. cut it to size and stuck it the end of their camera!!! It worked! Nowadays filters can be purchased at different gradients. Infrared filters are measured in nanometres (750Nm ,850Nm, 950Nm and so on. The higher the number the more "ordinary" light is cut out.
The useable range is about 750 - 1000Nm. anything over or below that is no good for IR photography. As the filter gets darker (up towards the 1000Nm) the slower the camera is to accept the image. This presents very slow shutter speeds with many many blurred pictures ( especially if there is any movement in the frame) and a tripod is always necessary
2. Either convert or get converted a suitable camera.
You can convert a camera with a fixed filter inside it but in my mind this takes away the versatility and you are stuck with one range of filter. Each of the aforementioned filters give different effects depending on the weather and light conditions and I like that freedom.
The camera.
Many cameras can take infrared shots with a suitable filter. But some won't.- Many of the digital cameras around today have actually got IR cut filters in them, because IR abberates the colour for normal photography. This doesn't always stop you using the camera - it just takes a much longer exposure time, and a tripod will nearly always be necessary to stop camera shake. A quick test for your camera is to point a remote control at the lens whilst looking through the viewfinder. If you can see the IR beam from the remote then theres a good chance that your camera will take IR pictures with a suitable filter. Some cameras are much much better than others.
Converted cameras.- This is really the ultimate if you are serious about IR. The internal IR cut filter is taken out of the camera and replaced with a piece of optical glass. This lets nearly 100% of the available IR light straight into the camera. Because the image is picked up so easily by the camera shutter speeds increase, camera shake reduces and the scope of what you can photograph increases dramatically (flying birds for instance). Hand held photography with a converted camera is nearly always possible. On bright sunny days I can go from 1/60th sec with my 950Nm filter right up to 1/500th sec with my Hoya 750.
The above was written for those who wish to have a go - its not technical and you don't have to be technical to achieve some stunning results, There are many articles written, mostly technical - some I have provided links to to make your path easier. I converted my own Olympus C3030 using slide glass as a filter but there are companies out there that will do it for you or you can buy new cameras - IR ready - although they tend to be expensive. The links below (I will keep adding if I think they're useful) will steer you in the right direction -
Happy Snapping. ( Join our Forumif you wish and start a thread - there are lots of people out there at the same level as you, and many others who are willing to help and pass on their knowledge)
A really good link to start with is this one. The site has been around for a long time but the content is excellent -
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