Question about IR

[Stacey]

So I go into my local camera shop looking for an IR filter for my Pentax K100D....the salesman tells me that my camera needs to be converted for IR use before I can even use an IR filter because putting an IR filter on an un-converted Pentax yields absolutely NO results....he then continued to tell me that I could pay a couple hundred bucks or so to have my camera converted but then, all I could do with the converted camera is take IR shots, no more "regular color" pictures....I was reading online last night and some sites said the camera has to be converted...other sites said no....What say you IR filter users? Am I up a creek? Please let me know...I've seen some IR photos and they are really neat, wanted to try my hand at it...

Thanks in advance!

 

[bikefreax]

I have a regular Olympus e-510 and I use the R-72 IR filter with no problem. I dont have any real good pictures as I am still learning but it does work that way. Yours should be the same.

 

[Josh66]

Some cameras are inherently more sensitive to IR light (depends on the strength of the IR blocking filter on the sensor I think), but pretty much any of them should be capable of taking IR shots with the right filter on the lens and a long enough exposure. Some filters block all visible light, only letting IR through - others let a little visible light in too.

 

[Joves]

With digitals it is more difficult to get good IR shots, with out conversion. It will take time and, a fair amount of trial &error. Ive seen some nice IR shots through filters but, they were not a dynamic as the converted cameras.

 

[Socrates]

So I go into my local camera shop looking for an IR filter for my Pentax K100D....the salesman tells me that my camera needs to be converted for IR use before I can even use an IR filter because putting an IR filter on an un-converted Pentax yields absolutely NO results....he then continued to tell me that I could pay a couple hundred bucks or so to have my camera converted but then, all I could do with the converted camera is take IR shots, no more "regular color" pictures....I was reading online last night and some sites said the camera has to be converted...other sites said no....What say you IR filter users? Am I up a creek? Please let me know...I've seen some IR photos and they are really neat, wanted to try my hand at it...

Thanks in advance!

Your camera is manufactured with a filter in front of the the sensor that is intended to block all non-visible light, such as UV and IR. An "IR filter" in front of the lens blocks everything except IR. In theory, the two filters combined will prevent all light from reaching the sensor. Your success (or lack thereof) is based on how imperfect the internal filter is. IF it does allow some IR light to reach the sensor, you'll be successful.

The conversion is the removal of the internal filter which, obviously, will cause other issues.

Imperfections in the IR filter won't help you a bit and actually will cause you problems. Visible light will pass through the filter and you will incorrectly think that you're getting IR light.

By the way, good luck in any attempt to get specs on the internal filters.