Wednesday 7 December 2022

More Near-IR cameras from FujiFilm

For a while I have used a near-infrared camera made by FujiFilm called the FinePix IS Pro. This is based on the FinePix S5 Pro, which is in turn based on the Nikon D200 which, for me was useful as I have some Nikkor lenses that fit. (Recently I have been using a converted compact camera, simply because it is convenient, but the Fuji is more versatile. An example shot from Cordoba is above.) It has no blocking filter so you can use any filter combination you want and in my case that included a yellow filter for false-colour IR tests (not 100% satisfactory) and trying a variety of filtration methods. [See this blog post on the subject.]

I had thought that this camera was an experiment that Fuji wouldn't repest but it turns out I was wrong as I came across their X-T1 IR camera. This was first introduced in August 2015, which shows how on the ball I was, or how secretive Fuju are about this device. At 16 megapixels it isn't really up to current specs of course but, based on their web site, it is currently available. Fuji are marketing it carefully to "technical experts, law enforcement, medical research and scientific communities" and I would assume the EULA places restrictions on use as with the IS Pro. In theory the usage can include Fine Art.

So this isn't enough to make me want one, but it does indicate that there is a small market for out-of-the-box IR cameras as well as conversions.

The FujiFIlm web page for this camera is at www.fujifilm.com/us/en/consumer/digitalcameras/ir-camera which is interesting as it's in the 'consumer' web space even if the camera's market isn't.

I wonder what else I'm missing.

Well, the FUJIFILM GFX100 IR (Infrared) Large Format Mirrorless Digital Camera for a start. No complaints about resolution here because this chap weighs in at 100 megapixels (and maybe even 400!) and has up-to-date features such as 5-axis stabilisation. In this case Fuji say that this camera "will not be made available to general photographers or customers for personal use" and was launched at the end of 2020. Unlike their other IR cameras this one doesn't respond to UV as well.

Web page is www.fujifilm.com/us/en/news/digital-cameras/fujifilm-introduces-GFX100IR-infrared-camera and fujifilm-x.com/global/special/gfx-ir-camera/.) I found retailers offering this by doing a web search but at a list of over £11 thousand I think I will have to pass.