Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Mirrorless Cameras => Topic started by: Don Libby on May 23, 2013, 01:29:53 pm

Title: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: Don Libby on May 23, 2013, 01:29:53 pm
Thought I'd add a couple samples of 665nm filter conversion of a Sony Nex-7


Don
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on May 23, 2013, 01:52:55 pm
The third looks plain weird but I really like the first.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: uaiomex on May 23, 2013, 07:49:42 pm
The first one is knock-out!

Eduardo
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: aduke on May 23, 2013, 08:15:38 pm
The first one is knock-out!

Eduardo

It is for me, also, because the colors are close to the actual colors. The Saguaro and Prickly Pear appear to be some shade of green, the sky some shade of blue.

Good work on this one.

Alan in Scottsdale
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: henk on May 27, 2013, 02:10:26 pm
Hi Don,
Great pictures. Frist is à beauty. I searched the net but can't Finder à 661 nm filter!
Where can I Find such filter? It Gives just That bit extra color.
Henk
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: Don Libby on May 27, 2013, 02:55:44 pm
The filter is a 665nm is also called an "Enhanced Color Filter"  Great place to start is on Life Pixel and their comparison page here.  You'll find the 665nm 4th row down.  Agreed that is does add that little bit of extra color but at a price.

The price is that Photoshop and for that matter C1 cannot properly read the raw file white balance.  All isn't lost as depending on your camera (I used Canon Digital Photo Pro when I used this on a older 1DsII) you use the software that comes with the camera (Cannon, Nikon, etc).  I'm using Sony Image Data Converter to open the raw files before saving them as a Tiff where I can then open in either C1 or CS6 and work as I please with the proper WB.  I also just finished writing about this on my blog.

I've quickly found that not every file should remain in color however almost every file looks good in b&w.

Don
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: uaiomex on May 27, 2013, 07:36:03 pm
Don, I'm lost. Is your Nex 7 converted or are you using an over the lens filter?
Tia

Eduardo
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7k
Post by: Don Libby on May 27, 2013, 07:42:37 pm
I had it converted to full time IR by Life Pixel

Don
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: slothead on June 03, 2013, 10:14:49 pm
I also really like the first image Don.  And I am wondering of a lens-mounted filter would to the scene justice.  I have a converted Nikon with a 720, but I don't want to convert another camera to 665, so am wondering if a lens filter could work.  It wouldn't cost too much to test it I suppose.

... edit ...

Well maybe it might - I can't find a round filter for less than $50!  Too much for an experiment - unless...  Hmmm...  ;D
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: Don Libby on June 04, 2013, 11:49:43 am
Tom, remember whenever you add a IR filter to the lens you'll be shooting at a much slower speed.  That first image for example was shot at f/8 1/500 at ISO 100.  Just did a quick down and dirty check and the slowest I've shot is 1/100 at f/16 ISO 200. 

I remember years ago before I had my first camera converted using lens filters and having to shoot on tripod and such slow speeds that any wind screw it up; it did make the sky interesting.

My suggestion is try it out with a lens filter first knowing that you'll be forces into long exposure before spending the money to convert.  Or on the other hand convert a used body for a couple hundred and just go for it.  I've also found that mirror less bodies work better with various lenses and you don't have to have a lens calibrated like at mirror body (remember with mirror less bodies you'll be seeing what the sensor sees which will much darker than with a mirror body).

Don
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: stevesanacore on June 09, 2013, 11:15:47 am
The landscape shots are beautiful and love the effect.

What's the difference if C1 or LR can't read the white balance? Can't you just set it where it looks best?

Years ago I converted an old Nikon D1X with Lifepixel and love it. I was thinking of going with a color version on another body. When you covert to b&w from the color image how do you think it compares with a dedicated b&w IR conversion?

Thanks for the great shots.

The filter is a 665nm is also called an "Enhanced Color Filter"  Great place to start is on Life Pixel and their comparison page here.  You'll find the 665nm 4th row down.  Agreed that is does add that little bit of extra color but at a price.

The price is that Photoshop and for that matter C1 cannot properly read the raw file white balance.  All isn't lost as depending on your camera (I used Canon Digital Photo Pro when I used this on a older 1DsII) you use the software that comes with the camera (Cannon, Nikon, etc).  I'm using Sony Image Data Converter to open the raw files before saving them as a Tiff where I can then open in either C1 or CS6 and work as I please with the proper WB.  I also just finished writing about this on my blog.

I've quickly found that not every file should remain in color however almost every file looks good in b&w.

Don
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: Don Libby on July 09, 2013, 03:42:55 pm
The landscape shots are beautiful and love the effect.

What's the difference if C1 or LR can't read the white balance? Can't you just set it where it looks best?

Years ago I converted an old Nikon D1X with Lifepixel and love it. I was thinking of going with a color version on another body. When you covert to b&w from the color image how do you think it compares with a dedicated b&w IR conversion?

Thanks for the great shots.


Steve - first sorry for the delay in response.

I don't use LR however I do use C1 and Photoshop.  Regarding why neither one can read the white balance of the IR I simply don't have a clue.  I do know that when I capture a file I see that file "in-camera" as what I saw on the sensor.  That same file when opened in either C1 of Photoshop shows up as if I shot it using a red filter and no amount of tweaking gives me the file as shot or even near.  However using Sony Image Data Converter I save the file as a Tiff then if I open in either C1 or Photoshop the base file (RAW) looks the same as when it was viewed in camera.   There's a very technical explanation of why this happens however I don't have a clue and since this workflow works for me I'll keep at it agreeing that it might not be the best but it works for me.

In answer to your second part of your post.  I don't have any experience with dedicated B&W IR conversions having the 1DsII and now the NEX7 both converted using the same filter.  What I can saw is that I very much like the B&W conversions that I see off the color filter.  I'd go so far as saying that I like the B&W conversions much better off the IR color than I do off regular color files.

Here's a couple more samples taken form a recent trip

Don
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: Telecaster on July 09, 2013, 04:31:38 pm
Here's a couple more samples taken form a recent trip

I like the color photos in this group as they don't attempt to emulate human color vision. After all, we can't see IR light so all interpretations are equally valid. Might as well go weird.   :D  I get much the same palette with my Oly OM-D EM5 using a 720nm filter and a custom white balance on sunlit grass. Using filters that pass more of the visual spectrum really diminishes the IR effect with this camera. I expect I'd get different results if I had the cam properly converted to IR, though.

-Dave-
Title: Re: Shooting Infrared with a Sony Nex-7
Post by: Herbc on September 12, 2013, 12:00:53 pm
Great stuff Don: I have several cameras converted to IR, the last a Nikon D800, which is probably overkill.
Have you noticed that a lot of foilage goes to fuzz in IR?  I use Live View and a big magnifier for focusing, so I don't think my techniques are faulty.  Most of my IR was 720nm.