Infra Red at DVinfo.net

Paul Grove · September 19th, 2004, 02:47 PM

Hi all - purchased an XM2 (GL2) and am very pleased (apart from Canon having to sort out the infernal 'bleeding red' problem).

I want to try some shooting in the dark, and would like to emulate the 'night shot' facility as on the Sonys ... is this possible? Is it a question of just buying a filter and an IR illuminator? Any good suppliers?

Thanks!

Rob Lohman · September 20th, 2004, 04:49 AM

Do you want to really shoot in the dark or just emulate the look?
There are lots of post process plugins that do the latter.

I'm not sure the first is possible since the camera's have IR-cut
filters and I'm not sure a seperate IR filter will somehow help with
this. Can it shift the IR range to normal light or something (don't
think this is possible?)?

I have seen special IR "lenses" or attachments that you attach
to a camera and require power (to convert the signal) and these
where very expensive.

By the way, I'm pretty sure the bleeding red problem is not due
to Canon but the way DV encoding works.

Paul Grove · September 20th, 2004, 05:05 AM

Thanks for the reply - I'd be shooting in darkness (ghost hunting, no less). May be chaeaper perhaps to buy a cheap secondhand Sony!

Interesting comment about the red issue - I was on a film course and compared the XM2 to a Sony VX1000; the latter did seem more able to cope with reds.

Paul.

Rob Lohman · September 20th, 2004, 05:18 AM

Keep in mind that the Canon's are balanced (out of the box) more
towards red than the Sony's (more towards blue). This is a known
fact. So you should see this problem more easy on a Canon than
on a Sony since it displays reds earlier. If you want to really
compare shoot something that is really read on both camera's.

Ofcourse I might be wrong, but I think I also saw this happen
when I converted a still photo (I took with a digital 2mp still
camera) to DV on my computer and a red spot had that artifact
which it didn't before when it was still a JPEG.

I'd say get a cheaper Sony might be a better way indeed. Then
again there might be something cheap on the market (although
I doubt it).

Andre De Clercq · September 20th, 2004, 05:58 AM

Some cams have a "nightshot"position. This physically removes the IR cut filter. If you want to avoid the visble spectrum too (if it's not perfectly dark) then you could add a IR pass filter and /or add extra IR lighting.

September 19th, 2004, 02:47 PM	#1
Paul Grove Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Liss, Hampshire, UK Posts: 67	Infra Red Hi all - purchased an XM2 (GL2) and am very pleased (apart from Canon having to sort out the infernal 'bleeding red' problem). I want to try some shooting in the dark, and would like to emulate the 'night shot' facility as on the Sonys ... is this possible? Is it a question of just buying a filter and an IR illuminator? Any good suppliers? Thanks!

September 20th, 2004, 04:49 AM	#2
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Do you want to really shoot in the dark or just emulate the look? There are lots of post process plugins that do the latter. I'm not sure the first is possible since the camera's have IR-cut filters and I'm not sure a seperate IR filter will somehow help with this. Can it shift the IR range to normal light or something (don't think this is possible?)? I have seen special IR "lenses" or attachments that you attach to a camera and require power (to convert the signal) and these where very expensive. By the way, I'm pretty sure the bleeding red problem is not due to Canon but the way DV encoding works. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

September 20th, 2004, 05:18 AM	#4
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Keep in mind that the Canon's are balanced (out of the box) more towards red than the Sony's (more towards blue). This is a known fact. So you should see this problem more easy on a Canon than on a Sony since it displays reds earlier. If you want to really compare shoot something that is really read on both camera's. Ofcourse I might be wrong, but I think I also saw this happen when I converted a still photo (I took with a digital 2mp still camera) to DV on my computer and a red spot had that artifact which it didn't before when it was still a JPEG. I'd say get a cheaper Sony might be a better way indeed. Then again there might be something cheap on the market (although I doubt it). __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

September 20th, 2004, 05:05 AM	#3
Paul Grove Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Liss, Hampshire, UK Posts: 67	Thanks for the reply - I'd be shooting in darkness (ghost hunting, no less). May be chaeaper perhaps to buy a cheap secondhand Sony! Interesting comment about the red issue - I was on a film course and compared the XM2 to a Sony VX1000; the latter did seem more able to cope with reds. Paul.

September 20th, 2004, 05:58 AM	#5
Andre De Clercq Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Belgium Posts: 804	Some cams have a "nightshot"position. This physically removes the IR cut filter. If you want to avoid the visble spectrum too (if it's not perfectly dark) then you could add a IR pass filter and /or add extra IR lighting.