Jumping in to the Infrared Pool....

TedG954

Senior Member
I have a Canon G10 sitting around collecting dust. I started looking in to INFRARED photography and saw that the G10 got good reviews as a converted IR camera. So, I'm sending it in tomorrow for conversion. I'm going to use Kolari. Cost is $125 and that includes shipping.

I noticed a few people on NIKONITES that are shooting IR and I'm hoping I'll be able to get advice from those folks once I receive my camera back.
 

480sparky

Senior Member
You and me both. I scored a nice little P7100 for the express purpose of converting through Kolari. It arrived yesterday and I'll spend this week testing it out and making sure it's worth sending in. I chose the P7100 as I already have one I use for work.

What filter are you two thinking about? I'm leaning toward the 720nm.
 
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BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Thanks for the complement - I'm glad you're digging it. I absolutely love IR. I'm shooting with a KolariVision 720nm converted D7000 but am seriously considering converting my D800 (which is largely gathering dust and losing value on the used market) to 590nm with the idea that I can get additional filters to go to longer wavelengths. The only thing is I'm hearing that it's almost impossible to get an in-camera WB on the D800, so I may just wait (I also had a brief exchange with Nasim Mansurov about his converted D800 and he said that if he had it to do again he wouldn't have converted a full frame camera, but I couldn't get him to elaborate. So in the meantime I'll keep shooting with this one.

As for P&S cameras, I'm assuming none of the ones listed shoot RAW, so you'll be dealing with JPEG files, which is great provided you can get the camera to white balance properly (I believe most will). After that it's all a matter of playing in Photoshop. Most folks do traditional Red/Blue channel swapping. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, depends on the photo and my mood. I've been playing a lot w/ B&W lately, particularly on bright days with nice clouds - you can really get a sky to go dark in post.

Kolari has some good, basic tutorials and PS Actions that you can download on their website, including some that will supposedly approximate other filter output from the 590nm. I haven't mess with them.

One thing for folks doing DSLR's, make sure you send a lens in for focus calibration with the conversion. Also, some lenses are more prone to hot spots than others, so check their database as well (the Sigma 10-20mm would be a perfect IR lens but it has hot spots off the charts).
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
The Canon G10 shoots RAW and has all the functions and adjustments of a DSLR.

That's great - I looked it up and in the specs it only listed JPEG file sizes so I assumed it didn't. Good news is that you will have more light information to play with. Canons tend to be better at getting a WB post conversion, so you should be able to set it on the RAW file with no problem. If not you may need to produce a custom camera profile that will allow you to do it in Photoshop. Just about every Nikon needs this even if you can get an in-camera WB. I've got a video elsewhere on this forum on how to do it in case you need it.
 

TedG954

Senior Member
When I read the various reviews for cameras to be converted, the G10 had 5 stars across the board and since it was being used........

I will still be having a lot to learn about settings and processing. So that will keep me busy.

Take care.
 

PapaST

Senior Member
I did about the same conversion Ted. I converted a D300 earlier this year to the 590nm through Kolari. I've been happy with the results and I was happy with Kolari's work/turn around time. Shoot them questions if you have any. It might take a day but they always get back to you with the information you're after.

Everyone is different. My learning curve has been a little slower. I'm starting to get the results I want but honestly from one picture to the next I had a hard time recreating the same effects. You'll pick up on the nuances with post and how each "setting" affects your picture. Once you catch on to that you'll be able to see an image in your head and you'll know how to process the picture. For the longest time I was still just making changes and hoping for the best.

I was actually playing around with some pics yesterday.

BM3_2982 by Bernard Malinis, on Flickr
 

Englischdude

Senior Member
ive not been that active here for a few months for several reasons, but I have been following whats bin going on!

Great to see another #nite jumping into the IR pool. i look forward to seeing your images. for those with dslrs, I have gone through many a lens trying to find the one most ir friendly with regards to flare and hotspots, my goto lens for IR now is the samyang 14mm pro which is not only great value but hotspot free!
 
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