Infrared Filter Data
updated 4 Dec 2010
B+W Filters
uv/ir 486 uv/ir blocking ff=1
040 550nm yell/Ora #16 ff=4
041 570nm red/orange #22 ff=4
090 590nm light red #25 ff=5
091 630nm med red #29 ff=8
092 695nm dark red #89 ff=30
093 830nm deep IR #87 ff=50
094 1000nm deep IR ff= 60
099 550nm orange #16 ff=4
403 UG-1 UV/IR Pass Filter ff=50
Tiffen Filters
047B deep blue ff=30
LDP Filters
X-Nite CC1 UV/IR Cut (For the Oly PEN Family)
X-NiteCC2 UV/IR Cut
XDP 35-=400 & 750nm up Dual Passband
My Favorites
Sometimes USE but GOOD
Rarely USE but Good
DO NOT LIKE
Have NOT Tested
Infrared Atelier's Infrared Photography Blog 
Thanks, you may have just saved me $100. But maybe we are talking past each other. I’m sure you are completely right that an MC filter will not help prevent hot spots. My question is whether they will help w/ general flare problems on lenses that do not hot spot. On my Oly 9-18mm, I sometimes get the classic flare coming from the direction of the sun when I place it too close to the edge of the frame. What do you think – will theB+W or Heliopan reduce flare?
Made an accidental demonstration of your point about IR reflections off the sides of the lens barrel causing hot spots. My Panasonic Leica 45mm Macro often hot spots @ f/8 & smaller. So I was doing some IR flower close-up w/ my hot spot resistant Oly 14-42mm II R. Was getting nice images w/ no hot spots until I put a short Kenko extension tube on to get in closer – Bingo! Big hot spot @ same apertures.
Terry, the coatings will assist with flare. The hot spots are simply a function of internal lens coatings, barrel paints and the reflective nature of the internal covering on the sensor. Lower apertures do indeed reduce it.
Hi Mark, enjoy your site & posts, keep up the good work & beautiful images!
Hope you can help w/ this one. I’ve posted at DRP & Mu43 about flare when using the Hoya R72 w/ my unmodified OM-D & 3 different lenses. Inadequate hoods are a major component of this problem.
But there are a couple IR filters w/ multi-AR coatings – the Heliopan RM715 & B+W 092M (not the 092). The latter has a bit higher cut-off but probably usable. I’m hoping you have experience w/ these. Can you tell us if the more expensive filters have less flare compared to the Hoya?
I’m sort of surprised no one has done testing on this.
Thanks
Terry, I have seen this time and time again. Even the more expensive filters with multi coatings do not help. The real issue is that the coatings on the INSIDE of the lens barrel reflect IR light and cause it to bounce around between the lenses and the sensor. Believe it or not the easiest fix is to try different apertures on the lens at different zoom settings.
I have tested ALL of the B+W filters and the Heliopan. It made no difference.
Enjoy your many posts, very helpful, thanks much!
I’ve posted about a flare issue w/ the Hoya R72 (I’m using an OM-D w/ several lenses). The flare shows up in both the classic multiple blobs form & blooming about bright objects next to dark sky. An effective lens hood makes a huge difference & for that & other reasons, I’m pretty sure reflections off the filter are a major cause.
So have you used/tested/compared the 2 multi-coated options (B+W 092M or Heliopan RM715) to the Hoya?
Thanks. I’m so grateful for this Blog. I had no idea where to start; at least now I feel I can begin to get up to speed. I would love to attend a workshop sometime, however the one you mentioned conflicts with other business. I will keep my eyes open for others if you have them. Thanks again.
I just had a Nikon D3100 converted to 665nm, but now realize I’m not sure what I’m doing. I thought all I needed was the conversion. But now I’m thinking I need a filter on the lens to get results. The images I get now (with no filter) simply look like a camera with a red filter on it and not the infrared effects I expected. Can someone educate me how to get best results with the setup I have? Thanks.
Robert, thanks for the comment! NO!! You do not need any other filters. What you do need it to read all the posts here about 590 and 630nm. There are step by step instructions for getting the proper color images out of your camera. What is REALLY important is to get the proper white balance in your camera.
Here is just one tutorial:
You might also wish to take an IR workshop. We have on from August 1-4 in North Carolina. It is an extensive workshop with hours of post processing lessons as well as hours of shooting great IR images!
I have a unmodified Nikon D50 which I use a Hoya R72 filter on the lens to produce excellent Infrared images (perfect white tree’s using a custom green grass WB)
My question is after much reading is it possible to produce the golden tree effect (Goldie) if I say put a B&W 090 Red filter in front of the R72 (with some new white balance tweaking) or would I need a different version??
NO, this will NOT work! You can ONLY do 720nm photography with your un-modified camera. Placing a red filter over the 720 filter will have no effect as the 720 blocks everything under 720! If you desire to play with 590nm (goldie) then you need a modified camera, there is no way around this.
Removed the hot mirror from the camera and tried again and it’s starting to work.
Read around that a custome WB of gray is the best for a goldie effect which I tried.
The raw image has all the greenery looking light blue/turquoise and upon channel mixing becomes a yellow but a very bright yellow.
Tried many different WB’s but the images seems exactly the same bright yellow.
Great news!
I find that the best WB comes from green grass for 590nm. When you do the channel swap everyone has the same results as you. The trick is to use the photoshop action that you can download here in the right side download menu.
Go back into the OLDER posts and look at posts on 590nm and 630nm. Most of the posts have a detailed workflow that will teach you how to overcome the greenish cast skies and how to get the gold tones. I will tell you that the gold/yellow/pink/red tones we see in nice color 590nm shots are gotten with the Nik Filter set (in the work flow description).
Tried the usual greens like when doing R27 IR’s and the yellows are slowly getting there, not a bright as before anyways.
(example) http://imgur.com/lqf8VrG
Hi. I am new to IR photography & am looking to buy a Nikon d70 already converted for IR photography. My question is what is the difference between a standard IR converted & a Goldie Super Color Infrared converted? Is it just the different color results? Or does the Goldie Super give me more color options when using with PSE 11? Very confused!
Thanks
Robyn
Robyn, Standard IR is 720nm and gives a little color and better B&W. Super or Goldie is 590nm and gives a LOT of color and good B&W. The 590 is a better choice but requires more post processing. Read any of the 590 posts here and you will learn about the post processing.
The d70 camera has known issues with white balancing in IR. So the trick is to shoot in RAW and adjust the WB in the raw conversion.
I have a question about full spectrum and handheld shots. Would a full spectrum with a 720 or 590 filter on the lens still be able to take handheld shots or would i be forced back to the tripod and long exposures and also should i place a uv filter on since the full spectrum also lets through uv light? This may sound very newbeeish but i’ve been doing abstract and portraits for some time but have just developed an interest in IR i have a d3100 that i’m having converted.
Yes, it is very hand holdable! Remember, what forced you to the tripod was the fact that the camera still had the hot mirror installed. With a full spectrum conversion you have the hot mirror removed and replaced by clear glass! There is another option out there where the company( Kolari Vision) puts in a clear filter with a UV coating calling it their 2 spectrum conversion, but in fact it is the full spectrum minus uv! It works great. Who is doing your conversion?
If you tell Kolari Vision that I sent you I believe they will give you a $25 discount.
Hi Mark, what’s your words on the orange filter? I don’t seem to find a mention in this blog. I am tempted to buy a B+W 090 (590nm) for my unmodified D70s but the price of an orange filter is just half of that at Adorama.
I forked out $150 for a 092 but the effects were not what I was looking for. I shot RAW + jpg, custom WB, swapped the red and blue channels, still couldn’t get a picture I liked. I might give this 5 dollar orange filter a shot before selling the 092 for good. I just don’t seem to make it work. Help please!
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CW-77mm-Full-Orange-Color-effect-Filter-for-DSLR-lens-AU-030743-/400314969961?pt=AU_Filters&hash=item5d34a1af69
Chris, first of all, you CANNOT use anything lower than 720nm on an UNMODIFIED camera system. The color part of the spectrum that the filters allow thru the filter will poison the exposure and it will be trashed. For the unmodified D70 you need to stay with the Hoya R72 (720nm) or lower, like a 800nm filter.
The Orange filters, B+W 099, 041 & 040 generated a very unpleasing faux color IR image and personally, I did not care for them.
The 090 filter is a medium red and will generate 590nm IR on a modified camera only.
Sorry!
You need to concentrate on the R72 filter from Hoya (720nmn). This will generate a very limited set of colors but create stunning B&W IR images! Remember, you MUST post process your IR images and swap the R+B channels to get any color at all. Shoot in RAW only, then adjust the WB in raw conversion down to 2500K. The D70 are know not to WB properly for IR.
Hi Mark,
I am planning to have my Nikon D70s converted to IR. What type of filter would you recommend? Thank you.
Nga
Nga, I always advise a 590nm (Super Color) conversion. It gives the best Faux Color and great B&W. You can always add external IR filters to your lens as long as you go UP in nm also!
What didn’t you like about the XDP filter? Is this like the Lifepixel “Super Blue?”
It is not that I did not like it, rather the colors it produced did not appeal to me! It is NOT even in the same universe as the super blue! Read my post on the 047 and the XDP to see the differences.
The thing I don’t understand about that filter is if it counts on having a lens passing UV light. If so, I would think it would be unpredicable on current lenses because the coatings/elements will block UV. What was your experience? Did you see any color fringing at the blue end? Also, any thoughts on how well the look could be replicated in photoshop with a more available IR filter? I really prefer to travel with minimal equipment and fill in the gaps when I get back to my computer. So, I try to limit myself to filters like polarizers, ND filters, etc that have a function that can’t be recovered in photoshop later.
No, the lenses do not block uv or IR, they do not focus them properly unless calibrated for either IR or uv. One or the other but not both. The way around this is to shoot at f/8 or greater. You would really better off with a 590nm conversion then you can always go up in nm with the addition of external filters. The channel swap post processing will yeld better results than the super blue
I’ve decide to dedicate an E-PL2 to IR. Would I give up any IR possibilities with a 590nm conversion? Could I also get the XDP look from a 590nm image with post processing? I’m a bit confused on which IR filters are fundamental to the look of the final image and which could be replicated in Photoshop if starting with the right “fundamental” filters.
Mark,
Thanks for the time on the phone today. It really helped with a few thoughts I had in my head. I can’t wait to pull the trigger on a full spectrum set up.
Thanks
J
John, you are very welcome. I always enjoy discussing IR technology! Call anytime.
Hey Mark,
since you’re very active on your website, I hope you can help me. You marked the
BW 040 550nm yell/Ora #16 ff=4
as green (good), but the
BW 099 550nm orange #16 ff=4
as DO NOT LIKE.
What is the difference between the filters? At first view they seem the same?
Best Regards!
Thomas
The 099 has too much green leakage which caused terrible blue/green skies! I know that this is easy to fix with NIK’s Viveza but filters that cause this irritate me! I know a lot of IR photographers who use and like this filter though. I have the same issue with the 047 and 047b, where the b passes too much green!