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This DIY multispectral phone camera reveals what’s underneath any painting

UV and IR light can, literally and figuratively, show us the world in a totally different light. One of their common uses is to examine painting for authenticity or damage inspection. Sean Billups made his own tool for inspecting paintings, and it’s actually relatively simple.

Using an old Google Pixel 3a phone, a simple 3D-printed part, and lots of patience, he created a multispectral phone camera. By simply turning a small wheel, it reveals the secrets of any painting. And with some patience, you can also do it yourself.

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The Haida M10 II Filter System brings some nice workflow improvements over the original M10

I’ve used a number of square filter solutions over the years and it’s rare that new holders are released, but that’s what’s happened with Haida, with the release of the Haida M10 II. It’s an update to the original Haida M10 (review here) and it’s not just a slight rework with a new name, but it actually comes with some pretty nice design changes and improvements over its predecessor.

First up, my overall thoughts about the original Haida M10, which you can read about here, have not changed. It’s still a fantastic holder and the M10 II takes nothing away from it, and on first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the M10 II is pretty much the same as the M10, although the changes that have come with the new version make it even more of a pleasure to use.

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This extreme Raspberry Pi camera mod uses a laser to removes the Bayer filter array

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There are a lot of reasons why one might want to have the sensor in their camera modified. We see it all the time for those who wish to shoot infrared or ultraviolet photography. There are even companies out there who will do the whole process for you. Usually, though, it doesn’t involve stripping off the Bayer filter array. Typically it’s just removing the filter that blocks UV and IR.

Well, for Les Wright at Les’ Lab, just removing the blocking filter on his Raspberry Pi camera wasn’t enough. he wanted all the raw data, without any colour interference at all from every pixel on the sensor. So, he went on a mission to figure out away to remove it without killing the sensor. Ultimately, the best method proved to be to burn it off with a laser!

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This is the surprisingly true story of Kodak Aerochrome’s origins and ultimate fate

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It’s hard to imagine that a particular film stock, especially something like infrared film, might have an origin story that’s almost as wild as a superhero. But the way Todd Dominey tells it, that’s pretty much how it sounds for Kodak Aerochrome. In this video, he goes over Aerochrome’s origins and its life until its demise in 2009.

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Kolari Vision’s new neutral density filter works with both visible light and infrared cameras

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Neutral density filters have long been in the bags of photographers. Whether it’s to bring your exposure down below flash sync speed or simply to be able to create long exposures during bright conditions. But infrared is often a problem. Many filters let in too much. So-called “IRND filters” were released to block all IR and alleviate the issue. But what if you want to shoot an infrared long exposure?

Kolari Vision’s new Kolari Pro IRND filter is not like the IRNDs we’re used to, which completely block infrared. This one blocks both infrared and the visible spectrum in equal amounts, meaning that you can use for both types of photography with (in theory at least) and should offer virtually none of the colour cast typically associated with strong ND filters.

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Watch this before you convert your camera to infrared

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Are you intrigued by infrared photography and its surreal colors? I sure am, but I still find it a bit… complex. If you also don’t know where to start, here’s an awesome video from Christian Möhrle of The Phlog Photography. In only three minutes, he’ll give you all the basics you need to know before you decide to shoot infrared yourself.

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You can remove the IR cut filter on Sigma Foveon cameras – it’s fun!

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While Sigma is known as a lens company, most people don’t know they also make cameras.  That was until the Sigma released the “fp“.   The world’s smallest full-frame camera that can shoot 4k DNG raw hit the market.

Sigma has been making cameras for many years though. Not only they use a unique Foveon sensor, but most of their cameras also feature a user-removable IR-cut filter.

Now, shooting Infrared isn’t new – People have been doing it for years!  While most cameras can’t shoot infrared there are companies who will remove/modify the IR-cut filter from your camera.

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This is why you should be worried about infrared light with your camera

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Light is something that all photographers and filmmakers need to master if they want to become good at their craft. The problem is, our eyes don’t see light the same way that our cameras do. Infrared is outside of the human spectrum of vision, but it’s not necessarily outside of your camera’s, and it can cause all kinds of problems with the colour of your footage.

In this video from Indy Mogul, Ted talks to former ASC president, Richard Crudo, to talk about infrared, how it affects the colour of our shot and what we can do to combat it.

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How to shoot infrared photography with a smartphone

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I will start with a warning: Digital Infrared Photography it’s not easy & this will get technical fast.

Backstory

It all started when I saw some awesome Instagram photos in infrared and I ordered an IR filter (an 88mm ice 760nm from B&H to be more precise) not knowing much about infrared. Filters usually range from 590 to 8-900 nm and usually, this kind of colored infrared shots are obtained with 590nm on a modded camera because it lets some visible light pass as well as infrared. But I had no modded camera and the wrong filter so I decided to try regardless and soon found out that my trusty DSLRs have well-made hot mirrors (the part of the DLSR that normally blocks IR from hitting the sensor) but later discovered that my phone’s sensor is quite sensitive to infrared and this is how my journey started.

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