Kodak HIE for low light use?

Can i use HIE for low light, and will it give me better results\shorter exps than normal film?

Kodak HIE is by far the fastest of the IR films. Experts such as Hugh Milsom and Laurie Hayball rate it at 400 and get great shots BUT to get the IR effect means a red filter which reduces the speed considerably and in low light probably means that handholding becomes problematical. I don't recall seeing any of the above two experts' shots in low light.

It's really meant for bright sunlight to bring out the IR features. In low light(dusk/night time) photography when the IR waves are missing, I'd would have thought that there are other films much better suited for the purpose.

It's an expensive film and I'd want to see evidence of its success in low light before I'd use it and risk disappointment. Maybe other APUGers have used it successfully in low light and will respond with accordingly

pentaxuser

Very little light means very little infrared. And HIE's reciprocity adjustments are pretty bad. However, many flashes put out quite a bit of IR, so you could use an IR filter over the flash and not show any (or very little) visible light. This used to be done with IR flashbulbs, but they're more finicky. There's a famous shot of a crowd in a movie theater, unaware that a bright (IR-wise) flashbulb just went off in front of them.

Look up IR and electronic flashes and you'll get a few hits. There was an infrared photography FAQ webpage, but I haven't looked for it in a long time. It explains how to cover the flash, and gives some rough guidelines for estimated exposures, etc.

Might be fun to play with, but can get expensive fast with the price of the film.

to do "infrared" night photography, what you need is a lens/lighting system to provide light amplification. Kodak HIE does NOT provide light amplification. HIE is responsive to reflected light in the visible and near-visible wavelengths of the spectrum. True Infrared/Heat-based imaging relies on wavelengths of radiated energy far outside the wavelengths which HIE is sensitive to.

If you want an infrared-ish effect at night, try a #25 red filter (the least dense red filter available) with Tmax 3200 or Delta 3200. This will be cheaper and more successful.

This is possible. As someone alread mentionesd, it is a breeze with a flash, as they do put out a significant quantity of IR. If you want IR only, as long as you have an IR filter over the lens, you should be good. (Another fun thing ot do is put an IR filter over the flash but not the lens so you cna take photos that are minimally intrusive to those around you). You'll have to fiddle with flash and exposure settings, though.

At night, exposures with an IR filter take an EXTREMELY long time, but it is doable. I've had exposures take minutes and still come out severely under, when a normal film would've been fine.

Without a filter, it works, but there are many films with better reciprocity.

HIE, when used near an artificial lighting source (street lamp, headlights, etc), come out VERY nice, with some interesting effects.

If you're not looking for the IR effect, go with something better (and cheaper) than HIE. Otherwise, if you'd like IR at night, give it a try, but bracket WAY more than you would during the day.

The question sounds like you may be thinking that the ir sensitivity of HIE is farther down the spectrum, like heat, or something near to it. HIE actually has only near IR sensitivity. Just below what we can see in daylight. Street lights tend to be single spectrum and are no where near the ir frequency. Incandescent lights have a large ir component and do a good job of exposing IR film.

There are other possibilities as well. If you are thinking outside, night type images, you will need some source if IR. One can use IR leds. There are some that are quite bright.

Inside one can use incandescent lights or candles. (Don't set your subjects on fire please)


inside with low, ir rich lighting, one can employ an orange filter, or none at all.

Best of luck,

Do you know anyone that sells ir gels? also, will the exp sensor still work on my metz mecablitz?

Your Ilford reseller may have them. They call them their SFX filter. They run about $15 if I recall correctly.

I can't tell you about your sensors, but keep in mind that they are calibrated for visible light, not IR. Think of measureing green light with a meter that only sees yellow.

would it be safest just to put the flashgun on manual?

have a look invisiblelight