I had an old 1.3 megapixel camera sitting around and decided it was time to modify it to take pictures in infrared. For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept, digital sensors detect a small band of IR wavelengths just as well as they detect visible light wavelengths, and the manufacturers prevent this from ruining pictures by installing a filter that blocks almost all IR light. So, by removing this filter and replacing it with one that blocks almost all visible light but allows all IR, you're left with a camera that takes pictures using infrared light. Here's my backyard taken in full color with a normal camera for reference. Sorry about my shadow and all that; it wasn't supposed to be a fantastic picture. Here's the same scene shot through the IR camera. The image comes straight from the camera with faint pink hues, because the filter still allows some visible light, so I desaturated the image to get a more realistic representation (since IR lies outside the colored light spectrum, it's impossible for the picture to actually contain color - there can only be variations in intensity). At first glance, it looks like perhaps a color-inverted grayscale version of the scene, but then you look at things like the trees, which reflect almost all IR, and the pond, which absorbs just as much IR as it does visible light. I haven't had much time to play with the camera yet, but there are a great many interesting pictures to be had. Colas are clear to IR, and many colorful fabrics appear entirely white. Monitor and TV images are almost totally black, showing just a faint red picture due to the small amount of red light that makes it through the filter. If there's much interest, I'll accept suggestions for objects to try this on and post the results here.
Thanks! I've been thinking about doing this for a while, so when I stumbled across my old digital camera, I figured it was about time to do it.
Always wanted to do that with my old Nikon Coolpix.. you beat me to it At least I know the idea works now though! Nice mod!
You can do this without "modding" your camera btw, you just need an infrared filter. The R72 is the most common one and comes in the standard sizes. Compacts are much better than DSLRs at this as they have weaker "hot" filters that remove IR light. If you wanna do ir photography without modification your gonna want a tripod and some patients. I use an R72 with my D70, problem with TTL is you cant see **** through the viewfinder, so you have to compose, put filter on, shoot. Its worth it though cos the results are awsome. I used to shoot handheld on my old minolta dimage 5 at about 1/30 in direct bright sunlight. With my d70 its more like a second or 2 at f11. You can test the sensitivity of you camera using a remote control just point it at your cam press and hold a button and shoot, you should be able to see the light being emitted.
ST8, you're right, it can be done without modifying the camera, but you also mentioned the biggest drawback. Your exposure times will be really long, so you need a camera that's capable of handling that. The camera I used isn't, and was completely useless as a normal camera anyway, so I figured a permanent modification would be just fine. Besides, this way I can take pictures of moving objects as well as landscapes. Pookey, you should go ahead and do it. I got the whole thing done in about an hour and a half, and most of that was spent taking test shots to adjust the focus after I had the camera apart (this camera has a webcam-style fixed focus).
