Pentax *ist Infrared Only Conversion Complete!

[Robert Barnett]

Well, my *ist is on its way back to me after nearly 2 months under going infrared only conversion. Here are a couple of samples. Two if which I ran some of my IR conversion Photoshop actions on and one is the original from the camera (resized down for faster download.) I am also including a link to the full size image straight from the camera. As well as a link to download my action set.

Robert

[Robert Barnett]

Actually besides the resized original above. I am just going to provide links to the files.

http://www.sonic.net/keesha/original.jpg
http://www.sonic.net/keesha/ir_color.jpg
http://www.sonic.net/keesha/ir_bw.jpg
http://www.sonic.net/keesha/ir_actions.atn

The above links no longer work. Scroll down this message thread to find the actions file and a link to the sample images from this post.

Robert

[NonEntity1]

Hi Robert,
These are very interesting. I had read some articles about IR photography but yours are the first shots from a Pentax conversion I have seen. I would like to see more shots from this camera as you learn it; I don't know that I would be willing to dedicate a body to IR photography but the results are certainly interesting.

Tim

[Robert Barnett]

I have looked high and low for someone to convert the *ist to IR only. I finally found someone that was willing to give it a shot. It took two month because from what I was told you have to nearly take the camera down to the frame in order to get clear enough access to the sensor to remove the filters on it and replace them with the filters needed for IR.

Normally he does Canon and Nikon only because it is much easier to convert them. You don't have to take them apart as far.

I am hoping to get the camera back this week so I can start to play. For me the best thing about converting the Pentax is I can use all of my Pentax Lenses with it including my 10-17 fisheye.

There are two things I really like about infrared photography. 1) if you convert them to black and white and do some exposure adjustments you get some of the most incredible black and white images. Far more striking than anything you can get from a color image converted to black and white. 2) You can photograph some of the most boring places and have them come out very unique. Even shots that you would never shoot in color work out great in IR. In fact I make it a point of shooting things in IR I would never shoot in color because they turn out so interesting.

I do like folage shots the best. People and basically anything man made doesn't look all that different in IR, but plants do. Basically anything that reflects IR radiation will photograph wonderfully. Things that absorb the IR don't change all that much. If used right this can be an interesting thing. Like a bride photographed in front of flowers, trees or bushes can become a trully unique photo.

Of course you don't have to go black and white. You can do a lot with IR color. While most images start out with a strong red cast, you can tone that down and bring out the other lesser colors in the IR image for some very interesting looks as well. Swapping channels around like swapping the red channel with the blue channel can also create some very interesting effects.

Robert

[Robert Barnett]

Well, according to tracking information my converter Pentax should be here either today (5-7-08) or tommorrow. Once I have it in my hot little hands I will start posting some more samples.

If everything goes well we may now have an outlet for Pentax IR Conversions. Before he decideds however we wants me to test the camera out.

Robert

[mtngal]

I'll be interested to see how it works for you. I really like Infrared photography, but can't afford to dedicate a camera to it. I thought about getting a filter and trying it with the K100, but not sure it would be worth it for me to mess with it.

[Robert Barnett]

Well, I have had the K10D and the K20D and both will do infrared with a lens filter. You do need to use a tripod and need to do an exposure of 10 to 30 seconds. But, it does work and it works quite well.

I got an old *ist from a friend and didn't really have much to loose letting the guy see if he could convert it.

Infrared is a lot of fun and for the price of a filter I think is worth it. It is one of the few things that I am/was willing to use a tripod for.

Robert

[Robert Barnett]

Well, the camera arrived today and I immediately went out and shot a couple of samples from my evening walk. There is a resized sample (no color adjustments, just as they come from the camera, just resized for uploading).

If you want to download these to play with feel free. Before converting to black and white for adjusting if your using Photoshop try the auto-color function, it does a pretty nifty job. You can also download the actions from my first post if you want to play some more.

Robert

[Robert Barnett]

Here is another one.

[Robert Barnett]

And Another One.