Camera can see IR, what now?

[gt24]

I have a Nikon Coolpix 4100 digital camera. Also, what I know about IR (infrared) is that humans cannot see it and cameras have filters on them that filters out the IR light (thus, you cannot take a picture of an IR "flash" from your remote). However, recently, I had my camera on (thus I had a quick preview of what my camera could take) and the preview showed IR light very well!

So, other than taking pictures of remotes, what other neat things can I do with this ability?

 

[JCLW]

You can make cool effects with the correct filters, that kind of thing.

People taking pictures of nebulae (and other similar things) in space tend to remove the IR filters if their cameras have them.

If you google it you'll pull up tons of stuff.

 

[Dan Derrig]

I guess you can see through clothes lol
Seriously dont do that though, thats really screwed up
Hmm... try reading things through envelopes - this is near visible infrared i think

 

[dfonda]

Those features are cool. I know I still get a kick out of Videotaping animals in complete darkness in my backyard using the nightvision in my Sony camcorder.
I'll have to tape Paris as well the next time she is over.

 

[jcw122]

I'm not sure why, but if with IR filters on professional/amateaur cameras...it makes leaves and grass all a really pretty white, I've also seen it make streams or clouds appear brownish for some reason.

Are you talkin IR as in...heat vision sorta? or ....what I'm talkin about...I'm kinda confused on it anyway so yeah

 

[gt24]

<snip>
Are you talkin IR as in...heat vision sorta? or ....what I'm talkin about...I'm kinda confused on it anyway so yeah

Fetch your remote and make sure that whatever it controls is turned off. Now, hit any button the remote, other than the power button. Look at the top of your remote while holding this button down. See anything? Yeah, you cannot see the light it is using to transmit the signal because it is IR light. My digital camera when aimed at the remote during that exact test shows a brilliant blue light.

See the attachments to see what I mean (I took photographs). The PDA has a significantly weaker IR light despite being CIR (commercial IR). The remote's IR light intensity surprised me quite a bit in that it actually caused a lense flare effect.

 

[stunt]

IR has some cool effects. I use an IR72 filter and a 8nd and a 4nd stacked together. Anything that absorbs uv photsynth. ( grass, leaves,ect) will be white and dark blue skys will be black. You can do some real amazing things with IR and Photoshop. IR in most PS cameras limits the shutter to a very slow speed so a tripod or real steady hand is a must. A lot of us that shoot IR have our cameras modified to be able to use all shutter speeds. On mine it was a 350.00 mod.

 

[gt24]

Welcome to the forums stunt, I hope you enjoy your stay with us!

Question... what IR source should I use to illuminate the area in front of my camera? Are those sources expensive or could I simply slap a filter in front of a flashlight?

 

[sunrunner20]

I forgot about the ability of CMOS sensors to see IR... Another thing for me to play around with on the new Canon 20D...

 

[sunrunner20]

Or not, aparently the 20D has a IR cutoff

 

[attack]

IR detection is basicly the same as night vision and FLIR (forward looking infrared) that the military uses. The reason there is a difference is what frequencies in the spectrum are used. I've used both and they both have different advantages and dis advantages, but for photography, it's more of an art so just try many different filters. Also inverting the images in PS or heck even paint can produce very cool effects and make other things stand out.
As for a source to amplify....IR sources are usualy ambient...I know of IR pointers which are only seen through IR (target designation), I'm sure there is some sort of IR "flashlight" but taking a flashlight and putting a filter on it probably wouldn't do much as it's designed to emit light in the visible spectrum and not in IR.

 

[stunt]

Or not, aparently the 20D has a IR cutoff

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, your 20D needs to be modified for IR. Awsome camera.

I never shoot IR in low light. If you do you need to convert the colors to get rid of the green cast. All my IR is daylight outdoors for effect. My camera uses lazer to to give allumination for the Auto focus and metering.

 

[EvilT]

Nice looks cool

 

[JCLW]

Or get a 20Da, which is a special version of the 20D with the IR filter removed (plus other things) for astrophotography.

edit: http://www.lifepixel.com/ir-tutorials/canon-20d-digital-infrared-conversion-instructions.htm