Shooting IR film

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cedarsphoto

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I'm going to be shooting IR film soon, 720nm, and I have the film & filter en-route to me now.
Does anyone have any tips they can share? Never shot IR at all, let alone film!

I'm also curious how to technically do it. Do I focus & compose then screw on the IR 720nm filter? I'm assuming I won't be able to see through the lens once it's screwed on?

Help! :D
 
Never done it myself, but there's a recent thread on here about shooting IR. And yes, focus, compose, meter, add IR filter, recalculate exposure, shoot... appears to be the way forward! Bracket? Note @RumpFace 's comments about making sure your lab knows...
 
cedarsphoto said:
I'm going to be shooting IR film soon, 720nm, and I have the film & filter en-route to me now.
Does anyone have any tips they can share? Never shot IR at all, let alone film!

I'm also curious how to technically do it. Do I focus & compose then screw on the IR 720nm filter? I'm assuming I won't be able to see through the lens once it's screwed on?

Help! :D
Click to expand...


You focus first, then put the filter on. The meter will be useless, as the meter will not be measuring IR light... just the visible. Basically... you're on your own . Focusing however, will not be accurate, as again, you're focusing with visible light, and the longer wavelength IR light will be focused slightly differently. Older lenses used to have a IR focus mark, so you focused visually, then moved the focused distance on the lens barrel to the IR marker. If you're using a new lens, then you may have to guess.

As for ISO, it depends what film you're using, but as you don't say, then I can't help you. I don't think any of the films you can get these days are true infra red films like the old Kodak High Speed IR films used to be.

I'd hit Google and get some information before you shoot.
 
It's the ilford ISO 200 stuff - unfortunately I don't have the full details to hand.

Thanks for the info, looks like it's going to be very much hit & miss.
 
I was looking at some Rollei IR film recently - didn't know you have to remove and reattach the filter.

I really like the effects you can get though.
 
cedarsphoto said:
Do I focus & compose then screw on the IR 720nm filter?
Click to expand...

If it's an SLR, yes. It's easier to use a rangefinder or a TLR so you can keep the filter in place and have a clear viewfinder image.

A few yeras ago I saw a web page written by someone who used infra red film a lot and he had converted his SLR for the task by fixing a permanent IR filter behind the shutter. This allowed an unfiltered image in the viewfinder and allowed the meter to work with full light. Its reading could then be compensated for to account for the IR filter.


Steve.
 
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