Christoph Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 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: Orange-X1: Link to comment
colinbm Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 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 ? Link to comment
Christoph Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 From my experience the D70 is overall the best IR camera that I've ever used... 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 )... 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 Link to comment
colinbm Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Thanks Christoph, have to see if I have a orange #16.... Link to comment
Christoph Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 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 Link to comment
Christoph Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 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... Link to comment
colinbm Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 So you are effectively photographing with only the right half of the X1. Link to comment
Christoph Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 So you are effectively photographing with only the right half of the X1. Now I understand... Yeah, it kind of cuts the X1's curve... I sketched it here: The best Aerochrome emulation so far? -Hidden Realms Link to comment
colinbm Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Stacking Green X1 with Orange #16 will give you this to photograph with....? Link to comment
Christoph Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 Yes! 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... Link to comment
colinbm Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Have you tried longer & shorter yellow & orange long pass filters...? Link to comment
Christoph Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 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... Link to comment
colinbm Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 I'll prayer for some sunshine tomorrow. Link to comment
Christoph Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 Good luck--, if you need any help/advice, let me know Link to comment
Andrea B. Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 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. Link to comment
colinbm Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Bit of a heavy day....X1 + OG550 channel swapped to GBR. Link to comment
nfoto Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 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. Link to comment
Christoph Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 Bit of a heavy day....X1 + OG550 channel swapped to GBR. 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. Link to comment
colinbm Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 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. Link to comment
Christoph Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 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 700200 Green: 1500-100 Blue: 7070-100 Link to comment
colinbm Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Thanks Christoph, this will give me something to think about......will try. Link to comment
Christoph Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share Posted May 19, 2021 What would a custom camera be without custom paint? Link to comment
Christoph Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 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... Link to comment
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