Infrared pictures taken with NX Mini

ge0rg wrote:

Great shots! I like the sepia tone very much. What kind of processing are you doing?

Thank you for the kind words!

I shoot in raw and open the files in Adobe Camera Raw. Usually, I use a linear profile in ACR for black and white infrared in order to get a "flat file" which is easier to work with. Then I process the images with the SilverEfex plugin in Photoshop.

Here are two IR shots that I made with a converted NX500 and a rotating 530nm-750nm filter in the 530nm position.

River and trees in sunlight, IR 530nm

House at the river, IR 530nm

Postprocessed in Darktable, monochrome, significantly boosted contrast.

Great pictures! 530nm rendering is quite different, with only a slight IR effect in black and white. Have you tried to shoot in color with this filter?

Cheers!

Abbazz

If you don't mind, here are two interpretations of your lovely picture. They are intentionally over the top. If you feel not happy with me tinkering with your work, just tell me and I will take them down.

B&W IR

Cotton candy Ektachrome

Cheers!

Abbazz

ge0rg wrote:

Congratulations, you made me "break" another camera. I've converted a spare NX mini to infrared and got a few filters for it too, now.

NX mini photo sensor disassembled

NX mini IR-blocker filter filmed with NX mini without IR-blocker filter

Congratulations on the conversion. These NX Mini are quite cheap now (at least here in Asia), so they are the perfect material for experimenting!

You seem to have opened the camera casing and dismantled the whole sensor assembly in order to remove the UV-IR cut filter. I followed the procedure highlighted here (bottom of page): http://mecastronics.free.fr/SamsungNXminiTopIR.html

In fact, it is even possible to remove the UV-IR cut filter without completely detaching the plastic sensor cover from its ribbon cable and risk losing its delicate gold contacts. It is enough to just flip it out of the way to be able to pry open the underneath filter holder and pull out the UV-IR cut filter with a pair of flat tweezers, like illustrated by these pictures.

Here's a recap of the whole pocedure:

1. Follow the steps 1 to 9 from the disassembly procedure on the iFixIt website (https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Samsung+NX+Mini+Disassembly/55038) in order to open the camera front casing.

2. Flip open the plastic sensor cover but without removing the screw attaching the sensor cover to the ribbon cable. Your camera should look like this:

Image Credit : IFixIt https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Samsung+NX+Mini+Disassembly/55038

3. Using a small flat screwdriver blade, pry open the UV-IR cut filter holder from the top right edge without applying too much force (you don't want to destroy the plastic filter holder):

Picture Credit : Dima Lootvoet http://mecastronics.free.fr/SamsungNXminiTopIR.html

4. Delicately pull the UV-IR filter out of its holder with a pair of flat bladed tweezers and save it in a safe place in case you want to put it back later.

5. Reassemble the camera by reversing the previous steps.

Now I wonder whether it would be possible to remove the filter without removing the front casing, by just accessing the filter holder from the lens mount opening.

NX mini IR720 shot of old town with bridge and castle

NX mini IR720 shot of tree, with the sun hiding behind it

NX mini IR720 shot of castle on a high rock

(Darktable, converted to monochrome, split-toning module for sepia)

Congrats on the beautiful pictures, I love them!

Cheers!

Abbazz

ge0rg wrote:

A few pictures taken with my full-spectrum converted NX Mini with an 850nm infrared filter:

Are you also using filters with shorter wave-length? I've made a bunch of shots at 680nm now, and on sunny days there is a noticeable flare in the images, which looks like it's from the lens and the black metal ring around it (the one with the "9-27" and "1:3.5-5.6" imprint).

Here's an OOC and edited image where I've significantly increased the red contrast to show the effect, which is also noticeable on the "normal" pipeline of swapping R/B and increasing vibrance:

680nm infrared OOC

680nm infrared red/blue swapped with increased red contrast

I use a 720nm filter as well and also like to shoot with various colored filters in order to try to emulate the colors from Kodak Ektachrome IR film.

I prefer using the 9mm and 17mm primes lenses rather than the zoom for infrared or full-spectrum shooting to avoid the kind of "hotspots" visible in your pictures.

C

ge0rg wrote:

Abbazz wrote:

using the 9mm and 17mm primes lenses rather than the zoom for infrared or full-spectrum shooting to avoid the kind of "hotspots" visible in your pictures.

How do you attach the filters to the primes? Also in case you want to get rid of the 17mm, it's elusively hard to find in Europe, or absolutely overpriced.

For the 9mm, I just hold the filter in front of the lens but I might permanently glue a 37-39mm step-up adapter ring in the future.

The 17mm lens has a 39mm filter thread. I am sorry but mine is not for sale.

Cheers!

Abbazz

A few experiments from today. First, a picture taken with my full spectrum NX Mini with a green filter (with custom white balance):

The "cotton candy" effect

The same picture, with the red and blue layer swapped:

Red-blue swap

Now with the green and blue layer swapped:

Green-blue swap

An with the red and green layers swapped:

Red-green swap

The same experiment with another subject:

Cotton candy

Red-blue swap

Green-blue swap

Red-green swap

Sorry these pictures are not very sharp because they were taken with the 20-50mm zoom, which is not great in full spectrum on the NX Mini.

And a last picture with the 17mm lens: a butterfly on a desert rose flower, fist with 950nm IR filter:

Monochrome with 950nm filter

And the same flowers in full color, although with a somewhat different framing (with a B+W 486 UV-IR cut filter):

Full spectrum with UV-IR cut filter

Cheers!

Abbazz

A couple from with the full-spectrum converted NX Mini with an 850nm infrared filter:

There is some flare in the upper middle of the frame.

Cheers!

Abbazz