Nikon D90 And Infrared

IanC

IanC

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Hello everyone! Can anyone tell me if the Nikon D90 is any good with Infrared? Apparently it isnt according to some views on the internet but I was wondering if anyone could confirm this for me.?

I was thinking of getting a Hoya R72 but dont want to waste my money!

Thanks for any help.
 
you can check if any IR gets through the "hotmirror" over the sensor by setting the camera to a long exposure time (say 5 seconds) then going into a darkened room with the camera and a TV remote control. Point the remote at the lens, press the shutter release, then press a key or two on the remote. If you get light dots on the recorded image, then IR is passing through the hotmirror and you will get a picture if you use a IR filter over the lens. Your exposure times will vary depending on how good the hotmirror is at blocking IR,the better the mirror is, the longer your exposures will be. I wasn't sure how well my EOS-450D would work, so I bought a cheaper IR filter from fleabay - from this place iirc
 
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=infrared&cm=nikon/d90
Seems ok to me.
Exposure times for nearly all modern cameras with infrared are extremely long but I don't know if the D90 is different to any of the rest. You'll certainly need a tripod.

Also check your lenses. Not all of their coatings are "black" to infrared and so internal reflections can cause fogging or 'hotspots'
 
TheBigYin said:
you can check if any IR gets through the "hotmirror" over the sensor by setting the camera to a long exposure time (say 5 seconds) then going into a darkened room with the camera and a TV remote control. Point the remote at the lens, press the shutter release, then press a key or two on the remote. If you get light dots on the recorded image, then IR is passing through the hotmirror and you will get a picture if you use a IR filter over the lens. Your exposure times will vary depending on how good the hotmirror is at blocking IR,the better the mirror is, the longer your exposures will be. I wasn't sure how well my EOS-450D would work, so I bought a cheaper IR filter from fleabay - from this place iirc
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply

How did you get on with the cheap filter?
 
The Matt said:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=infrared&cm=nikon/d90
Seems ok to me.
Exposure times for nearly all modern cameras with infrared are extremely long but I don't know if the D90 is different to any of the rest. You'll certainly need a tripod.

Also check your lenses. Not all of their coatings are "black" to infrared and so internal reflections can cause fogging or 'hotspots'
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, theres some decent stuff on there. :thumbs:
 
You'll probably find that you need to do 20-30 seconds or even longer with a D90. The best Nikons for IR are the old ones, D50, D70, D70s - those from the D80 on are pretty poor for it.
 
Apart from needing longer exposures I take it that the D90 will produce perfectly good ir images?
 
It depends... If Nikon decided to stick an IR stop filter on top of the sensor, then it wont be that great at all. As FITP said, the best bodies for it are the D50, 70 and 70s. I can vouch for the D50 as well.
 
I have a D40 which I will I think im going to use instead.

Has anyone used a cokin P007 infrared filter?

I think they work out a bit cheaper than a Hoya r72 even with the neccesary p holder and adaptor.
 
I've used the Cokin P007 filter in the past. It has a NM rating of around 665 (weak), which basically means it will let through a fair amount of visible light. The higher the NM rating the more IR wavelengths are blocked.

Just one word of warning if you do use the Cokin P007, don't use it in the Cokin (square) holder. This holder leaks light and your shots will be ruined by flare. I cut mine down and made it fit in a round screw-in filter, worked a treat after that.

Best of Luck
 
All DSLR's have an IR block filter on the sensor, removing it is the only way to get good IR shots really.

A lot of astronomers do this or have it done to their DSLR's for astrophotography use and there are specialist firms that will do the work.
To use in the normal way you then create a custom white balance profile to counteract the colour cast.
 
I don't know if there is an issue with lenses when you are using an IR filter, but there definately is when using a modded IR camera.
 
Ooops, I forgot to mention that auto focus hates the sensor mod.
 
IanC said:
I have a D40 which I will I think im going to use instead.

Has anyone used a cokin P007 infrared filter?

I think they work out a bit cheaper than a Hoya r72 even with the neccesary p holder and adaptor.
Click to expand...
I use a D40 with the Hoya R72 and the 18-55mm kit. Works a treat in bright sunshine. Usually I lose about 6-7 stops in sensitivity.
 
To be fair I've used both, converted and non-converted cameras and never had a problem with focusing issues. In fact, the Coolpix 995 I converted myself is sharper now after removing the hot filter.

Personally, I would experiment with your D40 over your D90. If I remember correctly the D40 shares the same sensor as the D50 (6mp), which is of great benefit as its far more sensitive to IR than the D90.
 
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