After several months of tests and experiments, I have finally determined something: Infrared with the Lumix DMC-FZ8 just doesn’t work.
I’ve been trying to use a R72 Near-Infrared filter to filter out the “normal” light that we see, leaving only the infrared light that I wanted to capture. The FZ8 is sensitive to infrared, as can be easily demonstrated by taking a picture of a TV remote control. What you’ll see is a couple points of light coming from the remote; these are the infrared lights that are used to transmit commands to the TV.
Though having a camera that is sensitive to infrared, doesn’t make it suited for infrared photography. While the FZ8 is a great camera, being light weight, offering pro-level options (such as RAW mode) without the bulk of a DSLR – this is one thing that just doesn’t work.
Here are a few of the issues I’ve seen, and so far been unable to get passed:
- Auto-Focus: While this isn’t a huge surprise, auto-focus doesn’t work when the R72 filter is in place.
- Manual-Focus: The FZ8 does offer manual focus, though using it when there is so little light making it to the sensor is nearly impossible.
- Grainy: Even when ISO is set to 100 instead of the default of auto, the images are extremely grainy. While this can provide a somewhat artistic effect – it’s not what I’m looking for.
While it does seem to have some promise in replicating an infrared version of pinhole photography, it simply doesn’t work for traditional infrared.
Taking a rather extended lunch break today, I went to the Blue Hole waterfall near Elizabethton in east Tennessee. What a sight!
I know my policy is to avoid blogging about things not related to the IT/Software Development industry, but this sight is certainly worth breaking the policy. If you like waterfalls, or just ‘getting away” this is a great place to go. If you’d like to see more, I’ve uploaded a few pictures to my Flickr page.
Speaking of Flickr, in a previous life I worked as a photographer and as such I’ve built up quite a collection, over the next few weeks I’ll be scanning parts of my collection and uploading them. They cover a wide range of topics, so odds are you’ll find something you like. Just as a note, I’ve added a link to my Flickr page in the “Sites” list as “My Photos” on the left panel.
