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UltravioletPhotography

My UV & IR Kit: Andrea B.


Andrea B.

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This is my current UV/IR kit.

Most of it anyway.

30 Nov 2020

 

Cameras

  • Panasonic Lumix S1R-broadband.
    The new kid on the block. Reading the manual now. Looks promising.
  • Nikon D610-broadband
    Primary. Excellent dynamic range. Excellent high ISO capability.
    Best Live View. Easiest to use.
    .......
  • Pentax K5-broadband
    Unused. Primary for older Pentax screw-mount or M42 UV-capable lenses.
    Very good dynamic range and high ISO capability.
    Somewhat of a pain to set up for old manual lenses such as the Pentax Ultra-Achromatic-Takumar 85/4.5.
  • Sony A7R-broadband
    Unused. I wish I liked this better than I do. I think the Live View needs improvement amongst other things. And I got too many slightly OOF UV photos even with the focus peaking capability which doesn't always seem to work too well in UV or when working close.
    The buttons are too tiny. It is front-heavy with the UV-Nikkor, UAT or other long lenses. For some reason the A7R seems noisier than I thought it would be, but that might be on me not setting it up quite properly.
    ........
  • Panasonic Lumix GH1-broadband
    Retired. Good for UV video. Good for older lenses because adapters are easy to come by.
    Currently little used. Lacks dynamic range and high ISO capability.
  • Nikon D200-broadband
    Retired. OK back in its day, but no Live View, lacked dynamic range,
    was noisy, had little high ISO capability.
  • Nikon D300-broadband
    Retired. Good cam but lacks dynamic range and high ISO capability.
  • Nikon D600-broadband
    Now retired. Great images, but I got tired of that oil splatter from the shutter
    which gets all over the sensor cover glass.
  • Nikon D700-broadband
    Big mistake because its IR shutter monitor contaminated UV photos.
    Has been reconverted and sold.

.

Lenses in Use

  • Carl Zeiss 60mm f/4.0 UV-Planar
    Excellent, sharp, requires added helicoid, parfocal in UV/Vis, needs refocus in IR.
    An industrial enlarging lens.
  • Nikon 105mm f/4.5 UV-Nikkor
    Most used. Excellent, sharp, parfocal in UV/Vis, needs refocus in IR.
  • Asahi 85/4.5 Ultra-Achromatic Takumar
    Excellent, sharp enough, parfocal in UV/Vis/IR.
    May need a small bit of readjustment at close ranges.
  • Novoflex 35mm f/3.5 Noflexar
    Very good, some minor focus shift between UV/Vis and Vis/IR.
    Built in 3-stage extension for close work.
  • Coastal Optics 60mm f/4.0 UV-Vis-IR
    Excellent, sharpest of all, parfocal in UV/Vis/IR --- BUT has hotspot when working close.
    I have a love/hate relationship with this lens. It has a pesky hotspot at close range which is mostly cured by using extension tubes or a long tubular lens shade.
    I bought the lens when it first appeared and then was the unfortunate discoverer of that hotspot and returned my copy. I took a lot of heat about it all until some other prominent photographers also saw the hotspot and realized I was not just whingeing about nothing. A few years later after the extension tube or lens shade "fix" was found, I bought a used copy from Lab Rentals and tried again. Still don't find it particularly easy to prevent the hotspotting.

.

Other Very Good to Good Lenses

  • EL-Nikkor 80/5.6, 105/
  • several 35/3.5 items.

.

UV-Pass Filters

In alphabetical order

  • Baader U-Filter 2" HWB=325-369nm
  • Edmund Optics 340.10. Unusable due to extreme reflection problems.
  • Kolari Vision Kolari UV. Very nice. Slightly slower than BaaderU or StraightEdgeU.
  • Omega 340.15.
  • Uviroptics Moon Uva Miami (365.55), LaLaU (363.50). LUV-U2 (360.53). Very nice.
  • UVR Optics AndreaU Mk1, StraightEdgeU. Very nice.
  • Schott & Hoya uncoated, unclad filters for stacking: UG1, UG5, UG11, U-330, U-340, U-360

.

UV+Blue+Green

  • Uviroptics BugU3
  • Schott UG5x1.5 + Schott S8612x2.0
  • Hoya U-330x1.5 + Schott S8612x2.0

.

UV+Visible Filters:

  • Schott S8612 in various thicknesses used for IR blocking.
  • Schott BG38, BG39, BG40 in various thicknesses used mostly for test purposes.

.

UVIR-Blocking Filter

  • Baader UV/IR 2" Blocking Filter.
  • Uviroptics BG Set in various thicknesses.
    BG 38, 39, 40 and S8612.

.

IR-Pass, IR+Red, IR+Red+Orange Filters

  • B+W 092, 093, 099, RG9.
  • Uviroptics Longpass Set from 395 - 1000 nm. Terrific, very useful set.

.

UV Lighting

The UV-flash is used for reflected UV photography. The UV-LED torches are used for inducing fluorescence and for focusing aids when UV-pass filters are in use.

  • Nikon SB-140
  • Nikon SB-14 modified for UV use by Shane Elen. (2)
  • Nichia 365nm UV-LED torch, a titanium Haiku case by Don McLeish (McGizmo).
  • Nichia 385nm UV-LED torch, a titanium Haiku case by Don McLeish (McGizmo).
  • Nichia UV-LED 365/385/Visible variable power, portable lighting kit by Dr. Klaus Schmitt.
  • Convoy 365 UV-LED torch. (2)

.

Accessories:

  • Nikon GP-1 GPS
    To record the location of a botanical specimen being photographed.
  • Nikon, Pentax, Vello Remotes
    To prevent mirror slap and shutter shudder.

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Standards:

Must haves for documentary work in reflected UV, IR or UVIVF photography.

  • Labsphere Certified Spectralon Reflectance Standards (99/75/50/20/02).

  • Edmund Scientific Spectralon Reflectance Target (5x5")
    These standards and target are used to calibrate UV white balance for a standardized presentation of botanical UV photos. The Target is used also for Visible photos.

  • X-Rite ColorChecker Passport
    The CC Passport is used in Photo Ninja to create colour profiles for various camera + lens combinations. It is especially important to adjust the Visible colour produced by a modified camera when used with an external Visible-pass filter because such a filter may not accurately reproduce the camera's original colour curve under the internal filters which were removed.

  • UV Innovations UV-Grey and UV-Target for standardized fluorescence photography.

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  • 7 years later...
I need to re-test the ever growing collection of 35/3.5s. Now if only I could find my list of how-tos for lens testing. :rolleyes: :lol:
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Andrea, Can I get that in a colorized wall chart version, with lines, arrows, and picture inserts?

I actually only have two real wall charts, Rockets, and The Electromagnetic Spectrum.

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Andrea,

I look forward to your report on the S1r.

But don't update the firmware! The recent firmware is causing serious problems with S1/S1r cameras.

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thx for letting me know !!!!!

 

I'm so tired I cannot properly capitalize. signing off for the evening. :grin:

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