Greetings from London!

[josh]

Greetings from London!

 

My name is Josh and I am fascinated about revealing the hidden worlds around us using optics. I'm a passionate photographer and I love using medium format, and obscure cameras. By trade I am a film maker who is still cutting his teeth,

 

Currently I am working on a project to capture a rainbow in its full glory - UV/ Vis/ IR and in video using three aligned cameras, mounted in a similar way to filming in 3D - if anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear from you!

 

Apart from that, I am looking forward to learning more about this fascinating arm of photography!

 

I look forward to meeting you,

Josh

[bvf]

Hi, Josh. Welcome to this forum.

 

When you say "three aligned cameras", are you talking stills or movie/video? From what you say about yourself I was expecting the answer to be movie/video, but a rainbow seems an odd subject for that!

 

A numbe of people on this forum (inc. myself) have done full-spectrum images covering UV + Vis + IR - but I suspect everyone did this by taking serial shots on the same camera with a filter change in between.

 

Anyway, what you are doing sounds fascinating. I suggest you describe the equipment you are using and your technique in more detail, and I'm sure you'll get as much comment as you can shake a stick at.

 

Regards,

 

Bernard (about 30 miles away from you).

[dabateman]

Getting a rainbow in multi spectral sounds fun. I have missed many.

Eka got some excellent shots here:

https://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php/topic/3205-a-double-rainbow/page__hl__rainbow__fromsearch__1

 

Bernard is a 3D expert, and has posted some amazing images here.

 

All the best in your discoveries.

[nfoto]

Most welcome to our small, yet capable and friendly forum.

[josh]

Thanks everyone

 

I can't believe I missed Eka's rainbow shots in the past - they are the best I have seen so far - very crisp!

 

Bernard, the set-up I am currently looking at using will involve three A7SII's mounted next to one another on a bar and the video images will be aligned as best as possible using a 3D monitor. All of this needs testing of course.

 

Trying to find three, rare matching lenses that were built at the around the same time is proving to be the biggest challenge but I am thinking of trying the following lenses to test how well they transmit UV/IR:

 

Leica R MK2 19mm

 

Leica R E55 1.4

 

Nikon 1.8 AIS 50mm (with three screws on the back)

 

Nikon 105mm 2.5 (7 blade iris and three screws on the back)

 

Sigma 35mm art 1.4 DG

 

I've looked at the incredible database of UV lenses on the forum and I can only identify the Nikon 50mm has been tested on my list. Has anyone had any experience of using any of the others?

 

As for filters, I am still trying to work that out. I am looking at a set of IR filters from Kolari but I am struggling with deciding to use two filters combined for UV, or an 'all in one version'. Many of the 'all in one' filters seem to be very small (50mm<) but it's certainly an adventure exploring which ones- what would your dream set-up be?

 

Best,

Josh

 

 

Hi, Josh. Welcome to this forum.

 

When you say "three aligned cameras", are you talking stills or movie/video? From what you say about yourself I was expecting the answer to be movie/video, but a rainbow seems an odd subject for that!

 

A numbe of people on this forum (inc. myself) have done full-spectrum images covering UV + Vis + IR - but I suspect everyone did this by taking serial shots on the same camera with a filter change in between.

 

Anyway, what you are doing sounds fascinating. I suggest you describe the equipment you are using and your technique in more detail, and I'm sure you'll get as much comment as you can shake a stick at.

 

Regards,

 

Bernard (about 30 miles away from you).

[bvf]

Nice cameras! I'm using an A6000 for UV/IR - and only one of them!

 

There are people with a lot more in depth knowledge than me, so maybe they'll be along later to input their views. But here are mine ...

 

I suspect those lenses may be too modern to be brilliant for UV. But as in another discussion on this forum, there are other factors than penetration into the UV spectrum or amount of UV passed that might be important to you - like image quality or minimal focus shift. So go ahead and try out your lenses to see if they work for you - and make sure to tell the forum what you find.

 

If these lenses work, they'll probably just be passing longer-wavelength UV. If you want to reach deeper into the UV you can try finding 3 matched specialised UV lenses - but the cost will make your eyes water - or you could go down the route of getting vintage lenses that are known to be UV-friendly. My favourite is the Cassar S, which can get below 320nm. But you're unlikely to find 3 of these. So your best bet would be the Kuribayashi 35mm/f3.5 clones. You might be able to get 3 of these - Igor , who is present on this forum and sells on ebay as igororiginal, specialises in selling these, and may be able to find you 3 matched ones.

 

In terms of filters, I started off with a U340+S8612 sandwich, and that worked fine. But then I changed to a Baader U, which lets more light through and seems to be sharper. However, be aware that although these filters let most of the UVA spectrum through you will probably only be recording images in the longer wavelength end because the camera is a lot less sensitive at the shorter wavelength end, the lens probably lets less through here, and there is probably less light around at the shorter wavelengths. (This is one of the reasons I tried full false colour UV - which is described in another post. One of the things I found is that it needs around 50-100 times more exposure to make an image at 320nm than to make one at 380nm.) So depending on what you want to do, using a lens that doesn't dig too deep into the UV spectrum may be OK for you.

 

Omega optics sells a lot of specialised filters, allowing you to select which bit of the UV spectrum you want to work on. I used three of their filters for my full colour work. Omega has an ebay shop at http://www.ebaystores.co.uk/BJOMEJAG-EBUYER-STORE

[JMC]

Welcome to the forum Josh.

 

With regards to 3 lenses, there are relatively cheap options. I would not recommend 3 of the 'Kuri clones' such as the Igor ones (I have one of his and to be honest I'm not blown away by it). 3 of the 35mm f3.5 Soligors would be cheap and good for uv and visible (not sure about ir but that can be tested easily). And they are readily available on eBay.

[bvf]

I tested a number of lenses a couple of years ago for for UV transmission and UV reach. The Cassar S and Kuri clone came way out ahead of the others (inc. some on the forum list - like a Biotar and Tele Ennalyt 135mm). I couldn't tell much difference between the Cassar S and the Kuri clone - in some tests one seemed to have the edge, and in other tests the other had its nose in front. I know the Cassar S is one of the best non-specialist lenses for UV - the serial number on mine is just a few away from one that was reported in a document on the forum as going down to 315nm, and my work on full-colour UV shows that I can make images at around 320nm, perhaps a tad lower.

 

So my Kuri clone example is probably performing similarly to that. However, I rarely use it - I feel the Cassar is better optically.

 

Out of interest I just looked for Soligor 35mm/f3.5 on ebay, and you are right that there are plenty about - for around £30. (There are also a few f/2.8 ones, which I believe are not desirable in the UV context.)

[bvf]

Had an idle browse on ebay just now, and there are plenty of Cassar S lenses available! Two reasonably priced ones in the UK (plus one for parts only), a ridiculously highly priced one in France (although it is a 204... serial number, which seems to be the bee's knees in getting down to 315nm), plus one in Lithuania that comes with an Edixa Flex camera (M42 mount) at an OK price.

 

So if you're interested in the Cassar S and you want three of them - now's your moment!

[josh]

Thankyou so much for the advice everyone!!! I'm a away off realising the dream but this will no doubt help me with my mission!

 

Best regards

[Timber]

HI Josh,

 

good to see more and more Londoner on these forums... we're almost ready for the first UV Shooters Pub Night! :D

 

Where about in London? E4 here :)

 

Pete