The manual of Canon EOS 30 says that IR films can not be used. Is there a trick to use these films with a EOS 30? What will happen if I try instead?

Thanks

-- Rainer Lodes (Rainer.Lodes@gmx.net), April 16, 2001

Answers

EOS cameras use infrared light and sensors in the film advance mechanism. To detect movement of the film the number of holes in the film is counted. This will cause some fogging of IR film. The problem seems to be limited to the surroundings of the sprockets. There is no way to overcome this. The advantage is that the positioning of the film is very accurate. Mid film rewind and re-use of the same film is therefore easy and reliable.

-- Jos van Eekelen (jos@compuserve.com), April 16, 2001.

As noted above, most of Canon's EOS cameras use an infrared diode for detecting film positioning rather than relying on mechanical pins in the film sprockets. This diode is located at the top of the film path and so fogs the lower edge of the film.

I don't have an EOS 30, but I do have the Canon Elan/EOS 100, which also demonstrates this problem. Take a look at:

http://grocible.com/00/infrared/

You'll notice the fogged lower edge in the first two photos. The third photo doesn't have a fogged edge because it happened to be the last shot on the roll and so didn't reach the diode, luckily enough. The only way to determine if the fogging on your particular camera is objectionable is to try it out, I'd say.

The warning in the manual really should be a bit more accurate - it doesn't mean that you can't use IR film at all or

-- NK Guy (tela@tela.bc.ca), April 18, 2001.

I have heard rumor that the Konica 750 IR film does not fog due to the IR film advance sensor. I have never tried it, so don't take my word for it. The Ilford SFX 200 might be your safest bet. It works best with a Red 29 filter. It does not give that true IR look, but it has a nice IR "wanna be" look without the IR+EOS=problems equation.

-- Roger (rashrader@hotmail.com), April 18, 2001.

I once tried Konica 750 IR with my EOS 500N and had no fogging. Never tried it with the EOS 30.

-- Sabrina (sabrina1.mueller@gmx.de), April 19, 2001.