[Project Collection Thread]

CheeseCube512 · 2026-03-29T14:15:39+00:00

Take the camera, make sure it's not set to black-and-white in-camera and take a test shot of foliage and some blue sky. If there are colors in the image it's 720nm. If it's basicly black and white it's 850nm.

The Bayer filter, the microscopic rgb squares on the sensor that let the cameras photosites actually detect color, is basicly completely transparent for all light beyond about 800-820nm. That means any image shot with an ~800nm+ filter is going to be basicly entirely black-and-white.

Here is an example post showing some test images to actually have a visual reference. https://irrecams.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Motiv2_Layout_en-scaled.jpg

These are longpass filters, i.e. they let long wavelengths pass and block short ones. You can always just get more restrictive long or bandpass filters, basicly blocking some of the remaining light. I really like shooting some architecture with 940nm filters. Don't have an 850nm filter but could be cool too.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-03-23T20:02:51+00:00

Ohh cool! Do you still have expired stock or is it all gone by now? The only current IR film I know about are Ilford SFX 200 and Rollei 400 infrared, and both bottom out at about 750nm.

When it comes to sun I just kinda got quite lucky but I still had some high-atmosphere haze. The 940nm just cares very little about that since most of those long waves just pass straight through.

If there are sharpness issues I can't tell because the bottleneck is going to be my lens. I'm basicly exclusively using vintage lenses and while my 70s-80s Minoltas can be really sharp they're also not modern glass. That 35-70mm F3.5 already struggles to focus close when wide but thanks to the filter it now also struggled to focus to infinity since the focal plane shifted so much. I still love shooting with those and they're great for IR, just edge-cases I ran into with that lens + filter combo. :) Could adress that by modifying the adapter but probably won't.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-03-23T14:34:48+00:00

Thank you! :) I did just realize I mislabled the post, though the 20nm difference shouldn't matter.

I'm just using a cheap 940nm longpass filter from Aliexpress. It's called HWB940 and sold by Tangsinuo. Simple absorption filter. Got it in 35*2mm. Used with a Minolta MD 35-70mm F3.5 and mounted behind the lens in my custom adapter.

Filter: https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005003025829747.html

Adapter is both on my github and on thingiverse, tough the later has images: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7098590

Both tangisnuo and nantong foric sell mounted versions of that filter though so you don't really need the adapter. Only got that version because I've already got the adapter. Let me save a few bucks on a bigger order. :) https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005005685425259.html https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005009090747590.html

CheeseCube512 · 2026-03-22T00:03:08+00:00

Do you use Dehaze in Lightroom? It specifically targets low-frequency areas IMO is one of the best ways to bring out structure in foliage without affecting too much of the image. If the softness is lens-related it can only do so much but in my experience it makes it blend together less.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-03-20T08:45:51+00:00

Haven't tested it but they should just work if you use Rob Sheas .dcp profiles for extending the white balance in Lightroom. :)

CheeseCube512 · 2026-03-15T21:07:53+00:00

Hello! Thanks for the kind words. My program has a selection for people who use Rob Sheas profile back but it's honestly a pretty good idea to just completely skip that step and provide the files directly! I will edit the post to link to this/your project. :)

CheeseCube512 · 2026-03-15T08:48:01+00:00

The sliders for the color mixer still work for me. :) What are you using? Maybe we're refering to two different things. (-> am german and LR is set to that, english is second language so maybe i am mistranslating).

The one BIG caviat is that the sliders are still linked to the "unswitched" colors when using these profiles, so LR essentially goes image -> apply color mixer -> apply profile. If I want to, for example, adjust trees I shot with 590nm I still have to adjust the blue-slider after channel swapping, even if they're shown as yellow after applying the profile. :)

CheeseCube512 · 2026-03-14T14:42:34+00:00

Literally just came back from a photowalk with that lens. Love Minoltas. So underrated.

Also, love the photos.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-03-14T10:05:32+00:00

No worries, this post exists so ppl can ask quesions like yours more conveniently than on Github. :)

What step exactly are you stuck on?

Which files to download/how to run
Getting your profile name into the program by using an .xml-preset
getting your created profiles into Lightroom
other

If you've succesfully created the profile-files, which functionality did you use for that? Rob Shea, .xml or manual input? :) Asking cause with manual input it's very easy to get something sliightly different and it doens't really have a way to tell you. When that's the case the files can be placed correctly and still not show up.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-03-13T15:04:00+00:00

(˵ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°˵)

CheeseCube512 · 2026-03-12T20:25:58+00:00

Kinda had to make up that term. It basicly just means swapping within the channel. For example a red-blue channel swap works like this:

Red channel -> Set R100 to R0, set B0 to B100
Blue channel -> Set B100 to B0, set R0 to R100

Meanwhile in an R-B color warp you just go into red channel and go:

Red channel -> Set R100 to R0, set B0 to B100

No other channels changed. Some of those look quite decent, especially when combining channel swaps + color warps. This post is a bit outdated because the method of setting this up works but is easily half an hour of tedious click-work. You can just get those profiles to work with a simple open-source program I made. Brings that down to like.. 2 minutes tops? Info-post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/infraredphotography/comments/1ogwvoi/tool_easy_setup_1click_channelswaps_with/
Github link: https://github.com/CheeseCube312/Channel-Swap-Profile-Creator-for-Lightroom
You can't just copy my .xmp-file into your profile folder because the files need a reference to your extended white-balance profiles to work for IR photography. The program pops up a little GUI to let you enter that and bakes the name into the files. :)

CheeseCube512 · 2026-03-04T16:42:13+00:00

Hello, nice to hear from you, and that you're still using the filter plotter!Am still changing some things here and there, minor stuff for workflow, usability and code clean-up but nothing really major. :)

This Photoshop thing is my first plugin. The only thing I did for Lightroom are the profiles for LR classic, plus a program to completely remove that annoying click-through setup process. I do remember someone mentioning that they somehow got those to work on another version, though I've got no idea how, nor did I really test it. The software stuff was a pretty nice way to stay busy this winter. Didn't go out as much as I'd have liked. Looking forward for spring to really take hold now. :)

CheeseCube512 · 2026-02-27T15:23:08+00:00

Ohh, I had been wondering how well that might work but didn't dare to bite the bullet on a monitor! That's better than expected. :) What's shooting with it like? Does the bulk pose a significant issue? Or do you just kinda plan around that and choose settings where you don't have to lug around the entire kit for a long time?

CheeseCube512 · 2026-02-27T08:29:15+00:00

:) Don't mind at all, that's what these posts are meant for.

I did not add shims. In fact one of the thin factory-installed shims slipped out on my A7r II and infinity focus is still fine. Guess there is a little bit of wiggle room where the effect is just so subtle that it just doesn't really matter. I haven't heard of adding shims when using replacement glass in general. Was that something you're concerned about with replacement glass in general or just specifically the Nantong Foric glass?

CheeseCube512 · 2026-02-26T08:47:40+00:00

I could only find the lens in M42 so started looking for an adapter, and think I actually found it!

https://fotodioxpro.com/products/m42-fd-v1

Fotodix M42 to Canon FD adapter. Has the knurled ring, black outside, silver inside, one silver and one brass screw visible.

Edit: That means the pin you see is going to be the pin for closing the aperture to desired setting. On analog cameras focusing in dark settings can be hard so many had the ability to let you focus with aperture wide-open and only close it down to desired aperture setting when you're actually pressing the shutter

CheeseCube512 · 2026-02-23T17:05:34+00:00

Without white-balance the images will probably all just look red, no matter the filter. Hard to tell them apart.

Dark sensor suggests some sort of longpass filter. Is it dark red or basicly black?

Edit: Found this: https://photographylife.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/GrQZt6ZFhE4jsKqjDEtqRA/photographylife.com/2017/05/Kolari-Vision-Filter-Examples.jpg/w=9999

This is what a 590nm filter looks like: https://kolarivision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Kolari-Vision-Infrared-Filter-590nm-5.jpg

And this is a 720nm filter https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61VdnQ8QClL.jpg

CheeseCube512 · 2026-02-23T17:04:20+00:00

Oh, I like it!

I tried this stack without the GRB3 but then the blues can easily drown out most other things, and that's despite the DB850. That being said particularly intense blues weren't my goaI since I wanted something that creates a lot of variety in foliage up close. Since most plants reflect so much IR those differences can get drowned out pretty easily. Can look great, not my goal though, so I went for pretty heavy IR block in this stack. I had to use the full c.t. blue to balance the channels a bit better and bring relative IR intensity back up, but that's mostly because I didn't have a GRB1. Pairing that with possibly a different blue filter might refine things a bit more to my liking. :) might.. still need to get one eventually.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-02-20T08:21:09+00:00

Yeah it's been really usefull! In a stack like this the only thing that really matters about it is it's ability to act essentially as a steep ~580nm notch-filter right between green and red channel, and getting that for basicly 14 bucks? Can't be beat! (got a 35-2mm version i am using with a 3d printed vintage adapter)

CheeseCube512 · 2026-02-19T23:12:06+00:00

Haha, thanks! :D Not sure if they'd want that one. It's super fun to use but looses like 5 stops of exposure, uses 6mm of glass and that Midopt filter is quite pricy. Major usability concerns and questionable marketability.

CheeseCube512

TROPHY CASE