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Hi there!

I am Shamali from India. I am a botanist and just entering the field of UV photography. I aim to work on UV reflectance of flowers. I use a Sony a6000 camera. But I think will have to get a conversion done for UV photography. Your guidance would help in understanding the basics.

Thanks..

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Hi, Shamali.

 

You'll get all the information you need from this forum - there are some very knowledgeable and helpful people. I have done quite a lot of work with UV reflectance of flowers, and I'll be happy to give whatever help I can.

 

I also use an A6000, and as you say you need to get it converted to full spectrum. I can tell you of some companies that can do this in the UK, but I'm sure you will find some in India.

 

Regards,

 

Bernard.

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Hi, Shamali.

 

You'll get all the information you need from this forum - there are some very knowledgeable and helpful people. I have done quite a lot of work with UV reflectance of flowers, and I'll be happy to give whatever help I can.

 

I also use an A6000, and as you say you need to get it converted to full spectrum. I can tell you of some companies that can do this in the UK, but I'm sure you will find some in India.

 

Regards,

 

Bernard.

Hi, Shamali.

 

You'll get all the information you need from this forum - there are some very knowledgeable and helpful people. I have done quite a lot of work with UV reflectance of flowers, and I'll be happy to give whatever help I can.

 

I also use an A6000, and as you say you need to get it converted to full spectrum. I can tell you of some companies that can do this in the UK, but I'm sure you will find some in India.

 

Regards,

 

Bernard.

 

 

Hello,

Thank you so much for your willingness to guide.

Can you please let me know about the set up that you use? I am a novice and its actually confusing to read about all the technical stuff.

Thanks in advance.

 

Shamali

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Hello,

Thank you so much for your willingness to guide.

Can you please let me know about the set up that you use? I am a novice and its actually confusing to read about all the technical stuff.

Thanks in advance.

 

Shamali

 

Sure. Can you give me an idea of what you want to photograph - in particular how close you will want to get to the flowers. And whether you will be working indoors or outdoors "in the wild". What lenses do you have available?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sure. Can you give me an idea of what you want to photograph - in particular how close you will want to get to the flowers. And whether you will be working indoors or outdoors "in the wild". What lenses do you have available?

 

Hello.

So basically I am going to photograph flowers which are more than a cm in dimension. Since I would be studying the reflectance pattern, I would photograph the entire flower. How close, well it would depend on the size of the flower. I would be working both indoors and outdoors.

Right now I just use a kit lens with extension tubes. I do not have any set-up for UV photography. Also I could not locate any dealers in India who would convert the camera. So right now I am dependent on importing a camera. I have been communicating with the Kolari Vision, US guys and they are a huge help. So I think I would have to order a full -spectrum camera, UV bandpass filter, a lens favorable for UV transmission, UV light source. Did I leave anything out?

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Sounds about right. Ensure the camera has a decent LiveView functionality. For focusing you might avail yourself of a good UV-LED torch (like the NEMO or Convoy touted elsewhere on UVP).). Don't forget a sturdy tripod, and add a ColorChecker Passport or similar and some virgin PTFE for "UV white" balance. Even when the UV light source allows short exposure times, there is the need for setting up for the shot in a robust, reproducible manner. And finally, UV protective goggles.
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As nfoto says.

 

There are other providers of full-spectrum modified cameras, so if you need an alternative source of supply I can let you know of a UK supplier. Make sure that the camera shutter has a B (Bulb) setting - most have, but not all. And I find a remote control is very useful - the ones I use have the useful feature that when they are used with the shutter set to B, one click on the remote control opens the shutter, and it stays open until the next click on the remote control (like the T (Time) setting in the old days). Most camera manufacturers provide free smartphone apps. to allow a phone to be used as a remote control.

 

I don't know what sort of budget you're working to. If you can afford a modern specialised UV that's great - but you're talking about several $000's. The other approach is to get a UV-friendly vintage lens from ebay, and the relevant adapters to fit it to your camera. There is lots of advice on this on the forum. My preferred lens is a Cassar S 50mm f/2.8. These are are now expensive on ebay ($300), but a lot cheaper if you buy a camera (like an Edixa, which you can throw away) which has one fitted (but make sure it is a removable lens with an M42 thread). There are also a lot of 35mm f/3.5 lenses which work well - but not all of them will do.

 

Kolarivision can obviously provide you with filters. Otherwise, the Baader U seems to be the general filter of choice - for this you'll need filter stepping rings to adapt its 48mm filter thread to your camera. If you get a UV bandpass filter like a Hoya U-series or Chinese ZWB type, you will also need n IR-blocking filter like a Schott S8612. But I am sure Kolarivision will sort you out for this. As you get into it, you may want to get more filters with bandpass centred on specific wavelengths to see if your flowers look different.

 

Lighting can be an issue. Although I am using UV torches as a focussing aid and for fluorescence, for photographing flowers I use multiple (3 or 4) flashguns: these avoid camera shake, flower movement, and wilting of the flower. The Wansen WS560 are very cheap, but the most powerful one you can get: I have used a lot of these, and recent ones have suffered form reliability problems, so now I buy second hand Yongnuo YN560 guns, which have the same power. You'll need to remove the plastic lenses, which takes only 5 minutes. Oh - don't forget to wear UV-absorbing goggles, whatever UV light source you are using.

 

You will need to work with RAW files, so you will need to work with software than can handle these. There are various free products available - I use RawTherapee.

 

I have found it useful to combine flower photography with other techniwues such as stereo, macro, and focus stacking. There's plenty of info. on this on the forum.

 

If you're using the whole of your extension tube set such that you're getting magnifications of 1:1 or greater, it's worth getting a macro reversing ring (cheap!) to allow you to use the lens "backwards" to improve quality.

 

I think that's about it ...

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I would like to add a warning about filters. Sometimes filters or filter stacks do not eliminate IR-leakage properly.

That is true for some versions of Baader U filters and there has also been problems with filters from Kolari.

See here:https://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php/topic/3538-kolari-vision-filter-update/page__fromsearch__1

 

An all-in-one filter like the Baader is practical to handle. It is however a dichroic filter that have some issues with wider angle lenses.

 

To avoid any of that you can use an ionic type filter-stack with proper Hoya or Schott glass.

If you just want to explore the basic UV-A range there are cost effective cemented filter stacks.

Look here: https://www.ebay.com...s?_sop=16&rt=nc

The Moon U, La La U and LUV U are all good alternatives.

 

I myself prefer the flexibility to stack filters myself in many ways.

Then the best common filter is the S8612, 2mm thick.

 

A combination with that filter and a Hoya U-360, 2mm gives a filter characteristic close to Baader U but with an extremely good IR-blocking.

I have a Baader U, but most often prefer to use my ionic filter stacks.

 

Be aware that all types of glass surfaces tend to deteriorate and slowly corrode in humid condition.

Some do that faster than others and unfortunately some of the filter materials are among the more reactive.

You have to be observant and regularly clean them to keep the surface pristine. S8612 is among the sensitive ones.

 

Cleaning is easy as long as the corrosion is mild. A visual inspection every second or third month is likely enough if the filters are kept in a warm humid environment.

Where I live (Sweden) the air is rather dry indoors in the winter time and I have not seen this problem for much longer periods.

 

Even more corroded filters can be possible to save with rather simple methods.

Soaking them in 3% hydroperoxide for some time often cleans them up perfectly and doing that in a ultrasonic cleaner speeds up the cleaning.

Normally this kind of cleaning can be done without taking the filter glass out of their rings.

 

UVIROptics also sells more expensive S8612 that are AR-coated.

There is a strong possibility that those are resistant to this type corrosion.

 

Except as a happy customer I have no relation to UVIROptics.

They are just my main source of quality filters for UV.

 

It is a good idea to decide your standard filter thread.

IMHO 52mm is a good alternative as that is one of the most common diameter for available interesting filters.

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If your brave andwant to try to convert it yourself, this will guide you:

https://www.lifepixel.com/tutorials/infrared-diy-tutorials/life-pixel-sony-a6000-diy-digital-infrared-conversion-tutorial

 

You may not need any glass on top of the sensor if you only plan to do macro or flower images.

The glass helps focus correctly to infinity for landscapes.

 

Also I would recommend getting this lens:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-EL-Nikkor-1-5-6-80mm-Lens-As-Is-Y029f-/174310068217?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

 

The Nikkor el 80 is excellent for UV, will mount with tubes to any camera and is great for close up images as you intend. This copy also looks mint never used at a good price.

 

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The Nikkor el 80 is excellent for UV, will mount with tubes to any camera and is great for close up images as you intend. This copy also looks mint never used at a good price.

 

The El Nik 80mm has become my lens of choice for UV macro work. But I've found it's not as good as the Cassar S or Focotar 2 for getting down to short wavelengths.

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David, that El-Nikkor says it has "a lot of fungus and haze" which doesn't sound encouraging?

 

Ok don't buy that one. I missed that, the image looked ok

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BTW - if you get an El Nik 80, make sure it's the older type with a metal construction.

 

The El Nik 105 is also good for UV - but again, the older metal version.

 

One think to consider is what focal length you need in relation to your sensor size. If you're using an APS-C sensor, the 80mm and 105mm are lenses are getting into telephoto territory - may not be a problem, just saying ... A 35mm lens would be nearest to a standard lens (about equivalent to a 50mm lens on full-frame).

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  • 2 months later...

Hello Shamali and welcome to UVP!

I hope you were able to get your UV kit together with the above good info from the responding members. Also we have an excellent reference section STICKIES, References & Lists.

We would welcome any botanical contributions of flowers from India. (I can help with the formatting of such a post.)

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