Need some advice on shooting infrared with a pinhole

OeT · Jul 11, 2016

I want to try shooting some IR (Efke IR820) film in my 4x5 pinhole camera and need some tips and advice.
What kand of filter should I use for the best result or do I even need a filter?
I have a IR720 filter that I bought for my digital camera some years ago but it is very very dark and would result in very long exposure times?

pdeeh · Jul 11, 2016

probably.
if you know your pinhole f/stop and how many stops the filter attenuates,and you have a light meter, you can soon work out how long your exposures will be.
you will only get the "IR look" with ir film if you use the appropriate filter.

Jim Noel · Jul 11, 2016

What is your camera made of? Many plastics, cardboard, foam and thin wood will pass IR making them unusable with IR fillm.

TheToadMen · Jul 11, 2016

Jim Noel said:
What is your camera made of? Many plastics, cardboard, foam and thin wood will pass IR making them unusable with IR fillm.

Good point!

Besides that, I'm guessing the same filtering applies to pinhole cameras as to cameras with glass lenses.
And looooong exposure times is pretty standard in pinhole photography.

StoneNYC · Jul 11, 2016

You're going to need the R72 if you expect to get any IR "look" otherwise it will mostly be a normally exposed image. IR film is also sensitized to normal light. The dark red of the filter blocks the normal light.

Pinhole and IR don't really mix, it's going to be EXTREMELY long. Like 6 hours, not really worth it.

30 seconds will be 3 minutes, any longer than a 30 second read at ISO 1 and it's going to be really long... A normal 10 minute pinhole will be like 3 hours or something.

With the scarcity of that film I would use it got something less experimental. That said, do what you want. It's your film.

TheToadMen · Jul 11, 2016

StoneNYC said:
With the scarcity of that film I would use it got something less experimental. That said, do what you want. It's your film.

And show us the results, please!!!

OeT · Jul 11, 2016

Thank you guys

I am using one of my Travelwide cameras hopefully it will be IR tight.
I tried to google for exposure compensation for R72 filter and and it varies from 5-16 stops depending on where you read.
Freestyle says to rate the film at 1 - 1.5 ISO with filter on.
Had no idea this film was getting hard to find, I bought a 50-pack on a whime some years ago and it's been waiting in the freezer since then.

So taking in account the pinhole, the filter and reciprocity (witch I need to look up) the exposure time might get a little to long.

TheToadMen · Jul 11, 2016

Find a very sunny day and just try one sheet. It's already paid for and sleeping in the freezer isn't the best use of this film.

kier · Jul 11, 2016

What is this about pinhole not working with IR???

https://www.flickr.com/photos/11058938@N06/albums/72157627206886748
http://fslashd.com/2016/04/inspiration-week-of-425/ (last image in set, 2 minute exposure)

I need someone knowledgeable in pinhole IR to interview, been needing to get on this for a while. Might reach out to Delio (first link) about it.

pdeeh · Jul 11, 2016

I don't think anyone has said it won't work, kier?

kier · Jul 11, 2016

StoneNYC said "Pinhole and IR don't really mix, it's going to be EXTREMELY long. Like 6 hours, not really worth it."

So he didn't say "It won't work", but, close enough

pdeeh · Jul 11, 2016

Oh, OK ... well I don't read stoneNYC's posts

scheimfluger_77 · Jul 11, 2016

Just bring a book or something, along with a chair. I think I had exposures in the 20-30 minute range usually. I usually use a 720nm filter, but have a 680 I want to try, just for a little visible light to help the shadows.

StoneNYC · Jul 11, 2016

kier said:
StoneNYC said "Pinhole and IR don't really mix, it's going to be EXTREMELY long. Like 6 hours, not really worth it."

So he didn't say "It won't work", but, close enough

It will work, but because the OP only has one box, the experimenting with the times will "waste" a lot.

Also there's "capturing an image" and "capturing a good image". Different things.

Pdeeh might be the smart one

Like I said, it's the OP's film, hope they make the best of it, wish they had some 8x10, I'm running low...

dasBlute · Jul 12, 2016

Yeah Delio does a bit! 15 min exposure ain't bad for pinhole, I've had worse

Jim Jones · Jul 12, 2016

For the pinhole perfectionist, recalculating the optimum pinhole diameter for IR photography might be worthwhile. Many years ago I tested pinhole cameras with panchromatic, IR, and blue sensitive film and confirmed that optimizing the pinhole for such films does make a small, but measureable, difference.

kier · Jul 12, 2016

Jim Jones said:
For the pinhole perfectionist, recalculating the optimum pinhole diameter for IR photography might be worthwhile. Many years ago I tested pinhole cameras with panchromatic, IR, and blue sensitive film and confirmed that optimizing the pinhole for such films does make a small, but measureable, difference.

Probably some truth to this. The nm wavelength of the light to be captured is a factor in the calculation of the optimal pinhole. Generally pinholes are calculated with an "average" wavelength, so it may be beneficial to use the IR wavelength for an IR pinhole.

kier · Jul 27, 2016

Hi All -
As promised, I had Delio write up an article on IR pinhole.
http://fslashd.com/2016/07/pinhole-infrared-by-delio-ansovini/

(yes this is a dupe post from what I shared in the ƒ/D articles thread, but felt it was warranted from the topic of this thread)

James Guerin · Aug 10, 2016

Hi,
Here's a 2 min exposure..(R72 I think, f/138)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BITZF09h7KV/?taken-by=pinholecanon

mooseontheloose · Aug 10, 2016

That's a good one James! I can't wait to explore more with infrared and pinhole when I get back to Japan.

railwayman3 · Aug 10, 2016

OeT said:
Had no idea this film was getting hard to find, I bought a 50-pack on a whime some years ago and it's been waiting in the freezer since then.

The Efke factory closed completely a few years ago, so all Efke films are becoming scarce (check the prices being asked on Ebay for out-of-date stuff ! ).
I'm keeping my modest stocks in the freezer for special occasions !

kier · Aug 11, 2016

James Guerin said:
Hi,
Here's a 2 min exposure..(R72 I think, f/138)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BITZF09h7KV/?taken-by=pinholecanon

Well done!!

Need some advice on shooting infrared with a pinhole

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