Infrared Lighting

MyNameIsNeo

[Moved from Technique]
I have a Canon 10D and a Canon G6. A few times I've been in low-light situations where I was forbidden to use a flash. Gadget geek that I am, I started wondering how plausible it would be to use this little gem as an additional source of illumination. Has anyone tried something like this?

Mr. 2H2O

MyNameIsNeo wrote:

[Moved from Technique]
I have a Canon 10D and a Canon G6. A few times I've been in low-light situations where I was forbidden to use a flash. Gadget geek that I am, I started wondering how plausible it would be to use this little gem as an additional source of illumination. Has anyone tried something like this?

I have a lot of experience using IR light for nightime shots with my Sony F717. The most effective solution employs a IR filter over the flash head of the in-camera flash or external flash. You will need a center point of 850nm to eliminate the attention drawn by flash - its not invisible to the eye, but it does not distract. You will need to open up one of your cameras to remove the IR blocking filter so the sensor will be able to see those wavelengths. I also noted the requirement of an IR pass filter on your lens since the autofocus will get confused when trying to use both visible and IR wavelengths to perform its contrast detection for focus. If you get the 10D modified with the IR pass filter installed, you won't need this extra filter.
If you want to be 100% no attention, then bounce the flash using the IR filter over the head and use a dark cotton sleeve over your flash bounce card.

- Mike