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UltravioletPhotography

Self-converted Nikon D70 & Aerochrome test


Christoph

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I bought a cheap used Nikon D70 and removed the IR cut filter. This is relatively easy even for someone like me who's all thumbs. The problem is at most that you have so some trouble with the focus shift. But when I use f/11, everything comes out as sharp as it should be. Here are some impressions with two Aerochrome styles. 1. Lee 115 plus GRB3 and 2. with Orange-X1 combo and subsequent channel swap. I still think that the Nikon D70 is an excellent camera that is best suited for IR photography.

 

Lee 115 plus GRB3:

 

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Orange-X1:

 

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All great photos Christoph.

What makes the Nikon D70, the best for IR ?

Did you replace the hot mirror with quartz ?

What is this Orange-X1 combo please ?

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From my experience the D70 is overall the best IR camera that I've ever used... :smile: The camera has great grip and is robust, it's so easy to make good photos, all the lenses work great, battery-time is great --> I can take it to the mountains and never worry about a second battery... And I've read that it has some of the best IR sensitivity in all Nikons which seems to be true --- I can only compare to what I know: Nikon D7200, Nikon D3200, Sigma SD1--- SD1 has so many problems (such a diva this cam :grin:)... Nikon D7200 is kind of too small for my hands, too many functions for me, battery life is not good, and honestly, I sometimes can't see a big difference between 36mp images of D7200 and the 6mp images of the D70. Nikon D70 produces crystal clear images, has nice grain --> I claim that I can tell if a photo was taken with a Nikon D70 or not. I don't have that with other cameras. So there is something special about the picture. Maybe it's the grain.

 

I didn't replace the hot mirror with anything. I simply removed it and then reassembled the camera. This can cause problems (focus, protection from dust) etc.... But it was a try and so far I had fast and clean results. With f/11... used two Nikon lenses (50mm f/1.8 and a manual Nikon 28mm f/2.8)

 

Orange-X1 is just the Hoya Green X1 with an Tiffen Orange 16

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The Nikon D70 is probably the easiest to DIY convert. It was a first for me: Required about 20 minutes to do it... But only because I had to re-check the ribon cables... so if you do it 2, 3 times, you can probably do this in 10 minutes... Life Pixel - Nikon D70 & D70s DIY Digital Infrared Conversion Tutorial - Infrared Conversions, IR Modifications & Photography Tutorials | Life Pixel IR
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Thanks Christoph, have to see if I have a orange #16....

 

Don't go deeper than Orange 16, maybe Tiffen yellow 12 will work also...

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Yes! :smile: SOOC you will have IR in all channels.... most in B - there is only IR... But if you then set about -30 in the blue tones (Color mixer) in the PS Raw converter, and then swap the channels (B->R, R->G and G->B) you will get the result above...
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I tried a darker orange (I think it was 21)... Won't work well... Vegetation comes out too uniform and pink, sky too green. I'd guess that everything between yellow 12 and orange 16 works...
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Christoph, a good example of photos from an old DSLR, the D70. In lots of light (to lessen potential noise), the D70 did/does make lovely photos.

 

I always thought that the D300 also had a beautiful "draw" in IR.

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I too have fond memories of the D70 from times now lost. However, the modifed D40x was a big leap up the quality ladder. Its UV response is top notch.
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Christoph

Bit of a heavy day....

X1 + OG550 channel swapped to GBR.

 

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The praying apparently did not help ;-) Is this only with channel swap? You need to adjust the blue tones first. It’s really nuances. The X1 makes (as opposed to just orange) the output colors darker (because less IR) and the effect of shifts in the Color Mixer (Adobe raw) become much more effective.

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Yes only channel swapped to GBR.

I'll see what I can get, I only have Ninja & SPP.

I use IrfanView to do the swaps & save for web.

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Christoph

Maybe you can get to the goal with just entering values in the channel mixer. I used those for video... in-camera WB 2500 K, then

 

Red

 

70

0

200

 

Green:

 

150

0

-100

 

Blue:

 

70

70

-100

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  • 3 weeks later...

Some shots with my self-converted "Aerochrome" (X1 + Orange 15) Nikon D70... would love to attach the filters into the camera itself, unfortunately there's no gel or polyester X1 Green filter that has the same properties as the glass filter by Hoya... And you probably can't install that thick piece of glass...

 

 

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