Infrared Photography & Landscapes!

CSULB_Student · Jul 30, 2011

I just received a roll of Kodak HIE, Konica 750 and EFKE IR820 Aura. I will most likely purchase some Rollei Infrared 400 and Ilford SFX 200 and shoot a whole series of landscapes with pure infrared films, using only a Hoya Red 25A, Hoya Skylight, Hoya R72 Infrared filter and a circular polarizer.

Does anyone have any advice for any films listed? (ASA, filter combinations, filter compensation with stops, development with D-76, focusing adjustments, etc.) I have experience with EFKE IR820 Aura but I would like to hear what people with more experience have to say.

Thanks to all, your advice is truly appreciated!

MattKing · Jul 30, 2011

The APUG search function is your friend :

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

pentaxuser · Jul 30, 2011

If you can obtain it the book "Infra-Red Photography" by Hugh Milsom is worth getting. He used, I think, most if not all of the films you mention.

pentaxuser

mooseontheloose · Jul 30, 2011

CSULB_Student said:
I just received a roll of Kodak HIE, Konica 750 and EFKE IR820 Aura. I will most likely purchase some Rollei Infrared 400 and Ilford SFX 200 and shoot a whole series of landscapes with pure infrared films, using only a Hoya Red 25A, Hoya Skylight, Hoya R72 Infrared filter and a circular polarizer.

Does anyone have any advice for any films listed? (ASA, filter combinations, filter compensation with stops, development with D-76, focusing adjustments, etc.) I have experience with EFKE IR820 Aura but I would like to hear what people with more experience have to say.

Thanks to all, your advice is truly appreciated!

Hi Christian (noticed this same question elsewhere)

What are you shooting with? Some cameras may fog your film.

You don't need the polarizer or skylight filter. The R72 will work with all the films, the red25 only with HIE. I would recommend starting with the Aura (and Rollei and SFX if you get them) to get a better handle on what infrared can do before shooting your one and only rolls of HIE and Konica.

By the way, do you know how old the HIE and Konica films are? How have they been stored (frozen)? They've both been discontinued for some time and are prone to fogging with age. I haven't had to deal with that issue yet (I have a couple of rolls of HIE left), but you may want to consider a different developer than D76 if you think you may have to deal with fog.

Digitaltruth has some good comparison articles about infrared here.
And at SquarefrogDead Link Removed.
And a few other links: Dead Link Removed, here, and here.

keithwms · Jul 30, 2011

Bracket widely.

CSULB_Student · Jul 30, 2011

@MattKing: Thanks, I searched most films but some, like Konica, did not have much advice and it has been some time since people have discussed it since it was discontinued so long ago.

@pentaxuser: I will definitely pick up a copy of this book! I have a few books on Infrared Photography (Infrared Photography Handbook, Advanced Photography Handbook & Infrared Nude Photography.) They only had limited advice on HIE and Konica but a great background explanation on how the Infrared spectrum works.

@mooseontheloose: I use a Pentax K-1000 for 35mm and I never had a trouble with fogging when shooting infrared. I think I might use a Red 25A filter and then shoot the exact same scene with the R72 next. The HIE is dated October 2003, Konica is dated February 1993 and the EFKE is still fresh until 2012. They have all been kept frozen since purchase by original owner and myself. The only reason why I considered D-76 is because I have gallons of stock solution in storage and I found development times for all films but any suggestions are welcome.

@keithwms: I have used the bracket method with the EFKE only and found that using an R72 +5stops at ASA 200 brings great results. However I am not sure if I should apply this to all infrared films.

ntenny · Jul 31, 2011

CSULB_Student said:
@keithwms: I have used the bracket method with the EFKE only and found that using an R72 +5stops at ASA 200 brings great results. However I am not sure if I should apply this to all infrared films.

Probably not "all", because it depends on how much IR the film "sees"---quite a lot for HIE, hardly any for the Rollei, somewhere in between with the Efke...

Basically, a 5-stop filter factor for an R72 means that you're assuming that the amount of IR "seen" by the film---considering both the filter's curve and the film's response---is 1/32 the intensity of visible light seen by the meter. Well, as you change films, the amount of visible light doesn't change, but the amount of IR the film sees will: for instance, HIE sees much more, because it responds to high-IR at wavelengths way, way past the cutoffs of the other films.

Rollei IR400 is the opposite; it's a pretty fast film, but it's sensitive to IR only up to a fairly low level---not much above the point where an R72 filter really starts transmitting, so when you put the film and the filter together you limit the "effective" light to a very narrow band, so it takes a lot of compensation.

You can usually get away with *less* compensation at morning and evening than at midday, which is kind of counterintuitive. The same effect that causes sunrises and sunsets to be red means that there's more IR around then too, relative to visible light---the total light is less than it would be at midday, but the portion of it that's in the infrared range is relatively high, so you don't have to compensate as much from a visible-light meter reading.

Results vary with latitude and weather, too. Experiment, bracket, and consider using a compensating developer.

-NT

CSULB_Student · Jul 31, 2011

I was wondering if the red line on my lens is the infrared focus. I was not 100% sure but it's a good guess. It's a Sears Multicoated 200mm Lens

@ntenny: Thanks for the explanation! I am glad you responded in time because I was planning on going on a photo shoot tomorrow. I do not want to ruin my only roll of Konica 750, and Kodak HIE since there are limited amounts available. I will try and bracket on all the films. Hoping for the best. Any tips on where to start the bracket method though?

vanourek · Jul 31, 2011

I meter the Efke IR820 AURA at ISO 1,5 to 3 with a 720nm filter, exposure times in daylight at f/22 are very long. See the picture on this link: Dead Link Removed - it's the IR820 AURA 6x7 negative, exposure - as far I can remember - about 15 seconds in sunny afternoon.

Jeff Kubach · Jul 31, 2011

vanourek said:
I meter the Efke IR820 AURA at ISO 1,5 to 3 with a 720nm filter, exposure times in daylight at f/22 are very long. See the picture on this link: Dead Link Removed - it's the IR820 AURA 6x7 negative, exposure - as far I can remember - about 15 seconds in sunny afternoon.

I love that picture!

Jeff

Steve Smith · Jul 31, 2011

keithwms said:
Bracket widely.

Or wildly!

Steve.

bsdunek · Jul 31, 2011

With a 720nm filter, my experience is f16 at one sec for bright sun. I used that for the Efke, and just did my first roll of Rollei and got good negatives. IMHO, trying to use a light meter for IR will often be misleading. IR is not always proportional to the visible spectrum. I'd start at the f16 & one sec. and bracket for the first roll. That should get you started.

vanourek · Jul 31, 2011

Jeff Kubach said:
I love that picture!

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff! >This one (link)< is shot on EFKE IR820 (non-aura). Some other pictures can be found on my webiste ...

Jeff Kubach · Jul 31, 2011

Excellent pictures! I love infraed pictures!

Jeff

thegman · Jul 31, 2011

I like the Rollei 400 IR film, shot with an R72 filter, and basically treat it like an ISO 25 film (if your metering is not TTL). I was always quite happy with the results, you just need to ensure a lot of sunlight or other IR light source.

keithwms · Jul 31, 2011

Steve Smith said:
Or wildly!

Steve.

Yep. It's roll film; if the image matters (don't they all?!) then bracket and shoot multiples as well; some of the films have the nasty habit of developing pinhole-like artifacts. By 'bracket widely' (or wildly) I mean: best guess for filter exposure compensation +/- 3 stops.

I shot some long-expired konica with a red filter and the result were quite decent. The image and details are (there was a url link here which no longer exists).

Steve Smith · Jul 31, 2011

keithwms said:
By 'bracket widely' (or wildly) I mean: best guess for filter exposure compensation +/- 3 stops.

I haven't done much IR but if I understand you correctly, I agree. Not much point bracketing at one stop intervals, two or three would be better.

Steve.

Mick Fagan · Aug 1, 2011

Kodak High Speed Infra-red film and black filter (Hoya R72)

Latitude around 38º

Clear sun summer 1/125 f/16

Clear sun winter 1/125 f/11

Cloudy bright 1/60 f/11

Overcast 1/30 f/11

Pretty much no need to bracket.

Use the filter up to the eye and use your hand to block out sunlight, scan the scene and you will see exactly where foliage or whatever is glowing, shoot.

I have shot 100 + rolls of Kodak HIE Infra-Red film using those parameters. I very rarely bracketed and have mostly good contact sheets of fairly constant exposures.

You cannot use any normal light meter to see if there is any Infra-Red around. You need to scan the scene as I mentioned.

I have about 15 rolls left in one of my freezers

Mick.

keithwms · Aug 1, 2011

Mick, HIE was substantially easier to shoot than most of the near-IR films now on the market. It had sensitivity quite a bit further out into the IR and so haze is therefore much less of a problem. Also, if you look at the curves for films like Rollei IR , superpan, etc. their sensitivities drop off steeply right across the range where you want to filter them to get optimal Wood effect. The results are therefore much less predictable.

Mick Fagan · Aug 1, 2011

Keith, I agree with your assessment of the current crop of IR films, that said the OP has 1 roll of Kodak High Speed IR film and my exposure regime at or around 38º latitude does work remarkably well.

Hopefully this information may enable the owner of that roll to get a reasonably good strike rate.

We'll see, it could be off, as I well know.

Just one more thing to mention to the OP, load the Kodak film in total darkness, and I mean total darkness, otherwise your film will probably suffer from piping.

Piping is where light travels up the film via the leader sticking outside the cassette, it is a real and definite problem.

Mick.

zsas · Sep 3, 2012

Instead of starting a new HIE thread, I am continuing an old one.

So I've the below: 35mm RF (Yashica Lynx 14E), cold stored exp 2008 HIE, R72 Hoya 67mm thread, step up ring 58mm to 67mm (this is bc the Yashica is a 58mm and the 67mm can also go on my MF camera - two birds one stone....).

I am going to use what Mick says above.

Question, so if my object was 3.5 feet away, would I just focus normal with the RF:

Then turn it so the 3.5 foot mark is in the mark with the 'R'??? See below:

polyglot · Sep 3, 2012

That's the theory, yes. Depends a bit on the spectral sensitivity of the film (HIE will probably use all of that correction).

With other films (IR820) sensitive only to the shorter IR bands, often (depending on the lens) no correction is required.

Infrared Photography & Landscapes!

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