Shooting on IR Film... any tips?

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cedarsphoto

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I sent my 550D away to be converted to IR and it came back broken, knocking my plans to get into the world of IR photography on the head for a while.

To scratch the itch I've ordered 4 rolls of IR film and plan to shoot on my Canon AE-1.

Does anyone have any advice or experience for a first time shooting in IR? Also, am I able to get it developed at the normal places just like regular film?
 
You don't mention which type of film you've ordered but, just in case you're not aware, you'll also need a filter to take out the visible spectrum (or the lower end at least).

Bob
 
Possibly better placed in the Film and Conventional area - I'll report it and see what the team think. I'm sure that if you'd rather it stayed here, they'd move it back if they had moved it there in the meantime.
 
I have done some Rollei 400 I think with a R72 filter, black as pitch on a Nikon FE2.
I used a separate light metre set to about ISO6-12
 
The Rollei Retro 400S I recently shot in a single use camera was reportedly sensitive well into the IR range. AFAIK once exposed it should be treated like "normal" film (as much as any b&w film is normal). Just send it off to the usual places, or dev it yourself according to the instructions. Caveat: (a) never done this and (b) someone who has should be along shortly!

What I did want to say is that my older lenses tend to have a little red mark, just away from the usual infinity, that represents infinity focus in IR. Must be just an approximation, but it might be useful having one of those lenses. And of course some lenses are supposed to have IR "hot spots", but from whatI can read it's the more modern zoom lenses more likely to be the culprits...
 
As I recall the focus point is slightly off. Should be a second mark on the lens barrel to indicate where the IR point is. View through viewfinder wont get you focused if memory serves, not a major issue though cos it all looks out of focus anyway :)
Sorry only just spotted comment above.
Matt
 
cedarsphoto said:
To scratch the itch I've ordered 4 rolls of IR film and plan to shoot on my Canon AE-1.

Does anyone have any advice or experience for a first time shooting in IR? Also, am I able to get it developed at the normal places just like regular film?
Click to expand...

You don't say which film you've bought, but a couple of things will be required. A proper IR filter as mentioned above will be needed, and this will make the shutter speed so slow that a tripod will be essential. Generally best to compose without the filter in place and then fit it before taking the shot. Second thing is that you must cover the viewfinder as your eye won't be there to keep the light out and you'll get a big mark in the centre of the photo. Third thing is that you should check with your lab about taking IR film as generally it should be kept in its closed container until in the darkroom.
 
Tripod, filter, bracket. Tell the lab it's infra red, it's 35mm so it's most likely to be kodak or aerochrome E6 or rollei IR, or a derivative or the old kodak HIE IR. These films need infra red monitoring lights turned off, if your lab is on the ball they'll know anyway.
 
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