Author Topic: Take Infrared Pictures With Your Digital Camera  (Read 1615 times)

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Offline Ghost1

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Take Infrared Pictures With Your Digital Camera
« on: Oct 23 2008 - 11:23PM »
Here is a really cool little project you can do to make a normal digital camera be able to take infrared pictures.  Now if you remember the famous "Lady on a Tombstone" pictures was taken in infrared.

This was taken using infrared:  Woman on the Tombstone

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How To Take Infrared Pictures With Your Digital Camera

In this instructable, I will show you how to make a cheap infrared (IR) filter for your digital camera out of bits and pieces such as cardboard rolls, electrical tape, and some black processed photographic film (old negatives).

The idea for this project came while researching IR light. When I discovered unexposed processed film made an effective IR filter, I literally had to put my house upside down to fish out some old negatives. Sadly, I also destroyed the zoom motor on my trusty Canon A60 by making a case that was too tight. You will see I have included several warnings here to prevent you from making the same mistake! I am now the proud (and poorer) owner of a brilliant Canon A710...

The video underneath details the building process. It also shows you in detail how to test your camera for IR capability; it suggests some of the settings you should use.


[float=right]http://www.metacafe.com/watch/395292/take_infrared_pictures_with_your_digital_camera/[/float]
step 1 What you will need:
- scissors - glue - strips of cardboard or better, some rolls of carboard that will just fit over your camera's objective (sticky tape rolls, loo roll... anything that lo…

step 2 Test your camera for IR sensitivity
This rough test is done by pointing a TV remote control at your digital camera and pressing a button. You should be able to see the IR led on your remote (the white light h…

step 3 Making the case's main body
Find a carboard roll that will fit snuggly (but not too tightly, otherwise putting it on and off might destroy the zoom's motor) over the camera's objective. Alternative…

step 4 Fashion a smaller, thinner ring of cardboard...
... to fit snuggly inside the big ring... If it is loose, make it snugger with some layers of electrical tape.

step 5 Cut a ring of plastic...
... to fit on top of the big cardboard roll. It should be the size of the outer big cardboard roll on the outside, and the size of the inner small cardboard roll on the ins…

step 6 Colour everything black (the inside of the rings too)...
... with a black permanent marker, if you haven't done so already.

step 7 Cut two circles of black processed film...
... to fit snuggly inside the big carboard roll... They should be prevented from falling out by the plastic ring glued to the top. Secure the pieces of film by inserting th…

step 8 Place the filter on the objective
Make sure it is not so loose as to let any light in, yet not so tight as to ruin the camera's zoom motor when putting it on and off. The filter case should be allowed to fa…

step 9 Settings
Set the white levels manually, if your camera allows you (refer to the manual on how to do that). Otherwise your pictures will come out red (see picture below). Generall…
Always remember.........Just because you have never seen something, does not mean that something does not exist.

Offline adamselzer

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Re: Take Infrared Pictures With Your Digital Camera
« Reply #1 on: Oct 24 2008 - 09:44AM »
The trouble with this is that just about EVERY digital camera is really an IR camera - but IR light can make normal pics look blurry, so a filter is built in to block most IR light. These filters described above block out everything BUT what IR light is left. It works, but in order to get a clear shot, you need a tripod and a LONG exposure time - like, several seconds for a good shot. For a variety of reasons, I generally don't recommend ghost hunting with exposure speeds even 1/1000th that long.

A better way to use a digital camera for IR is to take it apart and remove the IR filter altogether, THEN adding a filter to block other kinds of light, but that's easier said than done. I tried it and ended up with a broken camera, a pretty painful shock, and a wife with every right to say 'I told you so.'
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Offline Darkone

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Re: Take Infrared Pictures With Your Digital Camera
« Reply #2 on: Oct 29 2008 - 11:51AM »
That is a very cool post, thanks for the info.  This is a cheap way to make your camera infrared when ever you want.  I'll have to try it and then go to Bachelor's grove and see if it makes a difference.   :Y: