I have been experimenting with a Canon Powershot G5 with a Hoya R72
filter for "creative" (as opposed to "scientific") IR photography.
( Example:
http://folk.uio.no/gisle/photo/ir.html )
The Canon G5 is IR sensitive, but not very much. Typical
exposure times in bright sunlight is 1 second at f/2.0. I am
not happy with the results. The long exposure time makes the
images noisy and less than sharp. It also means that a tripod
is mandatory.
I am therefore thinking about getting a second (cheap) camera to
be used for IR photography. I understand that "older" digital
cameras, such as Canon Powershot G1 and Nikon Coolpix 775 had
poorer "hot mirror" IR blocking filters than more recent
models - so my plan is to get a second-hand 2 or 3 Mpx camera to
be used mainly for shooting IR.
I hope to find a camera that is sensitive enough to IR (or near IR) to
allow me to stop down to f/5.6 or f/8 and shoot at 1/60 second or less
in bright sunlight with a Hoya R72 or Wratten 88A filter in place.
The problem: Does such a camera exist?
I know Sony DSC-f707 and DSC-f717 (with the "nightshot" mode) are
suitable - but these are 5 Mpx cameras and quite expensive second
hand, and I don't like the way Sony has crippled nightshot mode.
I am looking for alternatives to the Sonys. Are there any of the
previous generation 2 and 3 Mpx P&S that bad enough IR blocking filter
to allow them to be used at (say) f/5.6 and 1/60 sec. with an IR-pass
filter in place?
--
- gisle hannemyr [ gisle{at}hannemyr.no -
http://folk.uio.no/gisle/ ]
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