Pages with tag Infrared Photography
Build an inexpensive spectrometer, and an inexpensive IR video camera, using a Raspberry Pi
Regular spectrometers and infrared video cameras cost a lot of money. With a little effort, and a certain camera module for the Raspberry Pi, it is possible to build both an inexpensive Spectrometer and an inexpensive IR camera. The spectrometer is easily calibrated using light sources with known characteristics - for example a fluorescent light bulb has an emission spectrum governed by the mercury vapor in the bulb, which can be used in calibration. For the IR camera, the presenter found a cheap IR camera module that connects to the Raspberry Pi camera port, and then used Motion Eyes to view the video stream.
DIY Convert Canon SX530 to full spectrum and infrared photography
Digital camera sensors are often sensitive to infrared (IR) or ultraviolet (UV) light. The manufacturers add filters to cut out that unwanted light in order to have sharp images. To do infrared photography requires removing that filter, the IR/Cut filter, allowing the digital camera sensor to see infrared light. Given the success I've had with a Lumix DMC-ZS3 converted to Infrared, I wanted a better camera for the purpose. I found a Canon Powershot SX530 and found that it would be possible to convert it for infrared photography. While it doesn't natively shoot RAW mode pictures, the CHDK firmware can add that ability plus a whole lot more. Further with an adapter you can attach filters to the front of the SX530, making it far more suitable for infrared photography than the ZS3.
DIY Convert Lumix DMC-ZS3 for infrared or full spectrum photography
Digital camera sensors are often sensitive to infrared (IR) or ultraviolet (UV) light. The manufacturers add filters to cut out that unwanted light in order to have sharp images. But some of us want to do other kinds of photography. The DMC-ZS3 was at one time a top end point-and-shoot camera and is still very good and available at very low cost, making it a good platform for experimenting with IR Conversions of digital cameras.
Editing infrared photos with Graphic Converter, Gimp and the like
An infrared picture straight out of the camera usually has a strong pink overcast, and you're probably thinking "I paid how many dollars to convert a camera to get garbage pictures like this?" After quite a bit of studying and learning, I'm finally getting the hang of making interesting-looking pictures with simple photo editing tools (like Gimp or Graphic Converter) from pictures taken with a converted infrared camera. There are some simple techniques like swapping the red and blue channels which are widely recommended, but that's just the start and of course photo manipulation programs have a zillion options to explore.
How to convert a cheap digital camera into a night vision camera
If you have an old digital camera gathering dust in a corner, you can easily convert it into a night vision camera. The difficulty level is generally easy, but does depend on how the camera you choose is built.
How to detect if your camera can see infrared light
What if you could take infrared pictures just by screwing on an IR filter? While most digital cameras have built-in filters to block infrared light, some do not. That makes infrared photography possible simply by attaching an IR filter, rather than undergoing a conversion process.
Shooting infrared photography at night, or by moonlight
Most infrared photos are shot during the daytime when there is lots of light available, including infrared light from the sun. The core of any kind of photography is capturing light, so we have to think about capturing infrared light. Therefore successful night-time infrared pictures are scenes containing infrared light. For instance urban lighting has an infrared component, and it is possible to buy or build infrared illuminators which can light up a scene.
The history of infrared photography
How do we discover the existence of invisible things? Some claim ghosts exist, but none of us can see them. Similarly infrared light cannot be seen by our eyes, but it is now known by scientists that visible light and infrared light are only a small part of a broad spectrum of "light" phenomena.
What is infrared photography, and what is it used for
Infrared photography is a portal into an invisible world that's in front of our eyes but which we cannot see. Our eyes see only a portion of the light spectrum (from red to purple). While most digital cameras can see the infrared spectrum, in most cases the camera must be slightly modified to remove the filter which blocks infrared light. With infrared photography the sky is dark, the grass and any other plants are white, and it's like seeing a bizzaro other-world that's opposite the world we inhabit.