So many DSLRs you don't know what to do with them?

How about converting a spare digital SLR for infrared photography!

For many years I've been dabbling with infrared (IR) sensitive film from all the manufactures (Kodak, Konica & Ilford[1]) with varying levels of success and often much frustration (until I purchased an excellent book by Hugh Milsom[2]). When I bought my Nikon D70 digital SLR I checked that it could take infrared images - I did know that CCD are sensitive to the infrared end of the spectrum, but I needed to be sure. On my first trip with my shiny new camera, to Sicily, I tried-out taking some infrared filtered images with some pleasing results but much frustration. Sure I could see if I was getting acceptable results on the spot - I still needed to bracket my exposures - but I still had to mount my camera on a tripod every time and the exposures, even in noon day sun, were too long: with Kodak Hi-speed IR film I was able to hand-hold in most sunny conditions. The problem was that digital camera manufacturers place a filter in front of their CCD to reduce the effect of infrared light, which is great for everyone except those who want to creatively use IR.

A couple of days ago I came across a tutorial on how to modify my D70 DSLR to shoot just IR. This looked scary and the disclaimer even more so, however Life Pixel will do the modifications for you. Basically the procedure is the replacement of the infrared reducing filter attached to the front of the CCD with a R72 infrared filter which will only let light of a wavelength greater than 720nm through, i.e. cuts pretty much all of the visible light out. The advantages of this are that it is possible to hand hold the camera again and composition is easy as there is no IR filter on the front of the lens. The downside is that I'll have a large collection of redundant and expensive filters. Now all I need is a spare DSLR!

Notes

[1] Kodak PROFESSIONAL High Speed Infrared Film (aka HIE); Konica Infrared 750 (a pdf technical spec sheet); Ilford SFX 200
[2] Milsom, H., 2001, Infra-Red Photography: A Complete Workshop Guide. Available on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

Other interesting links

• A useful and succinct comparison of infrared black and white films.
• The Flickr infrared group pool has some superb examples of IR photography.
• Some information about infrared photography with a digital camera.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, infrared, nikon, photography, infra-red, technology

The D200: how does it fit in Nikon's DSLR range?

It looks likely that the much anticipated Nikon D200 digital SLR will be launched shortly from the plethora of images available from leaks - either semi-officially or by accident. Amongst all the excited (even hysterical) comparisons between it and the Canon 5D, even with few accurate details of the D200 available, there has been little consideration of how this camera fits into Nikon's range of DSLR.

Many commentators consider that the Nikon D70 DSLR is a semi-pro camera, and based on my experience with it, it can certainly produce very high quality results. However it is built around the body and camera feature set of what Nikon term as 'hobbyist' in their film-based SLR camera range. Then there is the D100 which is clearly long-in-the-tooth, has leached considerable sales to the D70s (due to better post-processing and a better price!), and which was the semi-pro camera, but still based upon a 'enthusiast's' body not a semi-pro. Of course there are the Pro bodies clearly aimed at ex-Olympic weightlifters.

Comparing Nikon's current range of film-based SLR cameras with there DSLRs then there is a gap - a F100 equivalent. I don't use my F100 much these days, but it is an excellent work-horse camera that has a great range of features covering a wide range of uses and has never let me down in 10 years. From what can be gleaned from the images of the D200 so far, it has many similarities to the F100: magnesium alloy body, possible weather sealing, a separate power grip that has controls for use in portrait orientation, and a very similar layout of controls.

With all the Nikon vs. Canon histrionics going on in the photographic message boards & blogs, few have noticed the clear ethos and strategies the two companies are taking. With the D200, Nikon have finally put the last product in their DSLR that matches their film-based SLR strategy (of many years): hobbyist (D50), enthusiast (D70s), semi-pro/pro (D200), professional (D2H, D2X). You may have noticed I've left out the D100, well I believe this model is somewhat an anachronism being surpassed by both model nominally below it and above it in the range, and therefore will be dropped. Of course, this is all speculation, but will I be buying a D200, probably.

Technorati Tags: photography, nikon, digital photography, technology