Where can I get ir glass? (infrared pass)
 

Hey, just thought I'd throw this out there. I had a guy tell me that he bought ir glass to use over lights (for nightshot filming of seaturtles... think "survivor"...) anyway, he said for way under $20...

So far all I can find is stuff in the range of $200 for 4" x 4" filters or the usual price range of around $100 for small filters... meaning 58mm or so...

So does anybody on here know where you can buy cheap infrared glass? I know this other guy does, but he isn't saying.

I doubt the $20 figure unless he's found someone that doesn't know what they have.

Maybe deep red filter gels although I think they fade after a while. Or the deep red glass used in stained glass.

Really accurate IR filters, not the green glass used to filter out IR, but IR band-pass filters tend to be fairly expensive. I used to buy them a long time ago and even by today's terms, they would be expensive.

Might kick around some aviation surplus stores and see if you can find some nose-cones from old air-to-air missiles.

Try Edmund's Scientific. Sometimes they have optical bits at a reasonable price.

Matt, I think the large glass filter I found of rthe turtle guy was surplus -- can't find it now. However, you can get filters specifically made for flashlights for about $20 --

http://www.vtoptics.com/Merchant2/me...gory_Code=5000

The more expensive filters are optical glass, for use as a camera filter.

Don't scoff at the flashlight idea until you've tried it. What I was trying to point out with your previous effort was that the lamp was way overkill -- you don't need much infrared power to expose. A good strong Xenon flashlight with one of these filters will illuminate quite a bit with IR.

Or go buy a bunch of IR LEDs. Sony makes a fairly bright IR illuminator that plugs into any of their cameras with a smart shoe. Uses 4 LEDs behind a red plastic shield that also adds some filtering. AFAIK, they are just red LEDs.

That could be a cheap to build and cheap to run IR illuminator.

The Sony unit will allow NightShot to reach out about 100 feet.

John and Mike... thank you for your replies!

John, I was feeling extremely frustrated when you put a note in your other reply mentioning the use of "IR glass filters that cost $12"... 'cause I spent 2 hours trying to find anything even remotely close to that and as I said, the closest I got was $200 for a 4" x 4"... so thanks for clearing that up. The link you just posted is GREAT... I'll try out one of those spotlight filters... I'm assuming it's 4" diameter anyway and $50 is close enough to "cheap" for a filter that size... the ONLY concern I have is the material they specify is surely plastic... I just hope it's not just a gel on top of normal plastic... I'd be miffed if it was just a normal flashlight plastic sandwiching a gel... but it doesn't sound like it is... so I'll order one tomorrow. Thanks.

Mike, I bought that Sony model over a year ago and it doesn't work like they say it does. The onboard led of the cam illuminates 10' at best... if you need any level of detail aside from a "discernable image"... with the hotshoe IR they sell it extends to about 25' at best... the only real benefit of the hotshoe light is that it BROADENS the projection a bit as it doubles the range. The onboard ir leds make a very hot center that falls off quickly... the hotshoe light still has a hot center, but with a softer edge.

I've found numerous places to buy complete IR LED lights... but my other post was to explain how it's possible to take the use of nightshot to a whole 'nother level... There is NO DOUBT that a 300w lamp is way overkill for this... 100w would even be pushing it... but the point was that you can use your nightshot EXACTLY as you would use your cam in perfect normal lighting conditions when you do this... it works so well that most people will think you just used a normal day shot and changed it in post... until they see the zombie eyes... alla Survivor.

I guess a lot of people won't see the point of this... it's just an issue of quality... actually I think people expect the nightshot look to appear pretty rough... I realize that on Survivor, for instance, that it would probably take away from the intimate feel of the night scenes if the whole camp was "illuminated"... or if when people are off in the dark woods maybe it would be bad if you could see EVERYTHING around them... but then again, maybe not?

I just want people to know what's possible and realize that they can do things they didn't think they could. This little trick is no minor detail if you are in need of the highest possible quality video out of TOTAL DARKNESS.

For anybody into nature video this is a real find... for $5.50 you can get a sheet of Lee Blood Red (#789) and make as many of those flashlight filters as you want AND have enough left over to make some really serious nightshot lights... a 100w worklight will evenly light a HUGE area... I'm talking literally 20 TIMES the area that the Sony hotshoe jobbie does... for a fourth the price and no camcorder battery drain... I guarantee even a Maglight with two layers of Lee Blood Red will SMOKE the hotshoe light in performance.

Hey, if anybody tries this and is impressed with the information PLEASE add a reply... I have a lot of tricks and sources that I want to share with you guys... but if I get the impression that nobody really wants this information then I'll keep it... I've made numerous posts asking for help and info, but 90% of the time I find answers to things by experimenting... when I find an answer to something I wanted to know I expect there to be others who'd like that answer too... Does anybody else care about this crap?

I've used nightshot with the Sony illuminator when riding with the police at night. I can illuminate a deep back yard with the setup.

SuperNightShot is even brighter if a bit jerky.

I guess we're having different experiences with our Sonys, Mike. Aside from my "good" cam... a Panny... my Sony is the trv17... not really a high-end model. Original retail was $1100 2.5 years ago... so not a bad cam, but not their best. Anyway the accessory nightshot light I bought is the one that's like $70 that has two rows of leds surrounding a low-watt white light in the center... it's got the little dial that lets you choose IR, standard light, or off... I'm sure you've seen the one.

Anyway, it works okay, but no comparison to the other solutions I'm talking about above. In my experience if I have a little light on the scene from streetlight spill or windows, I can get a semi-acceptable image to 25'... if on the other hand it's pitch-black, the Sony IR light I bought is not performing like your combo.

Also when I switch to Super NightShot on my cam it goes to a shutter of like 1/10th or something... ANY normal motion results in a blurry-beyond-recognition image... if the cam is still then it's super bright though... then if somebody moves through the scene they look like a blurry ghost. The trv17 uses a 1/4" chip and a 30mm lens with a normal min lux of 7 or so... so more then likely you have a better cam that's getting more punch from the NightShot.

Darkroom safelight covers.
 

I know this thread is a year old, but I have something to add
You can get black IR glass covers around 4 or 5" round from Kodak who sells them for darkrooms. I have a couple and they are pretty cheap. They still make them new I think and are around $50 to $80.

I also have a couple of IR glass domed covers that were used for military cars. I forget where I got them from years ago, probably edumunds scientific or some military surplus store.