Infrared filters?

nickandre · May 1, 2009

So I'm looking to try infrared photography with the school's 4x5 monorail camera and Efke IR820. I'm looking for a good filter to achieve an intense infrared effect. The only problem is that the cheapest one I can find costs $70-300 for an opaque sheet of plastic. Am I going to have to bite that bullet or is there another option? I've been looking at the wratten 87 or 88A and I can't believe how expensive a small sheet of plastic can be.

MarkL · May 1, 2009

I have a 88A and 89B Hitech filters. I believe they have a frequency cutoff of 770 and 700 respectively. Can't remember what I paid for them, but they do work well. A plain red filter won't do much for the IR820.

Rob Skeoch · May 1, 2009

I use the B+W IR filters... I think they're called 092's and are very dark red... much darker than my red filter. You need alot of light with these on... maybe around ISO 1. The filters are pricey.... what size do you need?
-rob

nickandre · May 1, 2009

Why do they cost so much? The lens is pretty large in diameter, I'm not sure exactly, but I was planning on getting a 3x3 plastic one and using that.

Andrew O'Neill · May 2, 2009

#87B is an opaque IR filter. I use it on Efke IR 4x5. You have to expose it at about EI 1.5.....yes, 1.5. So, on a sunny day, I get exposures at f/11@ 21 seconds (including reciprocity). Developed in Xtol stock for 14 to 16 minutes (20 C). Make sure you shoot backups.

skyrick · May 2, 2009

?????

I bought a brand new Hoya 720nm IR filter on eBay for $29.95. Not sure what the difference is between it and a $70.00-300.00 filter would be.

Rick

nicefor88 · May 3, 2009

Do you get IR folm easily?

ntenny · May 3, 2009

skyrick said:
I bought a brand new Hoya 720nm IR filter on eBay for $29.95. Not sure what the difference is between it and a $70.00-300.00 filter would be.

Me neither, but I can confirm from personal experience that a Hoya R72 with the Efke film works just fine. (I rate it a whole lot higher than some posters have suggested, but there just seems to be a lot of variation in the amount of available IR light in different locations and circumstances, so it's hard to make a generic pronouncement.)

It sounds like the OP wants a gel filter, though, and those do seem to run more expensive. I don't think Hoya make gels, do they?

-NT

glbeas · May 3, 2009

Do you have any developed but unexposed slide film frames? About three of those stacked is roughly equivalent to an R-72 filter. You will need to experiment to find the best EI.

nickandre · May 3, 2009

I heard of this, but then I found a hoya 720 IR in 58mm size for 14.95 on ebay.

glbeas · May 4, 2009

What luck! They aren't usually that cheap.

BetterSense · May 4, 2009

I've never heard of the slide film trick before. If that really works maybe I'll fire off a few blanks on my next roll of Ektrachrome. I'm not sure if 35mm is big enough to use as a lens filter though.

colrehogan · May 4, 2009

tiberiustibz said:
So I'm looking to try infrared photography with the school's 4x5 monorail camera and Efke IR820. I'm looking for a good filter to achieve an intense infrared effect. The only problem is that the cheapest one I can find costs $70-300 for an opaque sheet of plastic. Am I going to have to bite that bullet or is there another option? I've been looking at the wratten 87 or 88A and I can't believe how expensive a small sheet of plastic can be.

I have a Harrison/Harrison 88A filter, but it is glass and 4 mm thick. I use either this filter with my Maco 820c or a Lee 87 (I think that this is what became the Efke IR film). Both of these filters are 4 inches square. I don't know what lens you were going to use.

thefizz · May 6, 2009

The cheapest option that I know of is the plastic SFX filter that comes with Ilford's SFX film. Its similar to the R72 filter and works fine.

glbeas · May 6, 2009

BetterSense said:
I've never heard of the slide film trick before. If that really works maybe I'll fire off a few blanks on my next roll of Ektrachrome. I'm not sure if 35mm is big enough to use as a lens filter though.

Yeah, really works best with medium format or LF film

nickandre · May 7, 2009

I also found a square of unprocessed E6 film which I'll try.

Aklens200 · May 8, 2009

Hi,
I use a Hoya R72, works great.
Only cost me about $US40.00.
Rich

glbeas · May 8, 2009

tiberiustibz said:
I also found a square of unprocessed E6 film which I'll try.

Has to be unexposed and processed. The dyes are essentially transparent in the IR range like a lot of other dyes are. Unprocessed film will not do such a good job due to the silver salts still in the emulsion.

2F/2F · May 8, 2009

What diameter is the lens on your school's camera? If it takes a small-diamater filter, you are in luck.

I got my R72 in 55mm for about $35.00 from Freestyle because the 72mm, which I would have preferred, was hundreds of dollars.

xtolsniffer · May 8, 2009

Cokin do a decent quality IR filter that's equivalent to a Wratten 89b (R72) filter, it's not that expensive and fits their square P type holder. I've used it for the now discontinued Kodak HIE and it works fine. I'm due to take delivery of my first batch of Adox/Efke 820 soon, so looking forward to trying it out.

xtolsniffer · May 8, 2009

Here's a link to Cokin...

http://www.cokin.com/filtres.html?=#007

If you're shooting LF then the X or Z size system might be more appropriate but the filters do get more expensive. The P system is smaller and cheaper but if you're not using especially wide lenses then you might be able to get away with it. I can JUST get away with the P size filters (84x84 mm) on 50mm on 6x7 format.

keithwms · May 8, 2009

At the upcoming get-together in Virginia next week, I'll be throwing all manner of filters on my spectrophotometer. That's a 'rainy day' activity that we can do while film and/or prints are washing. So...anybody who wants a filter tested can bring it. I have a glass #87, a gel #87, an r72, and a 93.

Chazzy · May 8, 2009

I would give an infrared film a try, just for the fun of it, but I've never seen an infrared filter in Series VI.

Soeren · May 8, 2009

nicefor88 said:
Do you get IR folm easily?

Yes
http://macodirect.de/index.php
Best regards

Infrared filters?

nickandre

MarkL

Rob Skeoch

Advertiser

nickandre

Andrew O'Neill

Moderator

skyrick

nicefor88

ntenny

glbeas

nickandre

glbeas

BetterSense

colrehogan

thefizz

glbeas

nickandre

Aklens200

glbeas

2F/2F

xtolsniffer

xtolsniffer

keithwms

Chazzy

Soeren

Infrared filters?

Advertiser

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency