Infrared Photography processing

A look at Infrared (IR) photography, where I show how a modified camera can see through the dark filter, and we then look at how to process the images in Lightroom, along with creating a custom camera profile.
May 23: a new video showing the effect from different types of filter has been added: • Which infrared filter?
The profile editor can be found here:
supportdownloads.adobe.com/de... (windows)
supportdownloads.adobe.com/de... (mac)

[@ajdhill]

Thanks a lot for this. I've just had an old camera body converted and this video has been a godsend.

[@tomfoord8860]

Actually, 850nm is a LOWER frequency than 720nm. Frequency is inversely related to wavelength (nm = nanometers). Just FYI if you're new to IR. No offense to James and his excellent video. It's an easy slip of the tongue to make when speaking live.

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Good point, and thanks for the correction! Easy to forget the numbers refer to the wavelength rather than frequency when waffling on... 👍🙂

[@malcolmbrown4686]

Excellent, the first time I have really understood making a dng file into a custom camera profile

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Thanks! Glad it was useful

[@peterlemke3468]

Great video especially for someone like me looking to dabble in IR photography. Thanks for sharing James.

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Thanks! Glad you found it helpful :)

[@astrobri]

Thank you ,, Just had a T1i converted to "Super Colour : 590nm and this has helped me a lot , 😁

[@georgesmith4509]

very useful. a great staring point.

[@garybrowne4830]

Very good easy to follow tutorial thank you

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Hi all, i've added a new video showing the effect that different frequencies of filters produce. You can see it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKKYnauMm7l9fqc

[@C00ltronix]

Great final result, great tutorial! The Sigma SD Quattro has a clip-in filter, just take it out and you have full spectrum. Just got it, waiting for the filter to arrive now.

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

The clip in filter sounds a handy solution :)

[@C00ltronix]

@@JamesBillingsPhotography and this aside, the Sigma SD Quattro is amazing for B/W imaging. Think Leica Mono, but for a fraction of the cost.

[@daimster0130]

I converted my camera to IR now im only waiting for my 720nm filter and im using your video as a guide, Thankyou! :)

[@jbli19]

I taught a converted/modified IR camera doesn't need any filter.

[@AZTEC_ARTS2023]

@@jbli19 There are two ways of converting a camera : 1 - Remove the hot mirror filter / low pass filter in front of your sensor (you have to open your DSLR or send it to a shop) and you need to place a cut piece of IR filter in place of the filters you took out. Then use the camera normally. 2- You can use an EXTERNAL filter (without opening your camera) and screw on an R72 (720Nm) filter on your lens ... but this will cut down the light coming in, so it means you will need longer exposure times, and a tripod to avoid blur

[@massimobuccolieri8532]

Great Job!

[@JakeWalksAmerica]

Helped me out! Thanks! Subbed!

[@jamesprivet]

Great video, most helpful, thank you. So was the main image in the thumbnail of the tree by the river done on camera with full spectrum conversion and then you used a 720nm filter on the lens?

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Yes, that's right!

[@RestorationAustralia]

Cool video well done.

[@thodorissiorikis8791]

perfect!!!!

[@jaredfrazin7831]

Great concise and organized explanation of IR editing. Just got 720 nm filter over the winter (lots of snow, few evergreens, no foliage). When I set WB with eyedropper in LR the best I can get is a monochromatic image. While I can use HSL adjustment or adjustment brush to make some color adjustments, I haven't found the way to separate a nice blue sky from water or trees. I suspect the problem is that there are no green leaves to reflect back all of the IR wavelengths in the winter. Any suggestions?

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

It's hard to say without seeing an example, but a likely cause is indeed a lack of foliage. In winter, I find everything comes out a little more consistent. On a sunny day you should still be able to get a nice dark sky ("no IR reflectance"), but with no plants or other foliage, you'd not get anything to reflect a lot of IR, so you'll end up with more shades of grey... If you WB off the blue sky, does stuff on the ground start to go towards pink at all?

[@CarmineTavernaPhotography]

great video...cheers

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Thanks!

[@alanalain4884]

Hi, I'm at 5.44 and I see the picture uploaded on LR is completely red, which is usually too much for LR white balance to fix, unless you deal with color profile obtained by other means. etc.. Dealing with IR and if camera has that option, one usually creates a custom white balance for the IR filter frequency used (green grass works well for the 720nm in my memory), and it allows a much easier WB management later in post. But maybe you'll mention all that further down in the video, which I will now get back to...

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

If the camera allows that range of WB adjustment then yes, that would certainly be easier. On my camera, the range of adjustment wasn't enough

[@alanalain4884]

@@JamesBillingsPhotography Your presentation is awesome anyway. And to all future used IR modified cameras purchasers, I would advise on full spectrum converted to be able to play with all IR filter ranges, and to try to get a camera that offers a custom white balance mode in its white balance options. Like you say, it can make it easier...

[@RobsDIY]

awesome video, ive noticed with my edit, following your video, there is a slight color cast still of the chosen colour ive gone for is there a way to offset/remove that?

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Kinda depends - sometimes I've wanted to get rid of a remaining pink tinge on leaves, and do that by adjusting the red and magenta HSL settings in lightroom to lower the saturation to 0. Latest updates to lightroom have some cleverer colour adjustment options but I've not had chance to fully explore those yet...

[@DarrenKnightPhoto]

Hi James, great video sir. So after your camera was modded, would that now be classed as a full spectrum camera? I have an old 600D that I’m considering getting modded. Is it better to go full spectrum and use a screw on IR filter or get it modded with the IR filter built into the camera when they take it apart? Many thanks Darren

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Yep, it's full spectrum as there's no other filter. The downside of having a filter on the sensor when you convert is that you're then stuck with it- you can't try different frequencies or filters for astro. But it has the advantage of being less likely to flare (I can't really shoot into the sun without nasty flaring for example)

[@ayhancapan]

Ahaha... This is art...

[@steveh6883]

Hi. Excellent tutorial. QUESTION: Once the IR cut filter is removed from the sensor and therefore giving a full spectrum camera, obviously, using for example, R72 filter for IR photography, what filter then would be needed to revert back to visible light photography? to have best of both worlds :) Thanks

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Ideally you'd need something that replicates the original sensor in the camera. A quick Google led me to this but I've not tried it: www.infraready.co.uk/shop/uv-ir-cut-colour-correction-filter/

[@steveh6883]

@@JamesBillingsPhotography Yes, that's what I thought - basically a larger threaded version of filter with the same properties as the IR cut filter that was removed - wouldn't know where to look for one though PS - didn't know they used full spectrum cameras for ghost hunting & that link also has a few already converted full spectrum cameras for sale at reasonable prices

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

@@steveh6883 Yeah, I imagine they aren't commonly needed as most people convert an "old" camera and have another newer model as their main one!

[@woutblux1998]

With in-body stabilization + a bright lens, you can make handheld blur-free shots no problem (on a bright day).

[@olge1355]

No problem, but three variables needs to be right :D

[@jjualvare]

My question to you or anyone else that can answer it is, if I have a camera that has been converted to Full Spectrum, and I can use the following screw on filters, such as 590nm, 650nm, or 720nm on my lens. Do I or should I create a DNG camera profile for each frequency or is one profile sufficient to use with all frequencies?

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

A good question... I'd probably suggest creating one per filter. I recently created one for my 850 as I couldn't get a neutral balance with my 720 profile. I don't own the other ones to know, but given that it's not too hard to create one, it's worth trying.

[@audiobanker1771]

Hello Sir , did you try to add on lens a filter 720nm or 620nm ?

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

I use a 720 filter. I've tried an 850 too but prefer the colour from the 720. 850 better for black and white

[@millephil07]

I followed exactly the bit about going through adobe profile editor ,but couldn't find the profile in lightroom adobe profiles, when i'd saved it from the editor. Any ideas on what i might have done wrong ? Enjoyed the video.

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Hm, hard to say- have you definitely copied the file to the right location? (on my machine now, they're in C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CameraRaw\CameraProfiles I guess you'd also want to ensure you have restarted Lightroom

[@Alexrocks1253]

Any good model of camera to recommend for the conversion? I have a Nikon D5500 laying around but if I can't use that, which camera would be cheap but still good enough for photos and video in IR? A Nikon? Sony? I currently have Sony and Panasonic (Leica L mount) lenses.

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

I'm not sure off the top of my head what's good or bad- there's a few factors such as how easy it is to remove the IR filter on the sensor, and whether there's things like IR LED's inside the body used for autofocus that might interfere once the filter is removed. Probably best is to check the various companies who undertake conversions- if they offer it for that model then it should be okay. More variable is lenses- lots of lenses produce "hotspots" with infrared. Kolari have a decent database here: kolarivision.com/articles/lens-hotspot-list/

[@joos33179]

I’m new into IR.I have a question. How do I know what setting I should set on my camera before putting the IR 72 filter on. Thank you

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

With a mirrorless camera, you just use it as normal once the filter is attached. If you're using a DSLR without live view then focusing will be hard as you can't easily see through the ir filter. Some lenses have a marker on for ir focus, but if you don't have that you may have to trial-and-error focus a bit...

[@pulcinella96]

When I open DNG profile editor I keep getting 'the operation could not be completed' errors. Do you know any workarounds? I can't find anything that works on the internet

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Hmm, sorry, I've never hit that error myself. At what point does it come up?

[@Mainuh]

Hi James, trying to follow along with some photos I recently took with my new (to me) Nikon D5300 FS modified camera with N72 filter. Got some great potential pics but just can't follow you in LR or PS as I don't seem to have all the menu options that you do. Guess I have to backup and learn some more basics of navigating in LR & PS. I have used PS elements for years but just bit the bullet and paid for the adobe spread. Maybe this will make sense once I learn better where everything is. Maybe it's version differences, I had to back off to the 2020PS version (21.2.6). Anyway, I'll keep looking for a more basic intro to post processing. Thanks for this though... I'm sure it'll make sense some day.

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

They do sometimes move the options about so it's possible things have changed in the more recent cc versions... I think the channel swap in PS is still in the same place though... Shout if you can't find anything specific and I'll see where it is for me...

[@AZTEC_ARTS2023]

I got the DNG profile editor .... when i export the file it exports in .dcp format (?) right ? Then if i open LR and "develop" my image, if i look for it (on the right) it does NOT appear, nor odes it appear on the left in presets ... What am i doing wrong ?? lol Thanks

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

A .dcp is correct- did you add them to LR? File > "Import develop process and presets"?

[@nelsontan6994]

Is your Sony camera able to do a preset white balance after being converted to full spectrum?

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

The same menu options still work, so you can select "daylight" or whatever in the menu, but it won't look right. Basically the camera doesn't know the filter has been removed... (If that's what you meant!)

[@Nico-rt2rm]

@@JamesBillingsPhotography But I saw other people taking a pic of grass, and the use it as white balance preset. Does this action avoid the passage through Adobe DNG profile editor?

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

@@Nico-rt2rm Maybe - it probably depends on the scale of adjustments that the in-camera WB offers, and whether LR honours that after importing. Certainly worth trying out!

[@Nico-rt2rm]

@@JamesBillingsPhotography aaah, all right. Thanks!!

[@BobEstremera]

Great tutorial. Do you have another that shows the workflow to make this a pure b&w?

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

I've not as yet, as b&w final result is quite subjective - but I might do a video showing the effect the 3 different filters produce and include b&w in that...

[@franckbremeault-photograph2112]

Hi, Adobe DNG Profile is not available anymore for 64bits macOS. Any solution to replace it?

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Ugh :( A quick Google suggests you now have to use the Profiles SDK from here: helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/digital-negative.html#resources I've not tried it, so I don't yet know the process... Apparently instructions are in the .zip file though.

[@RenaKatinas]

You can actually still download it using a ftp client.

[@gbee8888]

Nice editing but I don't really see the need to use an IR image here. A normal B&W image would of ended up much the same after that amount of editing. ?

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Yes, that's true - the image here was really just for the purposes of the video, as an example to demonstrate the actual process of editing. There's far better subjects (and weather conditions) for when you want to shoot IR "for real" :)

[@911TruthFighter]

A warning to photographers needing conversions (to infra-red, astro, etc.) or camera repair: Stay away from Spencer’s Camera in Utah, which bills itself as doing work for NASA; they have photographers recommending them on YT videos and so on. The are outright crooks; no other way to put it. Back in February I sent them two Canon T6s, both for sensor cleaning, one for conversion to Infra-red. I made it clear I needed it done quickly as I am on the road in my RV, etc. They said no problem, about $375. Okay. It took more than 6 weeks, with no answer on their phone (filled up voice mail). They finally returned my emails saying everyone was ‘at a workshop’ in Canada. Aggravating. The eventual package was so poorly wrapped that one T6 was sticking out of a ragged hole. There was no invoice or receipt or even an indication of which T6 was converted, which was merely cleaned. I went online to my bank to see that they ‘rounded up’ to $400.00 on my cc. No invoice indeed. Would have been iffy to round up. But the real reason was only one camera was actually worked on, the conversion. I assume they didn’t want to put a lie on paper since both cameras still had filthy sensors and are useless. I wanted to have it on record, so I used email to complain. My two emails went unanswered. This is a well-known company (NASA, etc) but they obviously do not care (in the extreme) about us peons. I have posted the first photos out of my cameras on my blog if you want to see what they… didn’t do and over-charged me for it after being 4 weeks late. I’m a well thought-of writer (3 books, many TV/feature scripts) named Allan Weisbecker; I have worked professionally as a photographer (including covers) for magazines like Smithsonian, Men’s Journal, Popular Photography, and so on. Google me and do a search for my blog if you want to verify what I’m saying (and see the dirty pics). ‘Allan C Weisbecker + blog’. Look for the title ‘Spencer’s Cameras Are Crooks’.

[@rossmansell5877]

uM...uM...uM...uMMM🙄🙄

[@gunnarjensen5910]

Is - full spectrum - just another name for monochrome ? I shoot astro..

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

No, full spectrum just means the sensor will capture everything it's capable of, as there's no filter in place.

[@Farroutman1]

The constant mic hitting is ruining this video for me.

[@JamesBillingsPhotography]

Sorry Paul - I think it was actually that I was recording audio through the computer will also recording the screen, and that ended up with the pops and clicks... Next time I do this kind of thing I'll record audio separately which will hopefully solve it. Thanks for taking a look anyway!