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M11 Infrared Sensitivity


J S H

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2 hours ago, jaapv said:

High UV would reduce the percentage of IR I agree, just something to bear in mind and not to worry about under most conditions. The M240 had an IR filter of about 75% efficiency. The M8 about 60% and that was enough to cause trouble. I would say from your tests that the M11 is similar to the M240.

BTW, it might be interesting to use a UV pass filter. UV photography was quite effective on the M8. You would need a vintage lens as most if not all modern lenses are UV filtered. I used a Summarit 1.5/50 from the early fifties. 

That would be interesting. Not sure where I would find a UV pass filter than can ship to Namibia. Any suggestions? I have a Summicron 5cm Collapsible that could work.

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  • 1 month later...

After a little more testing, I figured out that you can just barely make handheld infrared work on the M11. You need to use a fast lens (in this case Voigtlander 50 F1), focus with the EVF and let Auto ISO have its run. After seeing that ISO 20,000 actually looks fine for my uses, I will try a few shots with the lens stopped down to F1.4, because it is noticeably soft in Infrared wide open. I have already determined that the Voigtlander 21 F1.4 is an excellent performer in IR, so will try that one next. I know the general consensus is that IR contamination is a bad thing, but I have seen absolutely no issues for normal color photography. For my needs, having one camera that can shoot incredible color images and also infrared in a pinch is very helpful. 

These shots are with a 780nm filter from Kolarivision. The Kolari filters are very high in quality and 780 is a good compromise overall. It also allows a little adjustment using the LR B/W mix, while 850nm filters pretty much eliminated that B/W mix adjustment capability and also necessitated considerably longer exposures. 

After comparing these images to some I shot with the M240, I believe that the M11 is actually a little less sensitive to infrared. However, the much improved high ISO performance and better EVF makes it more viable for handheld infrared use. 

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On 3/3/2023 at 9:29 PM, J S H said:

...I know the general consensus is that IR contamination is a bad thing, but I have seen absolutely no issues for normal color photography.,,

You won't notice unless you shoot it alongside a second camera with less IR contamination. I saw a slight loss of intensity of yellow/green-blue when shooting sunsets at high altitude with the M11, but it's minor. My GFX 50S/R was much worse as the green-blue (turquoise green) color band in the sky at sunset wouldn't show up at all on the RAW files, and it would be recorded as light yellow instead. Canon probably has some of the best color integrity at high altitude and absolutely nails the entire spectrum. The SL2-S does extremely well also.

Edited by hdmesa
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I've done a little more testing. Even though the Voigtlander 21 1.4 is a stop slower than the 50 F1, the results for handheld infrared use with the M11 are a little better. The lens is just a better performer in IR and focus is less critical at 21mm. These shots were late evening and it was a little hazy, so the infrared light levels were pretty low. I'm thinking bright sunlight would get the exposures down by 3-4 stops, so the overall quality would be noticeably better. Will verify that when time allows. 

Kolarivision 780 nm filter. Wide open at ISO 16,000.

 

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Voigtlander 21 1.4 NoktonKolarivision 780 nm filter. Wide open at ISO 32,000.

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Edited by J S H
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On 1/30/2023 at 1:31 PM, MrPaulK said:

But aren't those very long exposures really a result of the very high density IR filters, not lack of IR sensitivity? (not that question is not rhetorical, it is a real question)

The short answer is no. Exposure time with infrared filters is completely dependent on the IR sensitivity of the camera (assuming light levels are equal). If you used an 850nm lens filter on an 850nm converted body, it wouldn't change the exposure time vs a bare lens. 

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My experiments with handholding aren’t as successful as yours but good enough to keep trying. This was with a 720nm filter, ISO 5000 on a 50mm Summicron

 

 

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The advantage of the 720nm filter is that it lets more visible light through, so your exposure times will be shorter. However, you usually don't begin seeing a dramatic IR effect with foliage/grass/sky until around 750nm or higher. 

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Another handheld test with the Voigtlander 21 F1.4 Nokton, wide open with a 780nm IR filter. Bright sunlight reduced the needed ISO down to 10,000 so the overall quality looks a little better.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another handheld infrared shot. This time with the Voigtlander 75 1.5, which is an excellent performer in both visible light and infrared. ISO 16,000, 1/60s

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Voigtlander 75 1.5. ISO 50,000, 1/180s

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For handheld infrared use, maybe an M8 would be prefarable. But for all around use, including occasional infrared work on a tripod, the M11 works great. The following are all long exposure infrared shots at ISO 64 with the Voigtlander 35 APO, which is an incredible performer across the entire spectrum. Kolari Vision 780nm filter.

The exposure time on these was 30-45 sec, so there is a small amount of movement in the trees, but overall very nice shots with quality approaching what I can get with my infrared converted bodies. The main difference being, the exposure time is much longer with the M11. 

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ISO 64, Voigtlander 35 APO, 48 seconds. Kolari Vision 780nm filter.

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ISO 64, Voigtlander 35 APO, 48 seconds. Kolari Vision 780nm filter.

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ISO 64, Voigtlander 35 APO, 48 seconds. Kolari Vision 780nm filter.

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4 hours ago, chris7273 said:

Very inspiring. Thank you. I have just bought a 760nm filter because I saw your posts 🙂 

Hope it goes well. There is a bit of a learning curve, but nothing too complicated. I would recommend that you create a user profile with a manual WB of 2200K and the BW Nat Monochrome film profile. When you import into Lightroom or C1, you will need to convert to monochrome and leave WB as shot. 

Start with your faster lenses in bright sunlight, which will make focusing easier. Once you know your focus point, stop down to around F4. You will probably end up with 10-30 second exposures at ISO 64. Some lenses perform better than others in the infrared spectrum, so if you don't have great results, try a different lens. I have used almost all of them over the years, and generally, most M mount lenses perform pretty well.

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My first tentative. 
With a tripod and long exposure. Auto metering with -1 or -2 compensation. 
 

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