IR camera conversion

[ChrisJR]

I'm thinking about getting either a Nikon or Canon d-slr body converted to IR using either LifePixel or Maxmax. What are people's experiences with either company?

Thanks
Chris

[clawery]

I'm thinking about getting either a Nikon or Canon d-slr body converted to IR using either LifePixel or Maxmax. What are people's experiences with either company?

Thanks
Chris
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

We had a Canon 20D converted at Maxmax and they did a great job.


Chris Lawery
Sales Manager
chris@captureintegration.com
[a href=\"http://www.captureintegration.com]Capture Integration, Phase One Dealer of the Year[/url]

877-217-9870 | National
404-234-5195 | Cell  
Sign up for our Newsletter | Read Our Latest Newsletter

[Lisa Nikodym]

I had a camera converted at Maxmax, and, despite their advertising claims of doing the conversion in a very clean environment, mine came back with a lot of crud stuck to the sensor cover that I couldn't manage to clean off myself (that had definitely not been there before, and produced very obvious blobs in images).  I sent it back to them for cleaning, but they weren't very gracious about it (no apologies, no offering to pay for return postage, refusing to rush-ship it when I asked because I needed it for a trip in a week, etc.).

They did get it back to me cleaned, and it's been perfectly fine since, but I wasn't very happy about their response to a problem of their own making.

Lisa

[picnic]

I'm thinking about getting either a Nikon or Canon d-slr body converted to IR using either LifePixel or Maxmax. What are people's experiences with either company?

Thanks
Chris
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=184136\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I had a Canon 10D converted by Lifepixel in February.  It was a very good experience and I could recommend them from my own experience with no reservations.  

Diane

[ChrisJR]

I'm thinking about getting either a Nikon or Canon d-slr body converted to IR using either LifePixel or Maxmax. What are people's experiences with either company?

Thanks
Chris
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=184136\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks for the replies.

Just out of interest, what is the IQ like with the IR converted 20D. If I stick with Canon (thinking about swapping my main camera (1d mk3) for a nikon d3) it will likely be something like a 20D that I will have converted.

Thanks
Chris

[samirkharusi]

Thanks for the replies.

Just out of interest, what is the IQ like with the IR converted 20D. If I stick with Canon (thinking about swapping my main camera (1d mk3) for a nikon d3) it will likely be something like a 20D that I will have converted.

Thanks
Chris
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

The IQ has very little to do with the camera and mostly to do with the lenses. See the performance at f2.8 with various lenses under autofocus (pixel peeping):
[a href=\"http://www.pbase.com/samirkharusi/image/54146316/original]http://www.pbase.com/samirkharusi/image/54146316/original[/url]
Amongst the many primes I own, I find at least two can be used wide open, the Canon 600mm/4.0L IS and the 100mm/2.8macro USM. My other primes do deliver reasonably decent A3 prints from a 20D when closed down. But of course, you have to be careful not to close down too far. Diffraction limits come in at almost one f-stop earlier in IR than in visible, just from wavelength considerations. Yet with the Canon weakness in wide angle lenses you do have to close down substantially, even in visible light, for A3 prints from a 1.6x crop DSLR. Here are some typical 20D IR images:
http://www.pbase.com/samirkharusi/infra_red
I use my 20D for both IR and for normal photography when traveling. Much lighter to carry the tiny filters to swop modes than to carry extra camera bodies. Also astrophotography with various spectral specific filters. Nevertheless, because my IR-pass filter is located infront of the mirror box (but behind the lens) the viewfinder goes black when shooting IR. If I were starting afresh today I would use a modded 450D or a 40D. These models have Live-View, that I expect will work in IR. My two modded cameras, a 20D (clear glass with anti-reflection coatings on the sensor) and a 40D (rectangular passband UV/IR blocking filter on the sensor) come from Hutech. Very professionally done, complete with a year warranty. There are astro reasons why my 40D is modded differently (useless for IR photography) but we need not go into that now.

[jd1566]

Just a note about using a 40D with an IR filter - Live view is no view, because the image is so dark through the filter, so not really much help.  I use a Kodak gelatin IR filter (not sure which one, but NO visible light gets through) mounted on the rear of my 12-24mm Sigma.  For composing I swap it out for a 16-35 Canon lens, which  gives me an idea of the field of view of the Sigma.  As for focusing, all hyperfocal shot at f8... but again, no view through the live view function.  Hope this helps..

[Panopeeper]

Live view is no view, because the image is so dark through the filter, so not really much help

Is this with a clear glass over the sensor, or with the original one?

[Ray]

The IQ has very little to do with the camera and mostly to do with the lenses. See the performance at f2.8 with various lenses under autofocus (pixel peeping):
http://www.pbase.com/samirkharusi/image/54146316/original
Amongst the many primes I own, I find at least two can be used wide open, the Canon 600mm/4.0L IS and the 100mm/2.8macro USM.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=184339\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Samir,
I don't own any of the lenses that appear in your examples. This worries me, the fact that I would feel the need to start testing all my lenses again, to find out which performed best with IR frequencies.

The other issue is, since I'm primarily interested in increasing the available light so I can use my IR modified camera in low light conditions such as street photography at night without flash, a lens that is sharp with IR-only images might not be sharp when it's required to focus all frequencies from ultra-violet to infra-red, at wide apertures.

[Panopeeper]

I don't own any of the lenses that appear in your examples. This worries me, the fact that I would feel the need to start testing all my lenses again, to find out which performed best with IR frequencies

See http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~gisle/photo/ir.html#lenses

[Ray]

See http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~gisle/photo/ir.html#lenses
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=184603\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks for that link, Gabor. I've got a few of the lenses that are mentioned in that article as being good for IR photography, such as the Canons EF-S 10-22, 50/1.8 and 100-400 IS. However, what worries me is the capacity of such lenses to focus all frequencies reasonably well in the same plane at full aperture.

My EF-S 17-55/2.8 is remarkably sharp at full aperture. It's an ideal lens for street photography at night without flash, but if I lose that sharpness in an attempt to get less noisy images, then I don't see much point.

I can see that IR-only images can have a strange eerie quality which is sometimes quite appealing, but I'm more interested in the possibilities of better low light performance.

[kbolin]

I had my Canon 5D converted by Lifepixel and their service was awesome.  I placed the order online, got an e-mail to print and put into the box.  When it arrived they sent me an e-mail notifying me they had received my 5D.  I paid extra for rush service and 2 hours later received another e-mail telling me they finished the conversion, then an hour later a 3rd e-mail telling me they had shipped it back to me with the tracking #.

I received my 5D back and love it... great job.

Kelly

[ChrisJR]

I had my Canon 5D converted by Lifepixel and their service was awesome.  I placed the order online, got an e-mail to print and put into the box.  When it arrived they sent me an e-mail notifying me they had received my 5D.  I paid extra for rush service and 2 hours later received another e-mail telling me they finished the conversion, then an hour later a 3rd e-mail telling me they had shipped it back to me with the tracking #.

I received my 5D back and love it... great job.

Kelly
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=184618\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks for the the information Kelly. My last camera was a 5D and I loved the image quality of it so may get another and have it converted. Do you have any sample images taken with the 5D?