Infrared filter for thermal imaging?

[angra]

Guys,

I have considered using an infrared filter with my digital camera as a ghetto-verison of a thermal imager. I am not interested in making stylized photographs, but rather in detecting hot and cold spots in various places. I have found a lot of info about using IR filters, but never a straight up answer on whether it would work for this scenario. Do any of you happen to know the answer? Camera I would use for this task is Canon S2 IS.

Thanks,

[heater918]

ASk MadMikee i bet he knows.

[xpsentity]

I don't believe this actually "works."

Thermal imaging is a whole different set of electronics.

I could be wrong.

[heater918]

ASk MadMikee i bet he knows.

I used infrared filter in the 70's on my mamiya. You use black and white (i used slide film). It filters out all the other wave lengths (i believe all, this was a few years ago ) You have had to have it processed at a lab shop telling them what you used. It's not thermal imaging. heater
.

[Magnj]

not the same. infrared light and heat are different.

[Soulburner]

This will let you see the beam from a remote control I am told...but as was said, thermal is completely different.

[[XC] Lead Head]

Don't most digital camera have IR filters to block out IR light built in? That may be a problem if you have a filter that only lets IR light pass through

[Soulburner]

Yes, they do.

[Magnj]

point and shoots do but most slr's will see IR no problem

[angra]

Thanks for the replys. IR and heat are not "different", in the sense that objects give off infrared light based on their temperature...that's just physics.

that said, it appears that the frequency spectrum required to capture this information is outside the range of what is normally passed by "IR" filters, and is also outside the range of the CCD arrays in most cameras.

Most cameras do indeed have IR filters, but a few, apparently do not. My camera (canon S2) is, apparently, one of the few that will capture some IR wavelengths - just not the ones I want!

[Kunaak]

infrared is just a different spectrum of light.
its not heat vision.
it just gives much different effects to photos then you would commonly find on typical photos.

people that tend to like IR photos, are also the type that love high contrast, exaggerated color pics, like HDR, and cross processing.
IR requires alittle extra time too, since a normal lense cannot focus IR light, without knowing how to "unfocus" to the right setting.
old lenses use to have IR marks on them.
newer lenses no longer do, and honestly, the craft of IR photography is almost completly lost, as few seem to know how to actually do it now, especially in this digital age.
I grew up on film cameras, and old cameras, and since IR tends to be the most common with black and white, thats where I learned most of what I know.

digital camera sensors are so sensitive to IR light, that they actually have IR blocks in them so only normal light mostly gets in.
for a digital camera to take IR pics only 2 ways is possible.

IR filters, that severly cut down your light exposes, so your shooting then in seconds... not fractions of a second.
or to have your camera permanantly modified, by removing the IR blocker all together.

but have no illusions here.
thats not a "mod" that anyone here should be doing.

I use to do camera repair, on old leicas, and nikons, and I can tell you this... you need special hardware to take apart the chassis, and viewfinder housing, cause aligning up those mirrors inside for focusing, is nearly impossible to do manually.
with how complicated the housings are now, and how much they cram in there, I can only imagine how much of a pain in the ass it would be to think about trying to remove the IR limiter now.
especially with how prone the inside of digital cameras are, to dust ruining sensors.
if you want a permanantly modified IR camera done, I suggest doing it from a place that specializes in it. otherwise, you might end up with a nice expensive camera you can almost never focus again, or some other annoyance like that.

IR photography is fun, and challenging, and the rewards arent always as clear as you hope for, cause it really does take time to learn when, and where IR light is the most prevelent.

but its not gonna get you any "heat vision" pics.

for that, you need a real thermal imaging camera. which typically cost around 3 grand for the cheap ones, and 10 grand for the better ones that actually produce usable data, like heat spectrum analysis shots and such.