Lenses for IR photography

[trip]

Since i sold my 17-70 sigma, i have been looking for another wideangle lens. I have started doing a bit of IR work and would like to use a wider lens than my 28mm 2.8. Since many lenses can produce hotspots when doing IR work, i've been looking around on the net for any idea as to which lenses would be suitable.


http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~gisle/photo/ir.html#ev

has a list of suitable and not so suitable lenses, but its far from comprehensive.
http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~gisle/photo/ir.html#ev
Can anyone reccomend a good suitable wideangle? and has anyone got any experience of the Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 for IR? i dont want to splash out on an 82mm filter to find its no good.

anyone use a Sigma 15-30 for IR? i hear the canon 17-40 is good but its out of my price range.

 

[Woodsy]

I was not aware that IR photography, or more to the point, the quality of IR photography was lens dependent. Obviously I know a good lens from a bad one in terms of optics, image quality etc, but I was unaware that some lenses produce better IR shots than others?!

I shall most likely stand corrected however, and if so, without wishing to hijack the thread, could someone point out some good Nikon lenses for the same purpose?

 

[RobertP]

Doesn't make a lot of sense but some lenses are better than others at IR. You get flare hot spots with some lenses.

I've tried with the kit lens and it wasn't very good for IR but did not give a hot spot - just too soft. My 50 1.4 works best and has a slight hot spot but not enough to be a problem.

Sorry not tried wide angle

 

[minimeeze]

Hoodi has produced some fab IR shots, but I can't remember whether they were with the Sigma 12-24 or 15-30 I'm sure he will be along soon enough to correct me

 

[Steep]

The problem with some lenses stems from the coatings that they have on the surface. It creates a hot spot (a very bright burned out area) in the centre of the image when a shot is taken through an IR filter.

As far as I know all Sigma lenses should be fine, some Canon lenses are not, don't know about Nikon ones.

 

[Hoodi]

I use a Sigma 15-30 for most of my IR stuffs, yes.
But it's big, bulky & unruly - I like that, a lot of people wouldn't.

It's worth noting that if you're using a lens which creates hotspots, stopping down should aleviate this some.

Dunno if you're shooting Nikon or not, but if you are & don't mind using manual lenses, I really like the Nikon E series for IR. They have pretty naff coatings to begin with, making them lovely for IR - but for a double whammy effect the coatings are pretty easy to remove, too
plus they're dirt cheap. Lovely.

The fact that they won't meter with all but the most expensive bodies is a moot point, as the cameras metering will be next to useless. Same goes with them being MF, too...

 

[RobertP]

Impressive kit list in your sig there Hoodi

 

[trip]

i was toying with the idea of a 15-30 before i even started doing ir, will wait to find a cheap second hand one though. really annoying thing is that 2 of these sold on ebay for less than £150 last week.