Shooting IR film

[fightheheathens]

well so, ive seen all these IR photos round here and i think they are pretty cool. So i figured it would be kinda fun to shoot some. so anyway, i went out and bought some Kodak high speed infrared film (HIE).

so maybe im dumb, but i was expecting IR film to be kinda along the lines of regular color and B&W film but it says dont open in light, load and unload camera in complete darkness etc etc.
so my questions are several in number

will this IR film work in a regular SLR?
Why must i load it in complete darkness? Is the film not in one of those little film case things?

The package tells me that i need to set my light meter around 50-80 ISO and bracket extensivly and use a filter.
i have a Red filter and thats the only one

my next questions are
how do i shoot this? what kind of exposures am i looking at?
i understand bracketing, but how much should i bracket? 2 stops in either direction?

anyway, any help would be really cool, its expensive film and i dont want to trash the roll.

:scratch:

 

[jstuedle]

You will need a IR filter. This is a filter that is opaque to visable light. You will not be able to see through the viewfinder, so use a tripod and frame your shots before installing the filter. I use a Hoya R72 I purchased from B&H. I shoot digital so I can't help with exposure as I chimp the display on the back of my camera. Your light meter does not "see" IR the same way it or you see visable light. So your meter will not read accuratly IR. The amount of IR in a scene varies. This is why you must bracket. For the first roll I think I would plan my composition, bracket + & - 3 stops in 1 or 1 1/2 stop steps and see what happens. This will only leave you 3, maybe 4 setups, but it should be worth it. IR is a very short wave legnth light, I have heard it said this is the reason to load in darkness, you can't see if there are any scorces of IR and yes, it can penetrate the felt wipers on a film can and fog the roll.

 

[Meysha]

This thread here has heaps of information:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11609

 

[terri]

Yeppers, check out that thread link and others like it scattered throughout the Alt Forum (although how IR film discussions came to rest there, I've no idea).

You can easily shoot and meter Kodak HIE film TTL using a #25 red filter. You can certainly use the more opaque 72 if you'd like, but as John mentioned, if you do this it limits you more.

You'll get perfectly acceptable results with the #25 or 29, and you can simply rate the film faster (I like ISO 360) which allows you much more freedom of movement, as you can shoot handheld and meter TTL. Bracket your shots.

Don't get confused when someone says "IR filter". For this film, just a plain old #25 red IS an IR filter.

 

[fightheheathens]

Yeppers, check out that thread link and others like it scattered throughout the Alt Forum (although how IR film discussions came to rest there, I've no idea).

You can easily shoot and meter Kodak HIE film TTL using a #25 red filter. You can certainly use the more opaque 72 if you'd like, but as John mentioned, if you do this it limits you more.

You'll get perfectly acceptable results with the #25 or 29, and you can simply rate the film faster (I like ISO 360) which allows you much more freedom of movement, as you can shoot handheld and meter TTL. Bracket your shots.

Don't get confused when someone says "IR filter". For this film, just a plain old #25 red IS an IR filter.

sweet, i think i have a #25 red. i've read up several sites on shooting IR so i just have to wait for a good time.


unfortunatly im not developing this roll, so i dont think i can up the ISO and then fix it in the dark room. But im taking my first photo class this winter so ill learn how to develope and have access to developing chemicals then