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UltravioletPhotography

Sony NEX-5N (monochrome) for UV/IR


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At night, with nobody around, I sneaked out and grabbed a few of them for my own nefarious purposes.

 

I imagine you all in UV black, sneaking across the road with high note piano music.

 

Here is 100% crops of the two side by side.

 

post-2-0-26141100-1584289141.jpg

 

Do note these pictures were taken with two different samples of the UV-Nikkor and focused separately, so this comparison should not be directly pixel-peeped.

 

No can do, I zoomed right in to look at them. The Sony looks great and reignited my desire for a monochrome camera. But the colors of the Nikon win me over. I think I would use monochrome with many filters to always pump out a UV color image.

 

There is no free lunch for UV either.

 

What! You will no longer be serving hot dogs and maybe meat burgers for lunch at the non-annual UV forum luncheon?

I will miss those imaginary get togethers.

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Black attire rarely comes out pure black in UV ... However, as I live in a rural area, getting the window of opportunity to sneak outside is easy after nightfall.

 

Do remember the flowers are organic creatures thus they tend to move or wilt if photography takes to long to accomplish.

 

I did a quick search and to my pleasure found suitable adapters for my NEX-5N to allow putting a flash trigger or PocketWizard on it. That way I can utilise my heavy-duty Broncolor studio flashes with uncoated Xenon tubes which output loads of UV. I ordered it shipped from the UK in the hope they have stocks and don't rely on refilling from the Chinese, which otherwise would constitute a bottleneck in these Covid-19 times.

 

Any "free lunch" here would be grilled or smoked salmon at best. I try to keep away from meat. Anyone from our UVP community is most welcome to join.

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By the way, here are the setup I used for the comparison shots. The Sony leaves plenty of room for rear-mounting a filter when the lens is in F-mount .... These UV-Nikkors have served me well over decades of heavy use, by the way. The oldest is from 1991, the other about 10 years "younger". I fear new lenses in general are not made to withstand similar use these days.

 

U202003164156_UV-Nikkors.jpg

 

Now, if only I could find a remote control for the NEX that allowed me to control the camera by a Stackshot controller, I would be happy.

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I imagine you all in UV black, sneaking across the road with high note piano music.

 

Yes !! And I love the high note piano music accompaniment !! Great image.

 

******

 

I'm also getting more interested in a UV monochrome cam. But I have never completed my experiments with the Leica Monochrome which did seem to be OK for UV, although I'm not at all sure how low it can go.

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One of my current favourite lenses on the Sony NEX-5N monochrome is the Voigtländer 25mm f/4 SC Skopar. It is tiny by today's standards, yet beautifully built and blends perfectly in with the overall impression of the small NEX-5N body. Handling is easy as there is an extra add-on knurled ring for setting the distance. Focusing is swift and precise on the lens, but the focus peaking on the NEX isn't accurate enough so one frequently has to switch over to an enlargement mode, which is implemented in an awkward fashion by Sony.

 

Apart from its minimum focused distance of 0.9m, like other rangefinder-era lenses, I find little to complain about with this Scopar. Stephen Gandy on his web site claims only 600 of these lenses were made by Cosina in Japan, yet I found easily a mint sample by simple eBay search and paid less than 200$ for it as well.

 

Childhood's End

 

S202003210648_childhoods_end_CV_25mmf4_NEX5-Nmonochrome.jpg

 

The above is a heavily cropped infrared image and really shows why this 25mm lens is so endearing to me.

 

I haven't tried it for UV, but will do later when (if?) the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted and/or more sunlight becomes available. Still very early in the Season over here and snow still can be seen in some places. Given the complex optical formula off the 25/4 and it being multicoated, my hopes for it as a UV lens are pretty low.

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  • 1 month later...

One occasionally can get outside the front door to take a pot shot at the dandelions, now slowly coming into bloom around here. We still have cold nights with temperatures dropping below the freezing point thus Spring is hesitant.

 

I played with the really ancient Micro-Nikkor 5.5cm f/3.5 from the early '60s on my NEX-5N. The combination does UV surprisingly well, although it never will replace the functionality and performance of the Coastal 60mm f/(4 APO. I intend to test the 5.5cm lens further, though, even going to the step of using the camera on a tripod.

 

No sunshine today, but no rain either thus I got a few shots with the 5.5cm Nikkor and the SUNEX Fisheye 5.6mm f/5.6 lens.

 

E202004300723.jpg

 

Yes, I know the NEX-5N is monochrome, but in itself that will not guarantee the outcome is likewise !! Hand-holding the camera with exposure 1/6 sec at ISO 400 is a recipe for unsharp images, however who cares, Neither I nor the dandelions did.

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That is very artistic Birna

 

Sometimes it's hard to resist ....

 

However, lest anyone think the SUNEX only makes nice dandelion shots, here is another test example to indicate its UV potential. Again hand-held 1/20 sec ISO 400 with the NEX-5N Monochrome.

 

T202004300720_UV_Sunex_Fisheye5,6mmf5,6_BaaderU_NEX-5NMonochome.jpg

 

I set the focus to approx. 20 cm distance this time, as this is a pretty good balance point between getting up close, and having a reasonable depth of field. Setting focus is a little awkward as basically the SUNEX is a fix-focus lens and one has to loosen grub screws in the casing to adjust its focus. Unlike visible light and IR, in UV the SUNEX does show quite pronounced field curvature (in addition to the "fisheye effect"). Thus one should put the main subject towards the centre of the frame for best rendition.

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dabateman

You should paint those toe nails. I wonder if different nail polish have different appearances in UV.

Have a secret UV message.

Could add to an interesting shot.

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Nail polish is no-no in the C-19 epoch according to authorities. Makes cleaning your extremities less effective. Thus this will have to wait, I'm afraid.
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The NEX-5N Monochrome is not equally sensitive in IR, which was anticipated. Still no problem shooting IR hand-held with B+W 093 (Wratten 87C equivalent if memory serves).

 

S202005060760.jpg

 

The tiny Voigtländer 25 mnm f/4 Scopar SC continues to deliver even in IR. It's very sharp and there is absolutely no hot spot. It can be tricky to focus wide lenses on the EVF mirrorless camera, but that goes with the territory I suppose.

 

The first photo was taken when I was patiently waiting for the contrasting scenery below,

 

S202005060763.jpg

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That boat has been stripped of everything except fibre-glass......when does it hit the water....?
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Another example with the NEX-5N monochrome and the Voigtländer 85mm f/3.5 APO-Lanthar S. IR.

 

My girlfriend Ruth and I are navigating a dense and partially impenetrable riparian forest along River Glåma, in the vicinity of my new home outside Oslo. As usual Ruth leads the way along a hidden path. The riparian forests here are flooded on a regular basis and that makes them pretty inaccessible with lots of windfalls, trunks undercut by currents, lush vegetation, and what have you. This picture was taken in a forest patch less dense than most other areas. Quite refreshing nature this close to the capital of Oslo in fact.

 

S202005090801_riparian_forest_CV85mmf3,5APO-LantharS_NEX-5NMonochrome.jpg

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Wow excellent harsh photo.

The details even here are excellent, after the website software touches it.

 

Glad your back out moving around.

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Moving around with extreme care and using a mask if need be. The "social distancing" aspect is easier to implement in my neck of the woods.

 

However, doing photography with a mask over your face is not my favourite approach :sad:

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I enjoyed so much my walk with Ruth along the River Glåma. It was beautiful. And I found many wildflowers along the way.
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The NEX-5N is good for IR. One gets almost a "genuine" Kodak HIE feeling about the images produced.

 

S202005190817_World_of_HIE_830IR_25CVf4_NEX-5NMonochrome.jpg

 

Am example from today, a snapshot from my porch with the 25mm f/4 Voigtländer Skopar SC and the B+W 093 filter.

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  • 7 months later...

Same view, but now in wintertime. We had a very long and wet "pseudo-winter" so far, but last week snow arrived and with it, the cold so typical of a Nordic winter. Today it is -17C and I don't envy the young lady walking her dog. On a tangential note, I snapped the photo because of the dog as we have a saying here of "bikkjekaldt" which is the exact opposite of the English "hot dog".

 

Handheld at ISO 1600, 1/30 sec, if memory serves, f/8, using the W-Nikkor 3.5cm f/3.5 rangefinder lens for the late '50s on the NEX-5N.

 

S202101060954.jpg

 

Despite my hands shaking in the biting cold, the image came out with a pleasant crispness. This Nikkor is not amongst those old lenses transmitting UV into the very "deep" range, but obviously it suffices to give a nice UV snapshot. What more can one wish for (except for less cold weather) ?

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There are tell-tale signs. For example, the very visible frost patterns on the housing walls. These are not visible to the naked eye.
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