First test with Hoya R72

[Stefano]

Hi,

I bought a Hoya R72 filter (49 mm). Finally I can shoot infrared properly.

 

Camera: Full spectrum Panasonic DMC-F3.

 

F-stop: f/2.8, ISO 80, 1/125 s exposure.

 

F-stop: f/2.8, ISO 80, 1/50 s exposure.

 

Did I underexpose? I feel like they are a bit dark. Today was a rainy day, I hope the next ones will be sunny.

[Andy Perrin]

Yeah, a bit dark. You should post process them and adjust contrast and brightness.

[Andrea B.]

Hoya R72 is one of my favorite IR filters. I've always liked its blue.

 

You need a bit more exposure time. Those are between 1-2 stops underexposed.

---

 

Omg, I do miss Italy!! Palms next to pines. We had planned to go for a visit in May but of course could not travel due to the pandemic.

[Stefano]

Now that I think about it, it's quite strange that we have both types of trees together. Can't you find them together in the US (in some state with a climate similar to ours)?

[Andy Perrin]

Brighten up that selfie and you can set your profile picture!

[Stefano]

I will try to shoot other photos tomorrow. Still raining here...

[Andrea B.]

Can't you find them together in the US (in some state with a climate similar to ours)?

 

Palms and pines together would likely be found in California somewhere that it does not freeze.

[nfoto]

To answer your question: yes, these images are severely underexposed. Somewhere between 1 and 2 stops, likely nearer the latter than the former.

 

Agree with Andy, you now have material for making a smashing avatar.

 

By thte way, conifers and palm trees can be found in many areas also outside the Mediterranean. Places in the UK or New Zealand come to mind.

[Stefano]

Tomorrow I will play with this filter again, and I will try to shoot some other properly exposed selfies. I want to see an orange sky. Also, I love how my hair becomes blue. It means that they reflect longer wavelengths more than the shorter ones (IR false colors are very similar to UV ones). Hoya R72 seems to start transmitting just below 700 nm, while RG715 starts a bit before, even at 3 mm.

[bvf]

Stefano - did you use auto-exposure on the camera? I find I need to set +1 or +2 stops of exposure compensation when using auto-exposure for IR or UV.

[Cadmium]

Stefano, If you have Photoshop, toss those in there and do an auto levels, that should make them look a bit more dynamic.

If not, then some other programs will have something like that.

[dabateman]

Great Stefano,

The R72 was my gateway drug into the invisible photography world when I bought one in 2008. All down hill from there.

Have fun and try to make the leaves pop a little more.

Next you will want a better camera.

[Stefano]

Stefano - did you use auto-exposure on the camera? I find I need to set +1 or +2 stops of exposure compensation when using auto-exposure for IR or UV.

I can't set the exposure time manually, but I can set the exposure between -2 and +2. Then the camera does what she wants.

[Stefano]

Great Stefano,

The R72 was my gateway drug into the invisible photography world when I bought one in 2008. All down hill from there.

Have fun and try to make the leaves pop a little more.

Next you will want a better camera.

I need better equipment, that's for sure. I still see that ~960 nm absorption line with this filter, that's probably my lens. Still, I have to shoot at least two photos in a row keeping the button pressed in multishot mode, because in the first photo of any row the colors are less vivid. This camera is quite strange. Everytime I shoot a video, it also saves the first frame as a photo. If I change ISO, it changes colors... well, for now it's better than nothing.

[Stefano]

Stefano, If you have Photoshop, toss those in there and do an auto levels, that should make them look a bit more dynamic.

If not, then some other programs will have something like that.

I have Lightroom, maybe I can use that.

[enricosavazzi]

Stefano - did you use auto-exposure on the camera? I find I need to set +1 or +2 stops of exposure compensation when using auto-exposure for IR or UV.

That is exactly what I find with my full spectrum Sony A7 II. I need to set the camera exposure compensation to +1 2/3, and the flash compensation (either on the radio master or on the slave AD200 flash) to +2.

The A7 II is my first camera that needs compensation in A mode in UV and IR. None of my previous full-spectrum cameras (Nikon, Panasonic, Olympus) did.

[Stefano]

As promised, I'm back. I am rewriting this reply, since my computer had a bug while I was writing it, and it self-restarted (cosmic ray?)

 

Anyway, today the sun came out, but there are still clouds in the sky, just the right amount. I like them, since they stand out in IR, as the sky becomes dark.

 

All photos taken at ISO 200. The focal length was always 5 mm, if not otherwise noted.

 

I tried a selfie again, but there was too much light, and I couldn't keep my eyes very open. Should I retry it in a cloudy, overcast day?

 

F-stop: f/2.8, 1/800 s exposure.

 

F-stop: f/7.1, 1/400 s exposure.

 

F-stop: f/7.1, 1/640 s exposure.

 

F-stop: f/7.1, 1/500 s exposure.

 

F-stop: f/7.1, 1/500 s exposure.

 

See that church in the distance? I have a strong “bond” with it. I don’t believe in God, and I never got inside it. I went to the surrounding garden for the first time less than a year ago. I didn’t live here until three years ago, I lived a few kilometers away, and I always attended another church when I was a child. But...

 

My grandparents lived very close to this church, maybe 100 m away (they are still alive, don’t worry). I still remember when I was 5 years old, and I heard the bells ring, and I could see them moving from a window in my grandparents house. The sound didn’t change, it is still exactly the same.

 

This church is also very old. The bell tower was built in the XI Century, so it is ~1,000 years old. In the year 1570, Giovan Francesco Bonomi, delegated to the Pope, ordered to paint the front red. In the year 2000, the red color was ripristinated, so it is still red today. I already photographed this church in UV and UV+IR, but never in IR-only.

 

F-stop: f/2.8, 1/400 s exposure.

 

F-stop: f/7.1, 1/160 s exposure.

 

F-stop: f/7.1, 1/400 s exposure.

 

F-stop: f/7.1, 1/200 s exposure.

 

F-stop: f/6.2, 1/320 s exposure. 20 mm focal length.

 

F-stop: f/7.1, 1/250 s exposure.

 

F-stop: f/6.2, 1/500 s exposure. 20 mm focal length.

 

F-stop: f/7.1, 1/400 s exposure.

[colinbm]

Fantastic Stefano, I love IR & these are good thanks, you will learn to do other things with them.....

PS, the cyan in the clouds is over-exposure.

[Stefano]

Fantastic Stefano, I love IR & these are good thanks, you will learn to do other things with them.....

PS, the cyan in the clouds is over-exposure.

Thank you Colin.

Yes, you are right about the clouds. I have to choose whether overexposing the clouds to correctly expose the scene or do the opposite. I wish I had more dynamic range...

[Stefano]

I want to add that I didn't change my in-camera white balance, which I set yesterday with a cloudy weather. Does the weather change colors a bit?

[colinbm]

The overcast clouds block IR....

[Andy Perrin]

Those look fantastic. The church is very interesting. Could you also shoot a visible light photo so we can compare? I do think that if you can get Lightroom to brighten these up, the exposures will be sufficient. I would choose to make the clouds correctly exposed because my experience with cheap cameras is that they preserve more detail in the shadows than the highlights.

 

It is understood that we all have to work within the capabilities of our equipment, however frustrating!

[Andrea B.]

Anytime the light (UV, Vis, IR) changes (increases, decreases, change in angle of illumination, change in altitude, change in location, etc.), the preset white balance may need to be reset. For IR, a preset WB is reasonably "stable", in my experience. But when working in documentary mode, I always carry the appropriate white standard and reset the preset often.

 

Stefano, there must be an exposure compensation setting on that camera. Yes? No? In automatic mode, the cam is not always going to give you the proper exposure under the R72. They look better than yesterday. But sometimes you need EX+.

 

The photos are looking good though. IR brings a certain magic to a scene. I really really love the palm trees in IR. One of my favorite photos is of palms in a California desert made when Birna was visiting for the Wildflower Safari 2012.

[Stefano]

I can also try to modify them with the built-in editor in my android smartphone on in the Windows photo viewer. If I only have to increase the brightness a bit they should work fine.

[Stefano]

Could you also shoot a visible light photo so we can compare?

I will do it.