good options for converted infrared camera?

[NomadCZM]

I currently have a IR converted D7000 that I use for handheld IR photography, and while it is a great camera, I can't stand the slow and unreliable auto-focus with live view.. Autofocus works great through the OVF, but of course I can't see crap through the OVF when is no visible light.

I'm thinking mirrorless would be a better way to go with the EVF?

What do you guys suggest?

 

[AlbertTheLazy]

I use mirrorless cameras all the time, anyway, but I'm fully aware of the areas where DSLRs have an advantage. IR is NOT one of them!

I run courses for my local camera club, including one involving IR. My unconverted Fuji is easy to use with an IR filter, even hand held, but all the DSLR users struggle. In some cases their cameras just won't work at all -- presumably some setting needs changing but I can't know my way around all of them. Life would be easier with a converted camera, but there is always the viewfinder problem.

If you want to buy a camera for IR conversion I'd recommend a Fuji X-E1 as a cheap option, but do some research on which lenses work with IR. Some have trouble with hot spots from internal reflections. There are lots of other candidates, too, especially the Sony NEX range and the MFT cameras.

 

[NomadCZM]

Not looking for something super low budget.. The Sony a7 series is little more than i want to spend. So between Olympus, Panasonic, Fuji and who ever else, I'm just not really sure.

I've got an older Olympus epl-5, but I've never liked that camera for low light and is restricted to underwater duty.

 

[NomadCZM]

I use mirrorless cameras all the time, anyway, but I'm fully aware of the areas where DSLRs have an advantage. IR is NOT one of them!

I run courses for my local camera club, including one involving IR. My unconverted Fuji is easy to use with an IR filter, even hand held, but all the DSLR users struggle. In some cases their cameras just won't work at all -- presumably some setting needs changing but I can't know my way around all of them. Life would be easier with a converted camera, but there is always the viewfinder problem.

If you want to buy a camera for IR conversion I'd recommend a Fuji X-E1 as a cheap option, but do some research on which lenses work with IR. Some have trouble with hot spots from internal reflections. There are lots of other candidates, too, especially the Sony NEX range and the MFT cameras.

 

[erokitsune]

I'm confused, are you shooting in the dark? You should be able to see through the ovf just fine unless it's in the dark.

 

[rrccad]

I currently have a IR converted D7000 that I use for handheld IR photography, and while it is a great camera, I can't stand the slow and unreliable auto-focus with live view.. Autofocus works great through the OVF, but of course I can't see crap through the OVF when is no visible light.

how are you on a IR converted camera and you can't see through the viewfinder?

with IR if you are planning on switching, i'd first look at what lenses the company has that are IR good, then see what system best fits your needs.

if you wanted to stick to nikon - one of the bodies with a vari-angle LCD would have ben your best bet;

but .. keep this in mind that if you're stacking a 950nm filter on top of your IR converted camera, and not getting good liveview AF, you'll get something similar with most - since the tighter filters do drop actual exposures.

(I'm assuming what you are doing here is that)

I've had good luck with canon's for IR because HTP is handy as heck at preventing highlight clipping, which IMO ruins the snot out of IR raw's.

 

[DavidB2]

I currently have a IR converted D7000 that I use for handheld IR photography, and while it is a great camera, I can't stand the slow and unreliable auto-focus with live view.. Autofocus works great through the OVF, but of course I can't see crap through the OVF when is no visible light.

I'm thinking mirrorless would be a better way to go with the EVF?

What do you guys suggest?

Mirrorless works great. I first had a converted Olympus EPL1, and now use a converted Olympus EPM2. Focus is not an issue. I use the Panasonic 14-45mm kit zoom. Once in a while I get a hotspot, but most of the time there isn't one.

I used kolarivision.com for both conversions. (720 nm)

 

[NomadCZM]

Yes I mostly shoot in the dark, some times pitch black with the D7000. I had the D7000 converted to 850nm IR and use a 6watt 850nm IR light mounted to my hotshoe. I of course can not see the IR light through the OVF, so the OVF is useless to for me. I am not using any filters on my lenses.

Live view on the D7000, slower focusing, has a harder time focusing -- compared to the OVF at least -- from my experience.

I mostly use a Nikon 50mm 1.4, some times I use a Tamron 17-35 f2.8-4.. Ideally I would love to have a constant aperture f1.4 or f1.8 zooms lens that covers wide angle to at least 50mm , but that won't happen any time soon, or ever and would probably cost more than I would want to spend.

It does work, but I didn't spend a whole lot on the camera and just weighing out other options. And a tilt screen would be nice to have, but it's not a deal breaker, i'm not afraid to sit/kneel/lay in the sand/dirt to get the shot I want.

Also kind of wishing I went with a stronger IR light, but it's too late now and they aren't exactly cheap.

 

[AlbertTheLazy]

I'm confused, are you shooting in the dark? You should be able to see through the ovf just fine unless it's in the dark.

Have you ever tried looking through an IR filter. Theoretically it would be black to the human eye, but in practice it's something like a 10 stop ND -- not easy to see through with an OVF!

Most IR conversions I've come across just remove the IR cut filter from the sensor stack, so you still have to use an IR filter on the lens to cut out visible light. This way you can have a choice of wavebands by using different filters.

--
Albert
Every photograph is an abstraction from reality.
Most people are more interested in the picture than the image.

 

[NomadCZM]

I'm confused, are you shooting in the dark? You should be able to see through the ovf just fine unless it's in the dark.

Have you ever tried looking through an IR filter. Theoretically it would be black to the human eye, but in practice it's something like a 10 stop ND -- not easy to see through with an OVF!

Most IR conversions I've come across just remove the IR cut filter from the sensor stack, so you still have to use an IR filter on the lens to cut out visible light. This way you can have a choice of wavebands by using different filters.

--
Albert
Every photograph is an abstraction from reality.
Most people are more interested in the picture than the image.

That would be a full spectrum conversion. I've tasked this camera specifically for infrared photography(mostly night), so a 850nm IR filter was actually placed over the sensor.

I will say, it takes beautiful IR pics, i just prefer to frame through an OVF/EVF and of course the slower and not as good focusing.. My other issue would be the light the screen puts off when I'm trying to take photo's of something that I don't want to see me.. In my case, sea turtles.. I guess I could try to tint the screen to lower the brightness of it a little more.


Shot these at about 2am, no moon light, just my ir light.

 

[rrccad]

Yes I mostly shoot in the dark, some times pitch black with the D7000. I had the D7000 converted to 850nm IR and use a 6watt 850nm IR light mounted to my hotshoe. I of course can not see the IR light through the OVF, so the OVF is useless to for me. I am not using any filters on my lenses.

Live view on the D7000, slower focusing, has a harder time focusing -- compared to the OVF at least -- from my experience.

I mostly use a Nikon 50mm 1.4, some times I use a Tamron 17-35 f2.8-4.. Ideally I would love to have a constant aperture f1.4 or f1.8 zooms lens that covers wide angle to at least 50mm , but that won't happen any time soon, or ever and would probably cost more than I would want to spend.

It does work, but I didn't spend a whole lot on the camera and just weighing out other options. And a tilt screen would be nice to have, but it's not a deal breaker, i'm not afraid to sit/kneel/lay in the sand/dirt to get the shot I want.

Also kind of wishing I went with a stronger IR light, but it's too late now and they aren't exactly cheap.

hmm that's a pretty different requirement. what's your ISO that you are shooting at for these?

if it's low, then how come you can't see through the OVF? looking at your turtle pics there should be no reason you can't see anything through the OVF, and as long as you you have your AF calibrated, you should be able to AF directly like normal color.

the sigma 18-35mm is probably what you want there.

I assume the IR light is on all the time?

is it "true IR" or near infrared?

you should still see the reflected light through in your ovf.

 

[NomadCZM]

Yes I mostly shoot in the dark, some times pitch black with the D7000. I had the D7000 converted to 850nm IR and use a 6watt 850nm IR light mounted to my hotshoe. I of course can not see the IR light through the OVF, so the OVF is useless to for me. I am not using any filters on my lenses.

Live view on the D7000, slower focusing, has a harder time focusing -- compared to the OVF at least -- from my experience.

I mostly use a Nikon 50mm 1.4, some times I use a Tamron 17-35 f2.8-4.. Ideally I would love to have a constant aperture f1.4 or f1.8 zooms lens that covers wide angle to at least 50mm , but that won't happen any time soon, or ever and would probably cost more than I would want to spend.

It does work, but I didn't spend a whole lot on the camera and just weighing out other options. And a tilt screen would be nice to have, but it's not a deal breaker, i'm not afraid to sit/kneel/lay in the sand/dirt to get the shot I want.

Also kind of wishing I went with a stronger IR light, but it's too late now and they aren't exactly cheap.

hmm that's a pretty different requirement. what's your ISO that you are shooting at for these?

if it's low, then how come you can't see through the OVF? looking at your turtle pics there should be no reason you can't see anything through the OVF, and as long as you you have your AF calibrated, you should be able to AF directly like normal color.

the sigma 18-35mm is probably what you want there.

I assume the IR light is on all the time?

is it "true IR" or near infrared?

you should still see the reflected light through in your ovf.

I try and keep the ISO as low as possible, really depends on how close the subject is.. Those two photo's were taken at iso 250, shutter speed of 1/80 at f1.4 on the 50mm.. The IR light is dimmable and I have tried not to use it at 100% brightness until I get some high quality, high drain 18650 batteries, don't want the light to fizzle out half way through the night.

The thing is, the IR is 850nm, which can't be seen by the human eye.. So the subject looks well lit because the camera can see the IR light and with live view I can see the IR light.. But since looking through the OVF is my normal vision, I am unable to see the light so I just see pure black. Those shots were taken 2am on a new moon, so very dark out side.

 

[papillon_65]

I currently have a IR converted D7000 that I use for handheld IR photography, and while it is a great camera, I can't stand the slow and unreliable auto-focus with live view.. Autofocus works great through the OVF, but of course I can't see crap through the OVF when is no visible light.

I'm thinking mirrorless would be a better way to go with the EVF?

What do you guys suggest?

Just get an old rangefinder OVF and stick it in your flash hotshoe. My drill with the Sigma SD15 is to take the filter off, autofocus, switch back to MF, screw the filter back on and recompose using the Helios OVF I have in the hotshoe, it all works fine for me.

For anyone looking for a cheap IR camera the Sigma SD14 and 15 both have removal IR filters which are also the dust protectors that sit in the front of the mirror. This means that in seconds you can convert your camera to full spectrum IR, and return it to normal just as easily, I'm not sure why Sigma never advertised that fact, it's a great feature.

 

[NomadCZM]

I currently have a IR converted D7000 that I use for handheld IR photography, and while it is a great camera, I can't stand the slow and unreliable auto-focus with live view.. Autofocus works great through the OVF, but of course I can't see crap through the OVF when is no visible light.

I'm thinking mirrorless would be a better way to go with the EVF?

What do you guys suggest?

Just get an old rangefinder OVF and stick it in your flash hotshoe. My drill with the Sigma SD15 is to take the filter off, autofocus, switch back to MF, screw the filter back on and recompose using the Helios OVF I have in the hotshoe, it all works fine for me.

For anyone looking for a cheap IR camera the Sigma SD14 and 15 both have removal IR filters which are also the dust protectors that sit in the front of the mirror. This means that in seconds you can convert your camera to full spectrum IR, and return it to normal just as easily, I'm not sure why Sigma never advertised that fact, it's a great feature.

 

[papillon_65]

I currently have a IR converted D7000 that I use for handheld IR photography, and while it is a great camera, I can't stand the slow and unreliable auto-focus with live view.. Autofocus works great through the OVF, but of course I can't see crap through the OVF when is no visible light.

I'm thinking mirrorless would be a better way to go with the EVF?

What do you guys suggest?

Just get an old rangefinder OVF and stick it in your flash hotshoe. My drill with the Sigma SD15 is to take the filter off, autofocus, switch back to MF, screw the filter back on and recompose using the Helios OVF I have in the hotshoe, it all works fine for me.

For anyone looking for a cheap IR camera the Sigma SD14 and 15 both have removal IR filters which are also the dust protectors that sit in the front of the mirror. This means that in seconds you can convert your camera to full spectrum IR, and return it to normal just as easily, I'm not sure why Sigma never advertised that fact, it's a great feature.

 

[erokitsune]

I'm confused, are you shooting in the dark? You should be able to see through the ovf just fine unless it's in the dark.

Have you ever tried looking through an IR filter. Theoretically it would be black to the human eye, but in practice it's something like a 10 stop ND -- not easy to see through with an OVF!

Most IR conversions I've come across just remove the IR cut filter from the sensor stack, so you still have to use an IR filter on the lens to cut out visible light. This way you can have a choice of wavebands by using different filters.

 

[papillon_65]

I'm confused, are you shooting in the dark? You should be able to see through the ovf just fine unless it's in the dark.

Have you ever tried looking through an IR filter. Theoretically it would be black to the human eye, but in practice it's something like a 10 stop ND -- not easy to see through with an OVF!

Most IR conversions I've come across just remove the IR cut filter from the sensor stack, so you still have to use an IR filter on the lens to cut out visible light. This way you can have a choice of wavebands by using different filters.

--
Albert
Every photograph is an abstraction from reality.
Most people are more interested in the picture than the image.

Actually as I stated yes and even own a converted one, they replace the stock filter with an IR filter....which is BEHIND the mirror so when you're looking through the viewfinder its exactly the same as if it wasnt converted. I had mine set to focus for on a specific lens so I dont have back/front focus since IR focuses differently. Would you like a picture of my IR camera?

He's talking about a full spectrum IR conversion, yours is a conversion to a specific spectrum, so you're both right. In the case he's talking about the fact you need to place specific filters on the front of the lens to get different effects. In the case of IR 720nm or above you won't see much if anything through the viewfinder, in your case you will.

--
"In a time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act".
George Orwell.
http://bit.ly/1BIquIF

 

[NomadCZM]

I currently have a IR converted D7000 that I use for handheld IR photography, and while it is a great camera, I can't stand the slow and unreliable auto-focus with live view.. Autofocus works great through the OVF, but of course I can't see crap through the OVF when is no visible light.

I'm thinking mirrorless would be a better way to go with the EVF?

What do you guys suggest?

Just get an old rangefinder OVF and stick it in your flash hotshoe. My drill with the Sigma SD15 is to take the filter off, autofocus, switch back to MF, screw the filter back on and recompose using the Helios OVF I have in the hotshoe, it all works fine for me.

For anyone looking for a cheap IR camera the Sigma SD14 and 15 both have removal IR filters which are also the dust protectors that sit in the front of the mirror. This means that in seconds you can convert your camera to full spectrum IR, and return it to normal just as easily, I'm not sure why Sigma never advertised that fact, it's a great feature.

 

[papillon_65]

I currently have a IR converted D7000 that I use for handheld IR photography, and while it is a great camera, I can't stand the slow and unreliable auto-focus with live view.. Autofocus works great through the OVF, but of course I can't see crap through the OVF when is no visible light.

I'm thinking mirrorless would be a better way to go with the EVF?

What do you guys suggest?

Just get an old rangefinder OVF and stick it in your flash hotshoe. My drill with the Sigma SD15 is to take the filter off, autofocus, switch back to MF, screw the filter back on and recompose using the Helios OVF I have in the hotshoe, it all works fine for me.

For anyone looking for a cheap IR camera the Sigma SD14 and 15 both have removal IR filters which are also the dust protectors that sit in the front of the mirror. This means that in seconds you can convert your camera to full spectrum IR, and return it to normal just as easily, I'm not sure why Sigma never advertised that fact, it's a great feature.

 

[NomadCZM]

I currently have a IR converted D7000 that I use for handheld IR photography, and while it is a great camera, I can't stand the slow and unreliable auto-focus with live view.. Autofocus works great through the OVF, but of course I can't see crap through the OVF when is no visible light.

I'm thinking mirrorless would be a better way to go with the EVF?

What do you guys suggest?

Just get an old rangefinder OVF and stick it in your flash hotshoe. My drill with the Sigma SD15 is to take the filter off, autofocus, switch back to MF, screw the filter back on and recompose using the Helios OVF I have in the hotshoe, it all works fine for me.

For anyone looking for a cheap IR camera the Sigma SD14 and 15 both have removal IR filters which are also the dust protectors that sit in the front of the mirror. This means that in seconds you can convert your camera to full spectrum IR, and return it to normal just as easily, I'm not sure why Sigma never advertised that fact, it's a great feature.