IR film... help an IR newb please

I bought my first roll of IR film and thought I'd give it a try. Before shooting, I thought I might ask for any tips or advise? About the only thing I know is what my photo instructor told me 23 years ago which was after focusing, turn the focus point back to the red dot on focus scale. That's the extent of my knowledge. Some question I have:

1) Is exposure metering the same as with white light? i.e. just set to what the white light meter reads.
2) Can I expect anything out of the ordinary with night shooting long exposures?
3) Can I develop with D-76 and fix, or is there something substantially better? Any idea what the development times are or where I might find out for Rollei IR400?
4) any suggestions on things to try?
5) do polarizers or color filters have any unusal affects other than what one might expect with B&W?
6) Other than photosynthesizing plants appearing white, what else can I expect to be an unusual tone?

Thanks,
Dave

1) No - UV is not metered like the visible spectrum. Your meter provides a starting point though- but you need to bracket at least one stop above and below the metered exposure.

2) IR is all out of the ordinary- experiment.

3) Yes- D-76 will work, as will most other film developers. I have used HC110(b), D-76, Acufine--all with good results.

4) Foliage and natural scenes appeal to most first-time IR shooters. Avoid deep shadows (they drop out) - shoot your first rolls on a bright sunny day between 10am and 2 pm to provide the max. IR spectrum.

5) A very dramatic effect results from using a 25a (deep red) filter.

6) Everything will have an unusual tone.

Enjoy Dave!

NWG

The red dot on the focus scale is for "deep IR", which only HIE is sensitive to. Rollei IR400 is only sensitive to near IR, which is so close to visible light that the method described would lead to blurry pictures.

I use that film with a Heliopan IR695 filter. Setting the sensitivity to 320 and metering through the filter works fine for me. A 25a (deep red) filter with this film is disappointing - it really needs a 695 to shine.

Ole said:

The red dot on the focus scale is for "deep IR", which only HIE is sensitive to. Rollei IR400 is only sensitive to near IR, which is so close to visible light that the method described would lead to blurry pictures.

I use that film with a Heliopan IR695 filter. Setting the sensitivity to 320 and metering through the filter works fine for me. A 25a (deep red) filter with this film is disappointing - it really needs a 695 to shine.

Click to expand...

Ole, with the Rollei IR and a #87 filter, I find that I do need to use the red dots. But I agree, with filters that have lower cutoffs, you won't need focus correction, and you'd just stop down a bit more than you might otherwise and all is well.

Dave, besides the Wood effect (foliage) which arises from the chlorophyll transmission spectrum, you will also see darker skies, enhanced sky/cloud contrast, slightly plastic / smooth / ghostly skin tones, very dark (gothic) pupils, curiously dark water, deeper shadows (so, more highlight/shadow separation) and an edge sharness effect in architecture that comes mostly from the fact that people usually do IR photography in high contrast direct sunlight. What else... if you use a film without an antihalation (AH) layer like HIE, you will get glowing highlights. But the Rollei has an AH layer. And there are quite a few other effects that you will discover.

As for night stuff, it is possible to IR mask a flash and do semi-normal photography in such a way that the subject cannot see the flash. But as you've probably seen on various wildlife shows, the subject's eyes are usually quite bizarre looking! Anyway it's something to keep in mind. Some city lights have a reasonable IR component that you can use, but good look figuring out how to meter because the IR component depends very muich on the kind of light. I have a procedure that involves using a digital camera as a meter.

As for polarizers and NDs and all that, I can; give a general statement on those- they are optimized for the visible range so what you get in the IR depends on the sensitivity curve of your film and the transmission priofile of your IR-pass filter.

As NWG said: experiment! Enjoy that you may get some results that not everyone else can get or knows how to get! Film IR can give all manner of curious results, ranging from subtle tonal differences, to quite extreme effects that dominate the composition.

If you're interested in fairly subtle IR stuff ( I don't like for my IR stuff to look very obviously IR so I prefer an edge-visible/IR mix), let me direct you to my little gallery here, I've been playing with IR film for the last two years and it's given me some different ideas about photography. I will apologize in advance for some of the scans on that page that aren't sharp, I haven't had time to redo them properly.

Since Rollei is more of a near-IR than a proper one (like Efke's, for example), I would recommend using an R72 filter more than an 87. If you look at Rollei's charts you'll notice that the film's sensitivity plunges through the floor once it reaches 700 nm. Shooting with an 87 technically can be done, but frankly I think you'll save yourself a lot of headaches if you go with the 72 instead.

I use the rm72 with the Rollei and... it's okay. But I much prefer the results from the 87. Obviously, everyone has different tastes and goals. With the 87, the filter factor is ~EV+12! So unless you want motion in your shot (I usually do), then it's not the right choice With the rm72 it's more like ~EV+8. But this depends on the weather, of course!

P.S. The tiffen 87 turns on at around 730nm. A bit lower than the Wratten 87.

P.P.S. I also tried a B+W 93 with the Rollei and that gives zilch.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate you taking the time to offer such thorough answers. I didn't realize there were other types of IR film. I did a search on B&H and Adorama, and all I see is the Rollei that I ordered. Where can one go to find Efke IR or HIE film? Are there other deep IR films? and where can than be found?

I started looking for some of the filters mentioned. I have a red 25 filter I use to use for B&W. Looking on e-bay, I see 720, 780nm, 800nm, 850nm, 950nm, etc filters... so many choices.

Thanks again,
Dave

Ah... I see Kodak HIE is discontinued and quite pricey.

One_DaveT said:

I started looking for some of the filters mentioned. I have a red 25 filter I use to use for B&W. Looking on e-bay, I see 720, 780nm, 800nm, 850nm, 950nm, etc filters... so many choices.

Thanks again,
Dave

Click to expand...

For Rollei IR 400 and Ilford SFX 200, I'm quite happy with a 720 nm filter. 695 nm might work as well, but as has been said, these films are not sensitive to 'deep' infrared, so with an 800+ nm filter(*) and either of these films, you will end up with transparent negs.
(*) probably 720nm is already the upper limit for a filter for those films.

As for deep IR films... HIE, as you found out already, is discontinued and what can still be found is expensive. I can't tell you much about Efke IR 820; I have 2 rolls of it, but I still have to give it a try. As to the availability... You don't mention your location, but I'm guessing you're on the other side of the pond, so digitaltruth might be a convenient webstore for you.

One_DaveT said:

Thanks guys, I really appreciate you taking the time to offer such thorough answers. I didn't realize there were other types of IR film. I did a search on B&H and Adorama, and all I see is the Rollei that I ordered. Where can one go to find Efke IR or HIE film? Are there other deep IR films? and where can than be found?
Dave

Click to expand...

Freestyle has both Efke and Rollei films.

Where can you buy efke infrared in the UK then? Those prices are really good and it's nice to see they do it in 5x4" I've just bought a 092 B+W opaque infrared filter, seems the Rollie won't work too well with this by the sounds eh?

The 092 B&W filter should be ok for the Rollei film. You can get the Efke film from www.retrophotographic.com.

Peter