# Self-Made Infrared-Filter using Slide Film?



## Oneirophile (Sep 14, 2010)

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I stumbled upon this guide to create your own Infrared-filter:

Create your own IR filter :: Photocritic photography blog

I'm wondering whether anyone has tried this, and how their experiences with it are. Also my goal is a slightly different one than described in the article, but I guess if one thing works, the other should, too ... ?

I will be using a camcorder with night vision for a certain project, ore to be more specific, people will be using it and carry no other light source with them. Hence they are supposed to be using the camcorder as a night scope, while filming. Yet the built-in IR-light isn't exactly strong. I would like to give them an additional pocket light that emits only IR-light. Would it be possible to 'convert' a normal pocket light into an IR-pocket light, using the method described in the article (or a ready-made IR-filter) ?

Thank you!


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## Helen B (Sep 14, 2010)

Yes, it works. There will still be some light passing through the developed slide film as well as the IR radiation, so the flashlight will appear as a dull light source to a human observer.

Best,
Helen


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## Oneirophile (Sep 14, 2010)

Some visible light passing through you think? Mhh ... the thing is, I want to do everything I can to make people choose the LCD of the camcorder over simply looking around with their eyes. :???:

It's for an art project of sorts, people are in a dark environment (not pitch black but very dark, some parts are outdoors) and it would be a pity if they preferred just walking around shining their dim pocket light instead of actually using the night vision of the camcorder (hence pointing it in the direction of the things their are looking at and improving the quality of the resulting footage)

The light the LCD itself emits is another issue ... they could just turn the camcorder around and use it as pocket light, which again would be missing the point of using night vision. I thought about darkening the display with some colored transparent foil. (I don't think I could let them use the viewfinder, as it's way too tiny and no one in their right mind would use it on this model unless they were trying to save battery power)


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## Helen B (Sep 14, 2010)

Oneirophile said:


> Some visible light passing through you think?



Depending on the brightness of the flashlight it may not be enough light to see by, but enough to be seen as a light source. This may not affect your project, by the sound of it.

Best,
Helen

PS All light is visible, that's the definition of 'light'.


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## Oneirophile (Sep 15, 2010)

Yeah that's not gonna be a problem. Looks like I'm just gonna have to do some experiments with it.:goodvibe:

Are there other things a night vision mode would see but the human eye would not? Like a fluorescent paint that only glows in infrared? So that people could be using the camcorder as a 'detector' of sorts for some kind of hidden marks?


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## Oneirophile (Sep 29, 2011)

Oneirophile said:


> The light the LCD itself emits is another issue ... they could just turn the camcorder around and use it as pocket light, which again would be missing the point of using night vision. I thought about darkening the display with some colored transparent foil. (I don't think I could let them use the viewfinder, as it's way too tiny and no one in their right mind would use it on this model unless they were trying to save battery power)



Now that I've come back to this forum, I might as well give an update: The project went down last year, I didn't find a good way to darken the display, and people did exactly what I was worried about - they used the camcorder as a pocket light by turning around the display. Hence some groups didn't bother checking the display ever again and even messed up the zoom, stopped the recording and so on ... :er:

There's gonna be another installment of the project for this Halloween, and I still haven't found a fix for the problem. I really should give it another go though ... So this is the camcorder:







I tried setting it up to the lowest LCD-brightness but that doesn't change a thing regarding the light it emits, only darkens the image itself and hence is pretty pointless.

I wonder if there's anything else I could try ... I could just "forbid" them to turn around the display ... or somehow lock it in place. But that's kind of lame ... it's not really a question of photography-knowledge at this point, I guess, more a question of smart ideas in general ... but I'm sure it doesn't hurt to post this.


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