Technical Considerations about IR Photography with Olympus OM-D Cameras

[JeanPierre Martel]

Wide-spectrum infrared cameras are not all the same.

When a UV-IR-Cut filter is used on the lens of wide-spectrum IR cameras, some of them (my Panasonic GX1, for example) will display a stronger residual pink cast.

So the filters to be used on an OM-D have to be different from the ones used on a GX1 to get the same result.

What are the best filters to be used ? I don’t know the answer for now. But trust me : I’ll get it eventually. ;-)

What is sure for now is that three filters have to be used: a green X1 filter, a blue 80 filter and a blue B+W KB filter (or equivalent).

The posts in this thread will show that there are huge variations between the filters made by different companies.

In the photos below, three filters were used:
• a yellowish-green B+W 061 filter,
• a blue B+W KB20 filter and
• a blue Hoya 80C (rather than the 80A used on my GX1).

 

[JeanPierre Martel]

Under visible light, Green X1 (or yellowish-green) filters are about the same.

However, they behave very widely with infrared rays. Some of them will block most of the infrared rays (the Omega X1 filter, for example), while others, on the contrary, will let them reach the sensor (like the Tiffen No. 11 filter).

That being said, filters producing extreme results might be perfect when used with filters different from the ones used here (a blue Hoya 80C filter and a blue B+W KB20 filter).

The photos hereunder are published as is (no post-processing).

 

[JeanPierre Martel]

This series begins with a surprise; the Toshiba B131 (80A) is sold as a blue 80A substitute. That maybe so under visible light. But that’s not the case under infrared rays.

Beside being blue, the main characteristic of blue 80 filters is that they block IR rays. The blue 80A being the most potent (85% to 90% blocked). The blue 80C being less (about 75% blocked). That’s why the photos taken with the latter are pinker.

As we will see in the next post, the Panasonic B131 (80) should be considered as part of the B+W KB series (IR-neutral blue filters).

In the photos below, three filters were used:
• a yellowish-green B+W 061 filter,
• a blue B+W KB20 filter and
• a blue Hoya 80* filter.

The photos hereunder are published as is (no post-processing).

 

[JeanPierre Martel]

B+W KB filters are IR-neutral blue filters. Except the KB15 (the second photo in this series)

The latter is just a blue 80A filter sold under a different name. Used with a Green X1 filter (a B+W No. 061 filter) and a blue Hoya 80C filter, it’s almost superfluous.

At the end of this series, the Toshiba B131 (A80) is sold as a blue 80A equivalent. Actually, it’s almost a B+W KB12 substitute.

The photos hereunder are published as is (no post-processing).

 

[DDoram]

Thanks for the info; very useful.

Dale

Wide-spectrum infrared cameras are not all the same.

When a UV-IR-Cut filter is used on the lens of wide-spectrum IR cameras, some of them (my Panasonic GX1, for example) will display a stronger residual pink cast.

So the filters to be used on an OM-D have to be different from the ones used on a GX1 to get the same result.

What are the best filters to be used ? I don’t know the answer for now. But trust me : I’ll get it eventually. ;-)

What is sure for now is that three filters have to be used: a green X1 filter, a blue 80 filter and a blue B+W KB filter (or equivalent).

The posts in this thread will show that there are huge variations between the filters made by different companies.

In the photos below, three filters were used:
• a yellowish-green B+W 061 filter,
• a blue B+W KB20 filter and
• a blue Hoya 80C (rather than the 80A used on my GX1).

 

[TomFid]

Are these channel swapped, or do you get a blue sky natively from these filter stacks?

Thanks for the thorough investigation!

 

[JeanPierre Martel]

Are these channel swapped, or do you get a blue sky natively from these filter stacks?

Thanks for the thorough investigation!

There is no channel swapping.

On my GX1 wide-spectrum IR camera, Candy Pink IR photography can be obtained right out of the camera (with no post-processing) just using these stacked filters:
• a Green X1 filter,
• a blue B+W KB20 filter, and
• a blue 80A filter.

Actually, I usually cheat a little, using Nik Color Efex Pro to boost saturation. But that’s not necessary.

You’ll find plenty of examples in this thread (posts with the most votes are the best):
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/65279618

On my new OM-D e-m5 wide-spectrum IR camera, I’m not completely satisfied with the result that I’m getting.

In the photo hereunder (taken this afternoon), the white balance is the one right out of the camera. Nik Color Efex Pro was used. Finally, the Red channel has been boosted (something that I don’t have to do on my GX1). But the colour of the sky is obtained natively.



In that photo three filters were used:
• a Green B+W 061 filter,
• a Blue B+W KB20 filter, and
• a Blue Hoya 80C filter.

With all these stacked filters, vignetting is unavoidable.

Colour IR photography is still a huge field of experimentation, not limited to channel swapping. If you’d like to take part in it, buy your filters as soon as possible (while it’s still possible to get some).

 

[kbouk]

Panasonic cameras have different coatings from Olympus bodies on their UV-IR cut sensor filter and that has an influence also on Lumix lens coatings. Panasonic have a 430nm cutoff point and Olympus around 390nm.

Here are some diagrams from Olympus internal IR blocking filters : https://www.ultravioletphotography....topic/4361-olympus-internal-blocking-filters/

When someone converts a Lumix body for full spectrum is necessary to remove also camera’s dust reduction system for better light transmission.

 

[JeanPierre Martel]

Panasonic cameras have different coatings from Olympus bodies on their UV-IR cut sensor filter and that has an influence also on Lumix lens coatings. Panasonic have a 430nm cutoff point and Olympus around 390nm.

Here are some diagrams from Olympus internal IR blocking filters : https://www.ultravioletphotography....topic/4361-olympus-internal-blocking-filters/

When someone converts a Lumix body for full spectrum is necessary to remove also camera’s dust reduction system for better light transmission.

That’s very interesting. It’s likely that the cutoff point is not the same in Olympus and Panasonic cameras. Thus pinker photos taken with wide-spectrum Panasonic IR-converted cameras.

Thanks for the explanation. It looks very plausible to me.

Slowly, I think that I’ve found the ideal trio of stacked filters to get Candy Pink IR photos on OM-D cameras:
• a Green X1 filter like the B+W 061,
• a Blue B+W KB20 filter, and
• a Bleu Hoya 80C filter (rather than a Blue 80A filter).

This was taken this morning with that trio:


3831 place Victor-Bourgeau, in Montréal

 

[JeanPierre Martel]

On a wide-spectrum Olympus OM-D e-m5 infrared camera, these are the results obtained with different blue filters when associated with a green B+W 061 filter and a blue B+W KB20 filter.

As you can see from these photos published with no post-processing (except rotation of these hand-held images), a Hoya 80A, Hoya 80C and Calumet 80C gave about the same result. Otherwise, the brand matters (like amongst green X1 filters).

What’s the best one to use? That according to your own preference…

 

[MacM545]

Under visible light, Green X1 (or yellowish-green) filters are about the same.

However, they behave very widely with infrared rays. Some of them will block most of the infrared rays (the Omega X1 filter, for example), while others, on the contrary, will let them reach the sensor (like the Tiffen No. 11 filter).

That being said, filters producing extreme results might be perfect when used with filters different from the ones used here (a blue Hoya 80C filter and a blue B+W KB20 filter).

The photos hereunder are published as is (no post-processing).

I found this post via Facebook. I was wishing that I had seen the graph much sooner. It is interesting data though. In case you might want a darker sky, you can try a CPL.

--

Mceek

Explore Mceek’s 198 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[MacM545]

If this information helps, and if you have access to photoshop (some other programs probably are okay also) you might notice that it might seem impossible to further edit white balance from a modified camera, because the tint and/or temperature of the image might be at minimum value (RAW files). To get around this problem, it is possible to go into the Calibration panel in the RAW editor- for photoshop, Adobe Camera RAW. Next, try setting various sliders of each color. color mixer might work also.

 

[SterlingBjorndahl]

If this information helps, and if you have access to photoshop (some other programs probably are okay also) you might notice that it might seem impossible to further edit white balance from a modified camera, because the tint and/or temperature of the image might be at minimum value (RAW files). To get around this problem, it is possible to go into the Calibration panel in the RAW editor- for photoshop, Adobe Camera RAW. Next, try setting various sliders of each color. color mixer might work also.

 

[JeanPierre Martel]

I found this post via Facebook. I was wishing that I had seen the graph much sooner. It is interesting data though. In case you might want a darker sky, you can try a CPL.

Indeed, a polarizer would make my sky darker. However, my goal is the opposite; the goal of Candy Pink IR photography is to keep the mineral World (sky, rivers, glass, metal, rocks, etc.) natural-looking while everything living (foliage, grass, animals) remain pink. As if our wide-spectrum IR cameras have artificial intelligence…

 

[JeanPierre Martel]

If this information helps, and if you have access to photoshop (some other programs probably are okay also) you might notice that it might seem impossible to further edit white balance from a modified camera, because the tint and/or temperature of the image might be at minimum value (RAW files).

When a wide-spectrum camera takes a photo with a 720nm filter (for example), all the blue, the cyan, the green, the yellow, the orange and the near red have been completely deleted.

Of course, under post-processing, it’s possible to add false colours. But false colour is fake.

Candy-Pink IR photography just modify the equilibrium between visible light and infrared rays. All the colours are still there, just at a lower intensity.

That’s why it is still possible to change the white balance and see a difference.

 

[OutsideTheMatrix]

Are these channel swapped, or do you get a blue sky natively from these filter stacks?

Thanks for the thorough investigation!

There is no channel swapping.

On my GX1 wide-spectrum IR camera, Candy Pink IR photography can be obtained right out of the camera (with no post-processing) just using these stacked filters:
• a Green X1 filter,
• a blue B+W KB20 filter, and
• a blue 80A filter.

Actually, I usually cheat a little, using Nik Color Efex Pro to boost saturation. But that’s not necessary.

You’ll find plenty of examples in this thread (posts with the most votes are the best):
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/65279618

On my new OM-D e-m5 wide-spectrum IR camera, I’m not completely satisfied with the result that I’m getting.

In the photo hereunder (taken this afternoon), the white balance is the one right out of the camera. Nik Color Efex Pro was used. Finally, the Red channel has been boosted (something that I don’t have to do on my GX1). But the colour of the sky is obtained natively.



In that photo three filters were used:
• a Green B+W 061 filter,
• a Blue B+W KB20 filter, and
• a Blue Hoya 80C filter.

With all these stacked filters, vignetting is unavoidable.

Colour IR photography is still a huge field of experimentation, not limited to channel swapping. If you’d like to take part in it, buy your filters as soon as possible (while it’s still possible to get some).

Why is it going to be difficult to get filters? They are easy to find.



--
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

 

[OutsideTheMatrix]

I found this post via Facebook. I was wishing that I had seen the graph much sooner. It is interesting data though. In case you might want a darker sky, you can try a CPL.

Indeed, a polarizer would make my sky darker. However, my goal is the opposite; the goal of Candy Pink IR photography is to keep the mineral World (sky, rivers, glass, metal, rocks, etc.) natural-looking while everything living (foliage, grass, animals) remain pink. As if our wide-spectrum IR cameras have artificial intelligence…

a very nice very special effect!

--
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

 

[JeanPierre Martel]

Why is it going to be difficult to get filters? They are easy to find.

Neutral-density filters, polarizing filters, 720nm filters, filters used for astrophotography, and so on, are easy to find these days. You’re right.

But if you’re looking for the filters that were used to correct white balance or the one to correct the tone of the skin for B&W photography, they became totally useless with the advent of digital photography. Millions have been discarded.

Over the years, filters like a blue B+W KB20 or a yellowish-green B+W 061 at large diameters became extremely rare.

Yet, for infrared photography, these filters have unique properties very difficult (or impossible) to duplicate with post-treatment.

 

[Larry Rexley]

Very interesting thread. i too have been experimenting with some of these filters using a full-spectrum-converted mirrorless Canon M200.

I did a comparison of many filters in the post below. Interestingly, i found that a dual-band Violet/Blue/IR ZB2/BG3 filter off eBay, combined with a Tiffen Hotmirror filter, resulted in a very 'hot' pink image! The Tiffen passes a lot more near-IR that a hot mirror filter typically does.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/66445185

 

[nearly-an-old-codger]

thank you for your posts and as always very interesting and artistic.

I have an om-d em-1 ii ir converted by Life Pixel to 470 and have not yet experimented with other filter options.

i doubt I have the patients to do so along with the dedication and skill you show though.

following life pixels advice i set the white balance off of a white subject but set it off grass for the higher cut filters.

--
Brian