Infared B&W photography

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I have recently discovered the world of B/w Infared photography. Anybody out there with suggestions to what brand of film to use?

-- Anonymous, February 14, 1997

Answers

Q: do's and don'ts for IR film?

I too would like to try infrared B&W. Would anyone like to comment on "obvious" do's & don'ts that might not be obvious to someone who's never used IR film before? The only difference from regular B&W I know is the change in focal plane for IR in the camera. Anything else we should be aware of to avoid total over or under exposure of film? Are there any web sites with info on using IR B&W film? C.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 1997

IR Film Developing Sugestion

One suggestion for developing IR film: do everything in the dark from film loading through fixer. The film tanks are not light tight to IR.

Ted

-- Anonymous, February 17, 1997


Developing IR film

Actually, I've been developing the Kodak IR film in plastic tanks (the Paterson ones) for about seven years now, and have never had a problem with light leakage. Perhaps if you let the film sit in the tank in a sunny room for a few hours you might get leakage but I normally process the film as soon as I load it in the tank.

-- Anonymous, March 09, 1997

re: infrared films

I've had great success with Kodak's IR film. I've used Ilford's but Kodak's seems to have abit more tonal range. I've used it in my medium format cameras and recently started shooting IR in a plastic Holga toy camera, pinhole cameras and some box Brownies that take #120 and #620 films with interesting results. I use a red filter and treat the film as if it were iso100 but when taking long exposures the reciprocity factor is very strange compared to conventional emulsions. I process it in 2 parts water:1 part D76 which gives a fairly fine grain. Get a couple of rolls, shoot with it and have some fun.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 1997

B&W infrared

There are three choices to pick: Konica B&W 750nm infrared Kodak High Speed infrared Ilford (I forgot the name)

The Ilford in not an infrared sensitive film. It simulates infrared sesitivity.

Kodak is a very sensitive film to use. The infrared sensitivity is high. Do not load this film in the light.

Konica's film is sesitive down to 750nm wavelengths. It is a lot easier to hamdle.

Use both Konica and Kodak infrared with a deep red filter.

Your light meter will NOT be able to read infrared light so you will be estimating. Hopefully you will get an info sheet with the film.

Otherwise, guess at 1/30s @ f5.6 on a sunny day.

-- Anonymous, February 16, 1997



I've had some fairly good results with Kodak's IR film in 35mm. It is important to load and unload in complete darkness and a changing bag is needed in the field. I prefer the grainy infrared look and generally try to overexpose. I set the meter to ASA 200, take a reading and then bracket towards overexposure. According to Laurie White in her book "Infrared Photography Handbook", 1/125 at f11 is a good place to start. I have gotten good results by using this on a sunny day as well as by metering at ASA 200. If you are interested in a good introduction, I highly recommend Ms. White's book. There are also a couple of internet sites on IR photography including one with FAQs. Unfortunately I don't have the addresses handy. Enjoy!

-- Anonymous, February 17, 1997

I have never used IR film, but have been told that if your camera has a cloth shutter IR film will not work. The cloth shutter does not keep out enough light. I did see an example of this with a friend of mine.

-- Anonymous, March 27, 1997

Kodak HIE is the only "true" infrared commercially available. Konica 750 is close and can give IR effects. It is also the only 120 size IR film. Ilford SFX 200 and Agfa are extended red sensitive. Treat HIE as 200 to 600 metering through the lens with a #25 red filter and 125 with a hand held meter. Do not figure any further filter factor. I treat Konica as ISO 12 using a hand held meter and a #25 filter.

-- Anonymous, May 16, 1997

My exerience has been with Kodak film and this is what I've tried with some success. I must however note that I'm new to infrared as well. I usually set the film speed to 1/200 and bracket my exposure from f/5.6-f/11. I also try and shoot in the middle of a sunny day. I also use a #25 filter. These are the guidelines I started with and go by. They are in no way a definitive nor scientific method for shooting infrared. The best thing is to play with it and see what your results are.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 1997

I use Kodak High Speed infrared film in a Leica M3 rangefinder camera with a #29 deep red filter and lens cap. I keep the lens capped until I actually make the exposure. The Leica allows me to view the scene sharply when the lens is focussed for IR because only the RF patch changes. When I use the reloadable Leica cassettes, I find I can load the camera under low light with no fogging since they use an opening slit instead of felt. My usual exposure in summer, under bright sun (North America) is 1/250 at f 11. I find my negatives are a lot less grainy than most I see published. They are developed in FG-7 1:15 for about 9 min. at 68 degrees F. Be careful of using OM series cameras for IR. I got patterns on the film from the pressure plate dimples. So it seems a lot easier to use a RF.

-- Anonymous, August 05, 1997


I recently bought a bulkpack of 150ft of Kodak's IR b/w. I found it is good to rate it at 200 ASA. The 'Infra-red photography handbook' by Laurie White is a good reference and it explained why Kodak's is different from Konica's. Kodak's is regarded as the "true" IR film. In Ms. White's book it also explain the factors which contribute the availability of IR. Which is a good guideline apart from our handheld meter. I found at clear sky of mid-day in Vancouver is close to 200ASA,1/125 F11 with #25 red. Development in D76 according to instruction.

-- Anonymous, December 16, 1997

Hi There. Why don't you just use the SF 200 IR-Film with the standard ID-11 developer. I allways had good results. as allready said in other answers, it is very important that the film is never erver exposed to some other light,...it is exteamly sensitive. Also pay atention that the temperatur between exposing and developing is low enough.

-- Anonymous, January 21, 1998

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