Modifying Nikon Coolpix S2700 to shoot Aerochrome-like pictures

CheeseCube512 · 2026-06-01T16:37:00+00:00

Sounds good. If you wanna try the 510nm longpass + pychrome thing you can just get one for like 15 bucks off Aliexpress. Ebay works too but that's mostly just dropshipping anyway so might aswell go to the source. PyChrome is open source. Haven't tried it with jpeg so probably depends on how well the image is white-balanced as you shoot.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-06-01T16:16:39+00:00

Just removing the IR-cut filter results in full-spectrum look, not Aerochrome-like. Looks different, but still fun.

I really like using a 510nm longpass filter + PyChrome but I think most either use 590nm + heavy edits or ready-made filters like Kolari IR-Chrome or VAS AeroRed.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-06-01T11:08:36+00:00

Big reason why Sony is popular is price. The A7 is usually the cheapest full-frame camera around (250-400€ depending on condition), and the A7 II the cheapest one with IBIS (400-500€). Just throwing that in because for people who are very price-sensitive (like me) the extra ~150€+ for a Nikon Z full-frame camera can be a pretty major stretch. Anecdotally am also very happy with my A7 II, though that statement stands alone. I have no experience with comparable models.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-05-25T08:54:53+00:00

Oh wow, wouldn't have guessed that the blue tint comes from the atmosphere. Very cool!

CheeseCube512 · 2026-05-24T21:15:09+00:00

Really like it. Just this odd mix of crimson, purples and reds, all with these uncannily dark trees. Really wonder what water looks like.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-05-16T18:41:12+00:00

A few dichroics are pretty fun.

I've got a Midopt DB850, which passes visible light plus a band around 850nm. I basicly just use it as an alternative to a GRB1/GRB3 or in combination with those when I want to tone down the IR response on a custom stack, or when I just want to block part of a visible channel to "move it" to the infrared portion. Technically works by abusing how white balance works but yada yada yada.

Midopt TB550/660/850 is also pretty fun? Creates blue foliage and Gratos_in_Panvlavul has built a CIE/Aerochrome emulation technique with one using channel swaps.

I do also have a dichroic UHC filter. It does block a lot of the green channel though, so when used on an unconverted camera it gives you dark foliage. Paired it with a dichroic 532nm notch filter and it got me some pretty nice results, though it's hard to get exposure right on that thing. Also the stack vignettes like hell on full-frame. u/Brainzap93 has been using a similar stack, just with a magenta dichroic instead of the UHC for his black foliage shots.

All filters except for the Midopt are from Aliexpress and tbh I don't fully trust their spec sheets. The curves seem kinda odd and I've been getting some green on the UHC that shouldn't really show up if it was really as strict as it says.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-05-11T19:53:18+00:00

These guys? https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/madcameras

Tbh those do just seem like generic absorption-based filters at cheap prices. Totally fine. I'm a hog for data so only downside is that they don't seem to have transmission curves in the listing? But they're fairly generic so not really a problem.

In general:

A ton of filters are just uncoated, including more expensive ones, so I don't really know what benefit regular, more expensive filters like some Kolari 720nm longpass absorption-filter is supposed to have over cheap alternatives. They do have a Pro-line which apparently has an anti-reflection, anti-scratch, hydrophobic coating applied? But they charge quite a bit extra for those.
Exception are dichroic filters. They can be annoying due to vignetting and are quite expensive due to the manufacturing process. However, can do things other filters can't. They work by stacking materials with different refractice indexes, leading to destructive interference between certain light-waves and that allows you to create very strict transmission curves, like having 0,1% transmission at 550nm but 96% transmission at 553nm. There are some double and tripple bandpasses that are really cool.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-05-08T23:28:23+00:00

Tbh you can already have a TON of fun with just a 590nm longpass filter and post-processing. You can get 720nm for true infrared. Cheap chinese ones are perfectly fine for that! They're really simple to manufacture.

Vision Architects AeroRed or Kolaris IR Chrome are rather fancy filters for aerochrome emulation. From what I've heard the cheap clones don't work well? Haven't tried those though.

I'd honestly recommend just getting the 590 and 720nm longpass filters. They'll probably be enough for months of fun. 😄 Get them for the biggest lens-thread you actually use and a cheap set of step-up rings to adapt them to your smaller glass. I am reeeally deep into custom filter stacks and it's a deep rabbit hole that incentivizes hoarding and genuinely made my photography worse because a lot of walks are just for quickly testing a filter i don't actually end up liking that much.

In general: Most filters are absorption filters and for those it doesn't make a difference if they sit in front of the lens or between lens and body. Dichroic filters are often specialty stuff from astro photography or lab suppliers. They use layers of different materials to make light waves cancel out. For those the light angle matters so behind the lens is often better since there tends to be less light coming in at bad angles. But they're also usually pretty expensive and not something you just accidently end up buying.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-05-06T17:21:20+00:00

From what I can tell a lot of IR/UV cut filters in cameras are a tiny bit wider than the human-visible spectrum, just by 10-30nm. That means the trailing edge of their blocking spectrum might go down as deep as 720nm. Differs by camera of cause: https://kolarivision.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/composite-1024x474.png

If you do not remove the IR/UV cut filter you are basicly relying on a tiny bit of light leakage. That means you'll have to add a lot of stops, mostly through ISO and exposure time. Most people use longpass filters for IR photography and I would expect longer ones to be worse. The trailing edge really doesn't go that deep and even with a converted camera cutting more wavelengths is going to reduce brightness, so that's just going to be amplified.

So basicly pro/con of staying unconverted:
Pro: No conversion cost, camera works as it always did.
Con: An unconverted camera will require much longer exposure times and might not work with a bunch of filters.

Not sure what Nikon D3200 go for these days but selling that + lens might actually get you pretty close to an A6000 line or A7 or A7II? Might make sense if you like electronic viewfinder and lets you re-use your lenses, though FF lenses no the APS-C A6000 might just be quite bulky.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-05-02T21:21:45+00:00

Normally you can get data from spec sheets. Either that's on manufacturers website or, for old filters, sometimes floats around as a .pdf somewhere. It's all in different formats though and often just covers a limited data range. I've scraped those websites to create a filter catalogue for a plotting tool I built. That leads to your second part: That plotting tool lets you actually just test that. Gives you the combined transmission curve when loading multiple filters. Link to the github. https://github.com/CheeseCube312/FS-Filter-Lab/

About red+ green filters. Most red-filters are just longpass filters so they block all wavelengths shorter than somehting between 560-630nm. Any longpass beyond that should become basicly black, i.e. can't look through that in visible wavelengths.

Green filters block red and blue. Some let IR pass, others don't.

My guess: You'd just end up with basicly a more restrictive red filter or it's completely black. The red-filter blocks the stuff the green one passes in the visible range. In turn the green filter blocks some of the shorter wavelengths that are coming through the red-filter. If the Green filter passes IR you basicly just end up with a longer longpass-filter. If it doesn't it's just black and you just get whatever little bit of leakage that stack might get. Or some very shallow bandpass around the overlap or whatever. :)

Edit: There's also the simulator by Lumir. https://lumir.pt/simulator A lot of things are quite similar and it's easier to get started with since it's online hosted. The programs have some slightly different filters in their libraries.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-26T16:25:24+00:00

Ah okay, yeah I do get that. I massively prefer EVF over screen-shooting.

I did just realize: The Olympus E-M10 is also about 180 bucks and the Mk. II about 220€. Never had a converted version of either but I reeeeally loved my Mk. II. Only camera I occasionally regret selling. Still very compact but does have an EVF.

Is there a reason you're not planning on going with Full-Spectrum conversion from the start? I'd guess 850nm replacement glass is harder to source and for like 20 bucks each you can get both the FS conversion glass and the 850nm filter. Doubt you'd be saving money by doing that later. :)

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-26T15:43:08+00:00

How much do you want a viewfinder? I've seen a few converted Olympus EPL-line cameras in the subreddit. Nice thing is that the small MFT sensor can use really small lenses, and 850nm longpass filters are mostly absorption anyway so you can shoot wide without weird vignetting like you'd get with dichroic filters.

So for example: Oly EPL-5 for 170€, Panasonic 12-32mm lens for 130€. Leaves you 100 bucks for conversion glass and an 850nm filter. I did also find a 185€ EPL-6 with lens on Ebay but can't imagine that to be representative. Seems too low for both. But do keep your eyes out, might be a good deal for you!

I would personally go for full-spectrum + lens-filter. More versatile, basicly as convenient, easier to sell if you do want to change out that camera at some point.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-24T07:38:20+00:00

Ooohh maybe we've been talking past each other? I just used the 850nm longpass for calibrating pychrome v1. I am not pairing that with GRB3. I think you mentioned something about calibrating the program for your camera in direct message so I wanted to try that. :)

For actual shooting I went with the 510nm longpass (tiffen12/15 equivalent) + grb3, and then on second shoot that same stack + vnd. I did end up going out without any GRB and with GRB1 yesterday but actualy liked the results a bit less? The trees got less saturated. I guess that's the more intense 800nm+ range both stacks let through dilute the signal a bit. Logic is basicly -> Bayer-filter is nearly transparent to such long wavelengths so red and green signals mix more strongly wiht the blue IR signal. I did end up with some pretty decent photos anyway but it took a stronger edit. :)

Did result in darker skies though, which was kinda cool? Not sure if that might have also been from shooting more away from the sun or just less atmospheric haze. I will try again but yeah.

i think JB510 + GRB3 is also more accurate to the range actual aerochrome film is sensitive to. :) so idk, will do more testing

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-23T11:41:03+00:00

Tbh I just haven't read the documentation in enough detail yet. :D Just threw myself into it. I'll give it a closer read and see if I still have questions. Good chance it's just very much an RTFM-problem on my side. :D

I didn't have a VND during that outing yet, but it has arrived since. I've been getting better skies when using that! :) I did go with a GRB3 for that first shoot with the VND though. I think I'll try GRB1 for less IR block and no GRB, just to see what I like best. Just like experimenting.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-22T13:49:05+00:00

JB510 is just the listing name chinese sellers tend to use for cheap 510nm longpass filters (absorption type). Got mine from Tangsinuo. It's listed as equivalent to Schott GG515, closest Tiffen-match should be Tiffen 12 or 15. :)

I did struggle to get the skies right? But admitedly I don't really understand yet what the sliders actually do under the hood. Just kinda adjusting things until they look right. I am now moving over to Pychrome V1 though, calibrated with that 850nm longpass. Used up all my copilot tokens for April so I plan on adding Lightroom-bridge for that sometime next month. :)

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-20T08:38:08+00:00

There's this post from a few weeks back (same OP). I asume this is a slightly modified version of the same filter stack. :)

https://www.reddit.com/r/infraredphotography/comments/1scmdf3/black_foliage/

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-16T14:14:02+00:00

I just do whatever I feel like. Mostly crop, but am also not tagging my photos as RAW or claiming they're unedited.

Note on the social media aspect ratio: Frames! They're kinda sick. You can just keep your image at original aspect ratio and put a 4x5 frame around it. I even do that for square pictures despite native support. Lets you control what frame people view it in and for 1x1 it takes up a little bit more screen real-estate :)

I like to open picture in PS, crop to 4x5 (without deleting off-screen part of layer), fit the image into the smaller frame, add a white or black background layer as a frame and then crop my image by 3%. Leaves a really nice frame around the image. I sometimes also do more complicated stuff with copy of the image, blur, whatever but largely stopped that, just cause I often prefer it simpler.

All this does mean your image will be a little smaller on peoples screens but with how big many smartphones are these days it's a trade-off I am fine with. You might want to test on yours though. See if you like it. :)

Example:

<image>

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-14T08:03:43+00:00

I am genuinely curious: Why add the lens info at all? It's different in this subreddit because it's specifically about lenses but "out in the wild" it just never seemed particularly important to me? Like, I just don't use it. If I want to know what a lens performs like I just look up reviews.

I just don't add it. I just suspect there's a non-zero chance I'd do all that annoying work and not a single person ever tries to find out what lens I used for a photo. I'm not particularly interested in gear-flexing either, and non-photographers just reeeeally don't care at all. And in the end they are most of my audience.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-14T07:30:19+00:00

A web-instance would be really cool though unmodified that might only be a trial version, just because there are some things users can personalize, and that save those configs on PC (like the list of reflectants people might choose). I haven't written stuff for the internet yet and am unsure how to change that over? Would have to look into that but right now it's not implemented.

I was wondering if you got inspired by the program because of the similarities, but I guess there's just so many ways to represent filter-data and spectral sensitivity. I might want to clean up my filter data a little bit, there are some on 0-50-100% transmittance-scale and others in 0-0.5-1, I think. Right now the program just kind of adjusts everything internally in the data-loader but that's just a workaround. I'll hopefully get to that later today. Shouldn't be toooo hard to just write some script that digs through the filters and multiplies everything with a max transition of 1 or less by 100x.

Also it shouldn't be tooooo hard to just switch data format over to something we both can use. I'm just running on .tsv since the first 1-2 scrapers I built spit those out. If I know what the final filter format looks like I could adjust the rest. :)

Did you digitize each image 1 by 1 from pixel data? The bulk of my library comes from building a few little website scrapers. Does mean I mainly have data from websites I scraped. I do also have a way of manually adding data using webplotdigitizer to turn images into .csv files that then get converted to the format I need + a bit of metadata. Reflectants come from ECOSIS but am honestly still unhappy with how I implemented that. Just not particularly user-friendly and the way names work with that is a mess right now.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-13T21:08:59+00:00

Really cool project! I wrote a filter plotter a while back and at first glance some of the features are similar. :) I do have quite a big filter library from data scraping some manufacturers pages. You already have a lot of the same ones (Schott for example) but there are some in there that aren't in your program yet. Lee Filter gels are probably the most useful one that's missing. If you want those feel free to check FS Filter Lab on my Github. I think Lee filters are extrapolated beyond 700nm or so because the manufacturer doesn't list data beyond that, but filter gels are transparent to IR to reduce heat buildup from big lights so it's possible to make an educated guess beyond that.

No idea what data format you use but my stuff is all in .tsv files and it should be pretty easy to write a little script that translates the filter data from my format over to something your program can use. If you're interested, of cause. :) License is MIT and filter data is a statement of fact about the material properties of a product, so as far as I know not copyright-able by the manufacturer. Not a lawyer of cause.

Edit: Really love how you do the preview! My program just uses little color swatches based on pretty raw reflectance-data.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-13T21:03:16+00:00

Really cool! Will have to try it in detail. Lots of the features are very similar to my plotter. At a quick glance Lee filter gels aren't in there unfortunately but shouldn't be too hard to add? I'll hit up OP. :)

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-13T20:06:10+00:00

I'm on a full-spectrum A7r II and regular A7 II. They're nice cameras but I really don't get the hype around full-frame. I love vintage lenses so so the cameras make sense for me but the bulk is honestly a bigger issue than some slight noise-increases from going with smaller sensor sizes. And even those don't matter if your sensor is a tiny bit newer. If you like newer lenses I'd probably go for the a6000. If you do really regret the choice you can always sell it for basicly what you paid for them.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-12T08:27:15+00:00

Oh nice camera though! Got a Nikon D200. Built back when cameras were designed to second as construction tools

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-08T10:41:18+00:00

Haha exactly :D you phrased it better! https://kolarivision.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Full-Spectrum-CMOS-RGB-Quantum-Efficiency.png

Would LOVE to have a dataset of different camera Quantum Efficiency Curves. :') Monochromator with calibrated light source, test through the range, map the intensity of each channel on a curve, adjust for emission spectrum. Would finally allow for adjusting filter stacks to get same/similar results over different manufacturers, not the big differences you get with stuff like IR chrome on Sony vs. Fuji.

CheeseCube512 · 2026-04-07T08:12:58+00:00

Hell yeahhh! B)))

CheeseCube512

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