IR imaging

[ssim]

So I get all impressed with the infrared stuff that I see some people turning out on here and I go out and grab me a Hoya R72. Sounds simple enough right, wrong.

I've got my ISO set at 200 and I've tried every concievable combination from very long to very short shutter speeds and all I'm getting is a black image.

Anyone with any experience on this care to provide some information on how they do this.

Camera is the 10D and I'm using the 24-70 f2.8 L lens right now.

Thanks

[mattchase]

I haven't used the 24-70 to do IR work, but from what I have read, it should be capable of it. Some lenses have a coating on the glass which blocks that spectrum of light, but I saw the 24-70 on a list that says it will work.

As for exposures, in good daylight I typically shoot at about 3-5 seconds, f5.6, iso 100 with my 50mm lens and an R72 or iso 200, f5.6, 1-2 seconds if it is breezy. Depending on your subject matter or the amount of shadows / shade, you will need to expose for longer. This usually gives me a decent looking exposure / histogram on the LCD, somewhere in the middle. You probably won't see highlight or shadow data on the historgram because of the monotonality of the image caused by the filter, so don't expect a nice looking highlight to shadow histogram. And once the file is open in PS and you remove the red cast caused by the filter, the image tends to be a tad underexposed. But it is a good starting point. Here is one I just did last week, iso 200, f5.6, 2 seconds.

http://www.matthewchase.com/digitaldingus/infrared/8714.jpg

[ifurlong]

yes, I have an R72, 10d, 50 1.4, and can get an image at ~f8, iso 100, ~10 sec in bright day light
Once you figure the process out, try using a polarizer with the IR filter, yopu get black skies and lots of contrast