I Disassembled my d40x to make it IR (lots of pics)

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Ronald

http://www.lookupinwonder.nl

Thanks for the explanation Bobby...

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Looks like a great idea. I may have to consider picking up one of those cheaper d40 cameras now...

Just a couple questions..
1) Was the soldering very difficult?

2) How difficult was it to remove the IR filter from the sensor base?

A friend of mine was considering doing this with an older DSLR. Now you have me wondering if maybe the d40x is the way to go with its higher resolution. I'll be looking forward to seeing future pictures from this camera! Please keep us posted. Many thanks for taking the effort to document and post this.

First, I would like to point out that I live in Honduras, so sending out a camera all the way to the U.S.A. for conversion is nearly impossible. (it involves paying duties twice, high cost of couriers etc etc).

I have previous experience disassembling cameras, First I dissassembled the d100, then I helped a friend of mine that fell into a river with all and his equipment and we saved two d70's by dissambling them and drying them as fast as possible.

This helps a lot.

Based on photos on some web sites, nikons are the easiest to modify.

To dissolder, you just press the hot soldering iron on the part where the wire is soldered to the main board. You must do this very carefully otherwise you will overheat the board or touch something with a red hot iron - I dont have to say what would happen then.

There is a lot of VERY small screws, and some are different sizes so one must be carefull to put is separate holders and mark or memorize carefully what goes where.

It helps if you have friends or other felllow "doctors" operating with you.

In this particular camera (nikon d40x) nikon has put like a rubber gasket protecting the whole sensor area for stray light, vibrations, etc. Initially I thought it was glued on, but it is only put on there with the same elasticity of the rubber, so it is quite easy to remove, the problem is that at the time, one does not know that, so you wonder if you are screwing up the rubber thingy.

It not easy, it you can part with $200 or so bucks, it is better to have it done, otherwise, try it. The worst thing that can happen is that you have to send the camera back to nikon for repair (probably at least $200 for the repair charge itself, if not totalling the camera).

I hope this helps. Best regards





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http://www.hondurasart.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=2180

Bobby Handal said:

First, I would like to point out that I live in Honduras, so
sending out a camera all the way to the U.S.A. for conversion is
nearly impossible. (it involves paying duties twice, high cost of
couriers etc etc).

I have previous experience disassembling cameras, First I
dissassembled the d100, then I helped a friend of mine that fell
into a river with all and his equipment and we saved two d70's by
dissambling them and drying them as fast as possible.

This helps a lot.

Click to expand...

I disassemble laptops and other small electronics on a regular basis. Your pictures look quite a bit easier than many things I've taken apart to fix, so it shouldn't be much trouble. I was actually considering helping my friend do this with her old 300D and the instructions are a good deal more complicated (admittedly, it doesn't require soldering, but that's a small problem).

Hi Bobby,

These days I can only afford Teacher's. >
But I raise my glass to salute your successful
operation. Great first results!

Regards,

André

Bobby Handal said:

Yes, It would improve but it would also cause problems (some moire
problems among others).

Click to expand...

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Perhaps the extra sharpness might be a good trade off against a bit of moire.

I once read that the more MP a camera has the less it needs a AA filter.

Ive got a spare D40 - maybe I should give it a go.

Now where did i put my surgical mask ?

GR

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Bobby Handal said:

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http://www.hondurasart.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=2180

Click to expand...

those pictures are unbelievable.
top job

Hi Bobby,

Can you please share how u cut the plastic IR filter?

Thanks for alls comments.

Cutting the IR filter is the hard part, that is why I bought the special resin filter that Edmund optics sell. They come in different sizes, I bought the largest one.

To cut this, you would do just like any piece of acrylic, you would score it with an exacto knife (veeeerrrrry carefully) and then apply pressure this will give you a clean cut. THen I sand off (with very fine sand paper) all sides so it is not sharp. all this time being very careful of not damaging the filter.

Then you clean it like a crazy man... and put it on the camera.

best regards

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http://www.hondurasart.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=2180

Actually, if you get a B+W 486 UV/IR Cut filter or an equivalent IR cut filter on your lens , you'll turn the camera back into a visible light camera, no need to replace the IR Cut filter on the CCD.. This gives you the best of both worlds- simple swap filters on the lens to swap back and forth between IR and normal visible light..

can you give us further information.

So you are telling me that if I already modified my camera, that is, put the infrared filter on top of the sensor, I would be able , in theory, to take normal color photos if I screw in a B+W 486 UV/IR on the front of the lens?

Please inform.

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http://www.hondurasart.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=2180

I re-read your post and I missed the fact that you replaced the original IR-cut filter with a piece of Edmund Scientific IR-pass filter material.. What you'd have to do for a dual-mode camera is either leave the CCD completely unfiltered or just just put a piece of clear glass in front for protection. What you have then is a camera that is sensitive to both visible AND IR light at the same time!

Then, you'd get a couple of different filters for your lens .. The first is B+W #486 or equivalent filter- this is an IR-cut filter that is basically the same material is the original filter over the CCD, it lets visible light in, but not the IR: the B+W even has the same greenish-blue tint as the original filter. The second filter you'd need is a standard IR-pass filter like a Kodak Wratten (#81??)- this filter looks "black", but in fact what it's doing is blocking all the visible light and only letting through the IR..

You'd put whichever filter you needed on the lens to change between visible and IR photography: the IR-cut filter for visible, and the IR-pass for IR photos. I would probably get the filters in the largest size possible and get step-up converter rings for all your lenses so you'd only have to buy one pair of filters (the IR-cut filter in particulary is fairly expensive, but size-conversion rings are very cheap)

Then that wouldn't help.

The reason is that , if you still need to put the infrared filter in front of the lens, you are then TRIPOD BOUND, because of the long exposure times, this also introduces grain and other problems.

Not only that but by putting an IR filter (that is almost black) in front of the lens you can not focus , you must pre focus.

Thanks anyway for the tip, I will read more about it.
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http://www.hondurasart.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=2180

Hi Bobby,

Thank you for your great description of the modification. It was very helpful. I'm going to try it soon.

I am writing to enquire as to whether you could tell me what is the size of the original IR cut filter in D40x.

Feel invited if you want to check out my IRs:
http://www.pbase.com/chunlo/infrared_landscape_

Thanks for your help!

Chun

I once opened a cannon that I bought on ebay, spares or repair, I opened it up and I must have touched the wrong thing, I got one h* l of a shock from one of the charged caps, and sparks flew all over the place, followed by the camera.
NEVER AGAIN



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Mike Rudge

I am currently traveling, so I can not give you the exact measurements.are you planning to buy it cut to size?

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http://www.hondurasart.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=2180

Of course, specially if you leave the battery in the camera. It is always a risk.
Sorry to hear about your problems !!
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http://www.hondurasart.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=2180

Not to worry, I went out and sold my screwdrivers , and bought a new D80.
I'm OK now, I love this camera
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Mike Rudge

No, I’ll cut it myself. The 1st choice is my reserve Hoya R72. So, the thickness of hot mirror is the key.