First Attempt with Infrared

[RanceEric]

Hi All,

I finally (it only took me a month and a half..) finished and developed my first roll of infrared film! (Efke IR 820) Just looking at the negatives I was a little worried nothing would turn out usable.. But I'm very pleasantly surprised by the results! I got lucky with getting a few nice shots in my first roll.. I'm definitely going to buy a few more rolls and try again!

What do you think?

 

[DNG]

I think you did really well...
How hard is it to develop?
Do you keep your camera out of the Sun? (heat)?
Any tips, advice, or hints?

 

[zauhar]

Beautiful!

A friend keeps pushing me to try infrared.

What camera were you using? I hear that not all cameras will safely hold infrared film. Also, what filter?

Randy

 

[charjohncarter]

Your negatives should look different from traditional films, but still fairly normal. What were you worried about? Usually, the negatives are too light. Everybody says EI 1-3, and then they say f/16 at 1 seconds with a Hoya R72 filter. The only problems is f/16 at on second is not 1 EI it is .7. This isn't much only a third of a stop. But I find I'm more happy with f/11 at 1 second for full sun with a Hoya R72 filter. This is .365~ EI.: which is a stop. Your photos look fine to me so if you are happy that is what counts. I use 6-8 seconds at f/11 for shade or open shade. Reciprocity failure is very high with this stuff. Indoors with no direct sun and very little light I go 1 minute to 90 seconds.

 

[RanceEric]

I think you did really well...
How hard is it to develop?
Do you keep your camera out of the Sun? (heat)?
Any tips, advice, or hints?

Thank you! I think I got lucky.. and all but the first shot were underexposed (had to lighten them up a bit in ps.. which is why I think they look so grainy..) I was shooting out in the open for most.. but I shot with a 720nm IR filter and metered for 25 ISO and then bracketed a stop in either direction.. I think next time I'll have to shoot even slower..

Beautiful!

A friend keeps pushing me to try infrared.

What camera were you using? I hear that not all cameras will safely hold infrared film. Also, what filter?

Randy

Thank you, sir! 😀

I've been wanting to try it, but was really nervous (the idea of possibly ruining a few rolls of really expensive film before actually getting usable shots..) I was using my Nikon F with 35 f/2 and just a cheapo IR (720nm) filter I bought on ebay. But I also have a dark red filter that I want to try with the next roll

 

[RanceEric]

Your negatives should look different from traditional films, but still fairly normal. What were you worried about? Usually, the negatives are too light. Everybody says EI 1-3, and then they say f/16 at 1 seconds with a Hoya R72 filter. The only problems is f/16 at on second is not 1 EI it is .7. This isn't much only a third of a stop. But I find I'm more happy with f/11 at 1 second for full sun with a Hoya R72 filter. This is .365~ EI.: which is a stop. Your photos look fine to me so if you are happy that is what counts. I use 6-8 seconds at f/11 for shade or open shade. Reciprocity failure is very high with this stuff. Indoors with no direct sun and very little light I go 1 minute to 90 seconds.

Yeah, they look very thin.. could barely see most of the frames. And also nervous just shooting something completely different, I've read that you might have to go through a few rolls before getting the hang of it.

What do you develop yours in? Times?

Thanks for the help! I'm excited to shoot more..

 

[RanceEric]

How hard is it to develop?

I just made sure to load in a changing bag (as I've read you're supposed to do) and I developed in D-76 stock for 8 minutes. Though I'm not sure it my negatives were so thin because I just underexposed or if I didn't develop long enough? I'm sure I'll find out with the next roll

 

[Bluedog2212]

IR film shots

IR film shots

You might try Rollei IR. Excellent film at iso 400 without filters, about iso 6 with the 720nm filter. I find the grain very fine.

 

[farlymac]

These are all good examples, especially the first and third ones. Great composition on those.

PF

 

[RanceEric]

You might try Rollei IR. Excellent film at iso 400 without filters, about iso 6 with the 720nm filter. I find the grain very fine.

I just might.. the price is a lot better, and fine grain is always appealing..

These are all good examples, especially the first and third ones. Great composition on those.

PF

Thank you! 🙂

 

[andredossantos]

Very nice. I really like #'s 1 and 2.

 

[charjohncarter]

I just made sure to load in a changing bag (as I've read you're supposed to do) and I developed in D-76 stock for 8 minutes. Though I'm not sure it my negatives were so thin because I just underexposed or if I didn't develop long enough? I'm sure I'll find out with the next roll

I think I use HC-110h for 14 minutes, 30 seconds intitial agitation, then 3 inversions at each minute. If I'm wrong about the time I'll correct tomorrow.

 

[shadowfox]

Those are good looking IR photos.
I think you are doing well.

 

[RanceEric]

I think I use HC-110h for 14 minutes, 30 seconds intitial agitation, then 3 inversions at each minute. If I'm wrong about the time I'll correct tomorrow.

Thank you! Next time I get a roll of IR, I'll try that 🙂

Those are good looking IR photos.
I think you are doing well.

Thank you!

 

[charjohncarter]

If you use my times, you will get more of a normal looking photo, but with foliage lightening:

So, if you don't like this; you might ask people whose photos you do like.

 

[RanceEric]

So, if you don't like this you might ask peoples photos that you do like.

I do like that. I'll definitely try it. Great shot. Do you have a flickr? or somewhere you have posted other photos? I'd love to see more

 

[charjohncarter]

Go to Flickr, click on groups, type in Efke IR820 Infrared, click on that group, then click on 'more photos' and at the bottom click on carter3john.

 

[RanceEric]

Go to Flickr, click on groups, type in Efke IR820 Infrared, click on that group, then click on 'more photos' and at the bottom click on carter3john.

Just checked them out now.. Some very good shots. Thank you. Love the shots of the "ghost" in the forest.

 

[charjohncarter]

When talking IR on the technical side, you have ALL the information. And I'm at fault as much as anyone. But you need to have the filter, the lighting conditions, the f/stop, the shutter speed. Maybe I left out a few things. So get a process down, just like any new film and be consistent. I had many negative like you as I started with HIE (Kodak) and then the dumped it. So I went to Efke, and all the information was not what I like or wrong. Zero in (and this is for any film) on what you want and forget the experts.

This is one of my first Efke IRs, and I (personally) hated it:

 

[Bob Michaels]

I used to shoot a lot of IR until Kodak quit making HIE. Everything else was just too slow for me as I photograph people not landscapes.

My #1 tip was always to ignore any light meter and find a filter / aperture / shutter speed combo that works and use it all the time. I concluded the correct IR exposure was always them same while the meter readings changed with the ambient light.