I would guess that its a combination of native chip vs. chip+hot
mirror performance. The chip itself may have peaks and valleys of
IR sensitivity that require further external modification to be
effective for full-spectrum performance.
OR... I really don't know the exact spectral performance of every
element in the optical path. The 950 has an IR absorber immediately
in front of the imager. Remove that, and you suddenly have an IR
super 950!
http://www.abe.msstate.edu/~jwooten/camera/lense.html
I'm sure that if Nikon were to perceive that people really, really
wanted IR on/off capability (meaning it wouldn't vex people who
didn't want it but suddenly found that they had accidentally set it
up), they could order chips from Sony that had exactly what they
required, make the mechanical and logical changes needed and
introduce the feature.
And that brings up a different point: Depth of involvement. Present
cameras have a de facto spread of tinkering depth that could be
improved in future designs. It lays out as Auto Rec vs. Manual Rec
right now and includes ideas like Scene modes, User Sets and stuff
like that, but one can imagine a menu system that permits very deep
levels of tinkering if the user is willing to enter into that sort
of thing.
An 'Expert' level which must be invoked unambiguously could be
available for those with the need to arrange deeper options. It
would be protected from easy to make mistakes and thus avoid things
like the way people accidentally screw up the Func1 and Func2
buttons on the 990/995s.
These cameras are ONLY computers with eyes, so the things one might
do with them in software isn't really limited to what is in the
software imbedded within them as supplied. One can conceive of a
control link to the camera, perhaps with a Palm PDA, that
completely takes over every level of response the camera's computer
can make, but without a physical filter-in/filter-out feature, the
results would be limited.
Some thoughts,
-iNova
Mr. iNova et al -
I'm enjoying my 950 for IR shooting. I have my eye on the day when
Nikon brings out a more affordable digital SLR than the D1x.
Here's the question - has Nikon given any consideration to making
future models IR-friendly ala the 950? Or have they gone over to
little consideration for IR like the 990? Is either the D1x or the
new CP5000 IR-friendly? Thanks and here's an effort from earlier
today...
http://users.starpower.net/djf56/StT10sepiaprint.jpg
dandaman
Lovely image.
There is no Technical reason why a camera can't be made with a
moving IR Hot Mirror that gets out of the way of the imaging chip
on demand. The day is coming when inside-the-camera filtering will
become quite normal, perhaps even expected. Already several of the
video cameras that have any "night shot" capability already are
doing this to take advantage of invisible IR LEDs for their light
source.
-iNova
