Jemapela Photography

Infrared photography appears to be gaining exposure and popularity around the world including Australia.

It is common that most people modify their ageing, discontinued and lesser-used digital cameras for infrared photography. Every now and then, I receive such a digital camera to be modified. Here is a discontinued Canon PowerShot G5 for infrared modification received at work. I dismantled the camera, removed the CCD imager, and the bandpass filter (glass with blue tint) then replaced the latter with a clean infrared filter. Like with all such modifications, all surfaces had to be painstakingly cleaned of large dust particles.

Infrared modification of Canon PowerShot camera.

I also re-modified my Canon PowerShot SX120IS by removing the infrared filter I had previously fitted inside it. Now without the infrared filter, the camera has become a full-spectrum camera. It “sees” from ultraviolet to infrared. I carefully glued a 43mm-58mm step-up ring on the front of the lens so that 58mm-diameter infrared filters can be easily used on the camera.

Modified full-spectrum Canon PowerShot camera with a glued-on adapter ring to fit various filters.

I now have 3 infrared filters at different transmission frequencies, one at 680nm, one at 720nm, and one at 950nm.

The spectral response of digital cameras can be modified to capture infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) light which is invisible to the human eye. In all digital cameras, a specially coated glass filter which blocks/rejects IR and UV is seated above the CCD/CMOS imager. When this filter is removed, the camera becomes highly sensitive to IR and UV, making it a full-spectrum camera. If an IR-passing filter or UV-passing filter is fitted above the CCD/CMOS imager, this camera presents the user with an alternative realm in photography.

IR and UV photography is mostly used for scientific, surveillance, and medical purposes, but has been gaining popularity through increasing discovery on the internet by the average person. More people appear interested in the novelty of doing IR photography than UV photography, and very commonly photograph landscapes and sometimes even portraits.

The bandpass filter of a digital compact camera to be removed.

In my work place at Camera Clinic, I have modified the following cameras for infrared.

Nikon D1, D70, D200

Nikon CoolPix 5000, CoolPix 5700

Canon EOS 10D, EOS 20D

Canon PowerShot G9, PowerShot G10, PowerShot SX100IS, PowerShot SX120IS

Pentax Optio W60

On some days, I suffer lens envy when a very admirable lens in the eyes of serious photographers is brought to my work bench.

Broken Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens.

Considered a super fast lens for its very wide f/1.2 (as labeled 1:1.2) aperture, this Canon 50mm lens had a broken filter barrel and a front baffle that had lost its adhesion to the cam barrel.

Occasionally accidents do happen. People drop their cameras into water. On some days, a “drowned” water-damaged camera is sent to my work bench for assessment. This is a Canon EOS 7D that had taken the plunge. Its insides were badly corroded and rusted.

Water-damaged Canon EOS 7D camera.

Most cameras do not survive accidents that involve water or liquid intrusion.

Photography is both as creative as it is technical. A creative mind is required to produce attractive images, but a technical mind is also required to understand, correctly operate, and precisely repair the cameras used to make those images.

Photography has spanned more than a decade of my life, and continues to do so even today. Since I stopped creating images as a studio portrait photographer, I moved to repairing cameras for professional photographers.

With the passing of 2009, I have clocked 3 years in my current job of repairing DSLR cameras and lenses at Camera Clinic Pty Ltd. Most of my work involves repairing of Canon products by replacing damaged or worn parts. Due to company confidential policies, I cannot show or teach you how to repair cameras and lenses.

Repairing a Canon EOS 40D.

Electronic calibration of a Canon zoom lens.

My typical day at work would involve cameras such as EOS 1D Mark II, EOS 1D Mark II N, EOS 1Ds Mark II, EOS 1D Mark III, EOS 1Ds Mark III, EOS 5D, EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 20D, EOS 30D, EOS 40D, EOS 50D, EOS 350D, EOS 400D, EOS 450D, EOS 1000D, and popular lenses such as EF-S 18-55mm, EF-S 17-85mm IS USM, EF 16-35mm L USM, EF 24-70mm L USM, EF 24-105mm L IS USM, and EF 70-200mm L USM.

Infrared modification of a Nikon digital SLR camera.

Sometimes my work involves camera modifications for infrared photography.