Infrared lens calibration question

Hi,

I'm thinking of getting my old unused xti (400d) converted to infrared using Lifepixel. I sent them an email and didn't get an answer to my question. I'm sure a few people here have used Lifepixel so hopefully someone can answer this. If I use the standard 50mm 1.8 lens calibration, will the focusing still work well with other lenses or would I be better off using the Universal option? I have the 50 1.8 but I'd like to use my 24-70 2.8L as well. Their recommendation was to send in the 27-70 but I need that lens and can't afford to send it to them. The xti doesn't have Live View which is recommended for the universal option but although I'm not familiar with it, the 24-70 does have an infrared index on the lens. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

i have an XSI and sent it to life pixel for a super color IR filter. i bought a 50mm f1.8 lens to send with it for calibration but i haven't used it since. All of the lens I own have been on that camera at least once and I believe they just say to manually focus with non-calibrated lenses. You can check my flicker for pics taken.

This website lists lenses that work well on IR http://www.lensplay.co​m/lenses/lens_infra_re​d_IR.html
Your 24-70 should work well. Most of mine do but the 16-35 definitely has bad hot spots.

Hope this helps...

Thanks, that does help. It sounds like you didn't have issues focusing with other lenses so I think I'm going to do what you did. Thanks again.

nope problem, glad I could help. Just keep in mind that your particular lens "might" have trouble with auto-focus and you should be fine.

I had my camera done back in 2007 by Lifepixel and they calibrated it to the 50 mm 1.8. I have always used it with a variety of lenses on autofocus and only occasionally had 'hotspots' (the major issue with IR).....I also use a Circular Polariser most of the time.

I had my XTi converted, and opted for the 50mm 1.8 conversion. For the most part, I use that lens and the EF-S 10-22 for shooting IR, although I've used the 85 1.8 on occasion as well.

The thing about zooms is that they often have a floating focal point for IR, ie for the EF 28-135, the traditional focus compensation for 28mm is significantly different than for 135. This holds true, to a lesser extent, for the 10-22 but I get around that by always shooting at f/8 or narrower. I found the 28-135 to be a good IR lens back when I used filters, but have given up on it with my converted body as far more hassle than it's worth.

My recommendation? Go with the basic calibration with the 50 and just shoot the zoom on narrow aperture.