Sony A200 infrared images

Very nice shots! Looks like the a200 does very well as an IR convert. I shoot IR with a 665nm converted a350. It does a great job too. Mine was done here in the US by Precision Camera for about $260.

I keep talking about the NEX-7, which if it is remotely as good as they say, might well be my next IR conversion.

Greg
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gkemp/

Hello

the Nex would be ideal for IR as converted with a filter that let pass all ligth = undefined it is possible to define with filter in front of the lens in what ever you want.

So instead to walk around with two heavy cameras it is a ligth one and some filter

regards

Wolfgang

Gregory Kemp said:

Very nice shots! Looks like the a200 does very well as an IR convert. I shoot IR with a 665nm converted a350. It does a great job too. Mine was done here in the US by Precision Camera for about $260.

I keep talking about the NEX-7, which if it is remotely as good as they say, might well be my next IR conversion.

Greg
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gkemp/

Click to expand...

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nurwolfgang/
http://picasaweb.google.com/nurWolfgang
If you enjoy live let other enjoy there live too

I've tried to do that in the past and there are at least 3 reasons I dont like it in practice. First, it is very difficult to recreate the effect of the original IR block filter that was in the camera using an external filter, to do it right you almost certainly would need to get a custom made filter, I could just never get the color right with the Tiffen hot mirror I used.. Secondly you would constantly have to switch white balance modes for IR and visible light shooting, unless the camera has a memory setting that you can keep switching back and forth like the a700 does, this could be helpful. Thirdly, its a pain switching filters all the time - its fine if you are setting up with tripod and doing stills or landscapes, but for walk around photography its less than ideal, and IMO kind of negates the advantage of the smaller NEX style camera.

My main interest in the NEX is that it doesnt have anything extra that is not helpful for IR, such as an OVF. It also does main sensor autofocus which is good for IR even if it is contrast based AF. Hopefully that sony will enable AF with A-mount lenses, but even if they dont, the NEX would still be great when manually focusing. I do hope that the NEX-7 will have an eyepiece style EVF.

I dont think there will be a really good solution for having an IR and visible light camera unless some manufacturer ever decides to make one, and it doesn't seem that there is any interest whatsoever in offering such a product, sadly.

Greg
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gkemp/

Hello Gregory

The company that converted my A 350 also offers the right filter they are very good but also expensive.
The white balance is not important if you use RAW
Changing filters is not ideal you are right, but so is changing lenses.
the solution is not ideal but much less weigh to carry around.

The chance to get such a camera is increasing with mirror less cameras, but most likely the marked is not big enough to justify the development.

regards

Wolfgang

Gregory Kemp said:

I've tried to do that in the past and there are at least 3 reasons I dont like it in practice. First, it is very difficult to recreate the effect of the original IR block filter that was in the camera using an external filter, to do it right you almost certainly would need to get a custom made filter, I could just never get the color right with the hot mirror I used I was unable to stop all IR light. Secondly you would constantly have to switch white balance modes for IR and visible light shooting, unless the camera has a memory setting that you can keep switching back and forth like the a700 does, this could be helpful. Its a pain switching filters all the time, its fine if you are setting up with tripod and doing stills or landscapes, but for walk around photography its less than ideal.

I dont think there will be a really good solution for having an IR and visible light camera unless some manufacturer ever decides to make one, and it doesn't seem that there is any interest whatsoever in offering such a product, sadly.

Greg
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gkemp/

Click to expand...

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nurwolfgang/
http://picasaweb.google.com/nurWolfgang
If you enjoy live let other enjoy there live too

Thats cool that they make the a350 external filter. You are right about the custom white balancing in RAW, I was unable to do this on the cameras I tried because they were point and shoots that only shoot JPG. The issue I ran into was that the tiffen hot mirror was not even close to the cameras internal filter, and no amount of white balancing in camera would ever recreate correct color for visible light, but if you had manual control in a RAW editor you could probably get it right.

The one possibility for a combo camera would be if Sony offers a RAW capable camera (hopefully interchangeable lens as well) that has Nightshot. With the Sony H50, it was possible to disable the normal function of nightshot with a firmware hack, and then you could flip the internal hot mirror in any mode of the camera and shoot some fairly nice IR photos.

Personally, I find it easier to switch lenses than filters - they are easier to hold on to and harder to get scratches on IMO, so I like to avoid using my external filters when I dont need them.

The one scenario I could see my self using a "full spectrum" cam with external filters would be if I needed to pack light and thought theres a possibility I will want to shoot IR on occasion, but I think I would still prefer having two separate cameras if at all possible. You know, you could fit two NEX-5's and all 3 NEX lenses in the same space as 1 a700 and 2 lenses

On one hand, it would be really great if a manufacturer offered an IR camera, but then again, it might make IR a lot less of a niche. Most people appreciate what can be done with IR to some extent, but few people are willing to buy a camera and "sacrifice" it for IR only shooting. It is an expensive and scary prospect for sure, not knowing if you will even enjoy shooting IR, or whether results from that particular camera will be any good until its too late. I kind of like the fact that not many people shoot IR, and for pro IR photographers, this is advantageous too.

I bought my a350 knowing that I was going to convert it to IR, even though my main camera at the time was the a100. Looking back, I wish I would have waited until they slashed prices on the a700 last year and had one of those converted for about the same total cost as the a350. Thats not to say I'm unhappy with the a350, the a700 is just a big step up from it.

It is great to see more people converting a-mount cameras.

Anyhow, enough rambling from me!
Greg
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gkemp/

Lovely shots. I use a fuji IS-1 myself which is a broadlight spectrum bridge camera and just fix a filter on the front. i can view and compose the picture using the EVF or LCD which is handy. I just got a UV pass filter today which is really interesting as its give s colour images without any channel switching at all.









cheers Paul
--
new to technology,always learning

George and Wolfgang,

I have been shooting ir photos for nearly 4 years. I shoot with a converted Canon G9 and have had very good results. I am very impressed with you both of your ir photo's. I love the colors, well exposed, and very sharp. Wolfgang- your Macro is excellent as well. It appears as if you guys are getting excellent results from your converted Sony's.
--
Howard
http://www.photo.net/photos/howardfuhrman