Infared tips (hoya R72 filter)

[6Speed]

This is probably a dumb question but...I just got a hoya r72 filter, and tried to do a few shots tonight in my apartment. I have an aquarium with 500w of light over it, and it barely shows up with a 2 minute exposure. I tried a shot in my kitchen for 3 minutes and it looks totally black. I'm assuming that this filter is only going to work in the bright daylight?

Any tips for shooting with this filter??

 

[bytch_mynickname]

Yes, this is a bright daylight, outdoor type filter. All I can really say is to use a tripod, make sure you set a custom white balance (using grass) and above all, don't give up. I tried and tried some more before even getting shots that looked even a little like an IR shot. Good luck.

(I will be sure to check back to get more experienced tips and opinions, I need every bit of help I can get:blushing: )

 

[DepthAfield]

Bytch is on the money. IR filters are best used outdoors… And even then, composition and focus will have to be accomplished prior to the filter being attached. A tripod is an absolute necessity.

 

[fotogenik]

Aquarium lights don't normally have a lot of IR light in them. If I remember corectly they are specifically filtered to reduce IR output because it would heat up the water in the tank and encourage growth of algae.

A quick search on an old aquarium lighting bookmark of mine yeilded this:

Full spectrum tubes imitate, as closely as possible, natural sunlight by emitting light in every spectral range. All the different colours of visible light and a very small amount of ultraviolet is emitted. All these tubes have an output spectrum that is similar to sunlight - about as close as modern chemistry can bring us. These tubes try to imitate equatorial sunlight at noon, which has a colour temperature of around 5000K. Noonday sunlight from northern climes has a larger amount of blue in the spectrum, as has a colour temperature of 7500 Kelvin. Among them, we should note the tri-phosphor tubes which emit in the three basic bands blue, green and yellow. Since the phosphor producing the red color is the most expensive one, usually there is less red emitted from those lamps.

Full spectrum aquarium lights are normally the reddest lights you can get for an aquarium and they emit very little red light. Other aquarium lights emit almost no red and are reffered to as "Actinic" or Actinic-blue" lights and have a distinctly bluer light.

The Hoya R72 filter is definetly an outdoor, bright sunshiny kind of filter. Go to a graveyard on a bright day at noon, sit your camera on a tripod or rock and start snapping away, bring them home and process them for white balance and true B&W infred style or false colour infrared style and you will have something like these:

http://picasaweb.google.com/snmphoto/infrared/

Cheers,

 

[markc]

Yup. IR light isn't visible, and a lot of artificial lights won't put much of it out. You can't go by the brightness of the bulb. The best source of IR light is the sun or specific IR lights, which you can use to light scenes without disturbing the subject.

 

[rmh159]

Any advice on exposure times? I've read up a bit on this as well am interested in trying it out eventually. Assuming it's a clear sunny day... any type of estimates you could provide?

 

[doenoe]

if its a very bright and sunny day, i usually use a exposure time of 2.5 seconds at F8, ISO200. But its just a case of trial and error. Just shoot and see what looks best.

 

[AluminumStudios]

Water absorbs infrared and looks like tea or coffee to an IR modified camera. I'm sorry, but you're not gonna get pictures of your fish in IR

Here's a freaky photo I did of my face in a normal white bath tub full of crystal clear water
http://static.flickr.com/49/115508042_a96faaea09_o.jpg

If you buy 200 watt, clear lightbulbs, and aim about 3 of them at your subject you can do some indoor IR photography with a Nikon at least (I believe Canon's are a bit less sensitive. I don't know about other brands.)

 

[fotogenik]

Your Right. I had not even thought about that.

 

[MommyOf4Boys]

I have found that the best exposure time for IR shots, depending on the brightness of the sunny area or the shaded area, is anything from 1/13 and 1/8 in sunny areas to around 1 sec and 2 sec for shaded areas. Play around with the settings and take several shots with each setting to see what looks best after post processing.

 

[Arch]

I'v found the best time to be around 4-6 sec on a bright day..... but then i shoot at f22.

 

[rmh159]

And I'm guessing you use the high F-stop because you focus, compose, add the filter and shoot? Less chance of losing focus if you have a huge DOF.

I'v found the best time to be around 4-6 sec on a bright day..... but then i shoot at f22.

 

[MommyOf4Boys]

I usually keep my aperture around f/8 and f/11 when I do IR, so that probably is why the difference.

 

[Arch]

And I'm guessing you use the high F-stop because you focus, compose, add the filter and shoot? Less chance of losing focus if you have a huge DOF.

yep spot on....... the focus is always good with the high F-stop..... the only time i lower it is when i want to minimise movement and get a faster shutter speed ........ but each to their own.

 

[Mohain]

I think a Hoya R72 filter is a 4-stop adjustment whilst stronger IR filters, (like Wratten 87b I think) is a massive 11 stops! So as you see, exposure times will be pretty long.