Which organisations would use a lot of Kodak HIE (IR) film?

[PeterB]

I'm beginning with the assumption that Kodak is still continuing to manufacture their 35mm HIE film because they make money from it.
With very few individuals now regularly using this film, surely certain organisations must be using a lot of it for something?
Does anyone know who may be using it in bulk - schools/colleges ? Forensic Labs ? I have no idea, but would love to know out of curiosity.
Surely Kodak aren't continuing to make it for altruistic reasons (i.e. to placate those avid users of it who only buy it in hobby quantities) What have I missed?

At one stage I seem to remember that it was being used to detect forgeries.

I recently saw a TV documentary discuss a 'new infrared digital' camera that could detect forgeries in art by picking up whether or not "carbon black" pigments had been used to sketch out a scene prior to painting it in oil. It was being used to determine if Rembrandt 'copies' were in fact not copies at all but originals.
http://www.beyondtomorrow.com.au/stories/ep43/rembrandts.html

regards

Peter

 

[colrehogan]

I think that the U.S. Forestry Service uses both HIE (b/w IR) and EIR (color IR) films. They use it in aerial surveys of forested areas. The EIR shows healty versus diseased foliage. I don't know if they use the HIE in a similar capacity.

 

[mgb74]

Years ago I used IR slide film for aerial photography of lakes to highlight emergent and submerged vegetation. Combined it with regular daylight slide film to better show shoreline conditions (two matching bodies and lenses in a homemade frame - crude, but it worked).

 

[winger]

It is possible to use HIE to see gunshot residue particles around a wound area on dark objects (like the black sweatshirts I always get for evidence). But I don't know of any forensic labs here that would do it this way. There's a chemical transfer test (called a Griess test) that gets used in most places. I've only seen it used in the Alaska crime lab and that was 'cause they were playing around (and it was 14 years ago).

I would think arial surveillance would use most of it - and think military, too.

 

[PeterB]

I would think arial surveillance would use most of it - and think military, too.

I wonder what advantages HIE would offer over digital IR. Unfortunately I can think of plenty of disadvantages (despite being pro HIE - my reasons for liking and using it are different than those reasons I'd expect to be held by the military or forestry departments.)
It would be more of a hassle to preview the IR effects on a scene (especially at night) using HIE. It also needs to be loaded and unloaded in total darkness.

Anyway, I'm glad HIE is still being made for now.

regards
Peter

 

[Dr David Hall]

Winger....."anal surveillance"?

 

[PeterB]

Winger....."anal surveillance"?

LOL. Winger actually typed "a r i a l surveillance" !!

the correct spelling aerial would have caused less confusion.

 

[winger]

I have so much cr*p on my desk at work, I'm surprised I didn't type something much worse! I usually am better at spelling than at typing, too.

 

[Photo Engineer]

The US military uses a lot of IR films, both color and B&W. Digital IR is not 'false color' and includes more visible light than is useful for detection purposes.

So, even though digital IR is useful, it is not as useful as the analog variety.

PE

 

[PeterB]

The US military uses a lot of IR films, both color and B&W. Digital IR is not 'false color' and includes more visible light than is useful for detection purposes. So, even though digital IR is useful, it is not as useful as the analog variety.
PE

I would have thought that in both cases (dig and analog), a IR pass filter such as 89B (R72) would have been used to block out much of the visible spectrum - at least with HIE.

Peter

 

[Sparky]

I wonder what advantages HIE would offer over digital IR.

REZ-A-LUSHUN.
I'd imagine.

Also - an 89 filter over a digital sensor would probably drop the effective film speed FAR below what film can offer.

 

[Photo Engineer]

I would have thought that in both cases (dig and analog), a IR pass filter such as 89B (R72) would have been used to block out much of the visible spectrum - at least with HIE.

Peter

Peter;

You are correct for B&W, but analog color IR film is false color, ie the colors are shifted to longer wavelengths rendering objects with specific IR emissions differently. This is not the case with digital. Digital color sensors are all picking up the IR (if visible is mostly removed) and therefore you get a mixed real and false color image or you get a B&W image if you remove color.

PE