K-mount Film Camera

[petrochemist]

The IR will vary significantly with light source, if using natural sunlight this will vary with the time of day & season of the year. Cloud cover will probably have a significant effect too. Using the same artificial lighting you'd get a constant ratio (tungsten lamps will vary with the temperature of the bulbs, and xenon flash will be different again), but I know that's not how most people shoot IR. If you can track down the spectral power distribution graphs they could give you a clue. I've recently seen some on line that covered average sunshine, blue sky etc and went out to over 2000nm which I suspect is more than film will be sensitive to.

I shoot digital IR, mainly with a full spectrum converted camera, which is much easier than film. For me the metering is correct - my camera being mirrorless meters from the sensor, and of course I have digital's instant feedback. When shooting outside without a filter (visible & IR) the amount of IR character has varied widely. On these occasions I suspect the amount of IR compared to visible has probably varied over about a ratio of 5:1 (typical IR shooting weather might bring this down to 2:1, I use my converted camera in some rather untypical conditions). Sometimes the IR portion is roughly similar to the visible - plants noticeably brighter - sometimes it's barely noticeable with just a few man made colors coming out wrong from the IR.
If you shoot a lot of IR I'd expect you'll gradually get a feel for the likely degree of variation in the meter based on how hot it feels, though the learning curve will be steeper with film. The older IR photography books I have all recommend bracketing...

 

[jesseoffy]

I've looked into a couple cameras, so thank you for the suggestions.

As to taking IR pictures (to allow the topic to drift slightly), I suppose that means bracketing is the way to go, which feels like a waste of precious film, but I suppose better to have three copies of a good picture than a bad one. If luck holds my way and I do manage some decent pictures, treat the film well, and have it developed, I'll make sure to post a response with a picture.

 

[petrochemist]

You may find that a very cheap IR converted digital camera could work as a IR light meter. Just hold your IR filter over the lens & take a reading, before fitting it to your film camera.
Even a simple compact camera and removing the hot mirror would work (no need for it to focus, or give a high res image) as long as it lets you see the aperture/speed/iso it's using. The Sony DSC-V1 I brought for £15 before getting a better converted camera would even do the job in it's nightshot mode, as could one of the many cameras sold for paranormal investigation ...

I seem to remember IR film is getting hard to find, so anything that helps get the best results from it is likely to be worth trying.

 

[jesseoffy]

When you get a kit, I'd love to see some of the IR shots! I've got a couple of rolls of Ilford SFX, which isn't true IR, I know, but I still haven't gotten around to figuring it out. I love the look.

Well, I had the first roll developed, and as promised here are a couple of the shots. I experimented with exposure, and now I know that I should overexpose, in general, a little. Most images were too dark to work.

 

[480sparky]

You may find that a very cheap IR converted digital camera could work as a IR light meter. Just hold your IR filter over the lens & take a reading, before fitting it to your film camera..............

That would work best if your filter or IR conversion was the same frequency of the film you're planning on using.

 

[limr]

When you get a kit, I'd love to see some of the IR shots! I've got a couple of rolls of Ilford SFX, which isn't true IR, I know, but I still haven't gotten around to figuring it out. I love the look.

Well, I had the first roll developed, and as promised here are a couple of the shots. I experimented with exposure, and now I know that I should overexpose, in general, a little. Most images were too dark to work.

Nice! I'm reeeeeally digging that second one