iPhone 3GS + Hoya R72 filter = near infrared camera

The visible spectrum is light with wavelengths between 400-700nm. An R72 filter blocks all light with wavelengths less then 720nm. Most images sensors in digital cameras are sensitive to light past 700nm in order to make a digital image look like what you see with your eye camera manufactures place a little piece of glass in the camera that blocks this light. Cheaper camera, however, do not and fortunately for us cell phone cameras usually fall under the cheap mark. So, by placing an R72 filter over an iPhone camera we are able to see only light above 720nm that the camera is picking up. Vegetation reflects very well at these wavelengths while the sky and pavement do not giving cool effects such as a black sky or snow white trees. And the best part is you only need the smallest filter to cover the iPhone lens! I bought mine for around $30

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• iPhone
• 3GS
• 3G
• Hoya
• R72
• infrared
• IR
• filter
• effects
• iPhone 3GS
• video
• Hoya R72

[morloff]

Just for the record, IR only picks up reflective light, it does not however pick up heat for night vision. Two totally different technologies.

[bombaykaizoku]

@morloff different image sensors but still image sensors looking at light.

[HermidaTech]

So If I'm driving at nigh with my headlights on and put this filter on my Iphone it will essentially let me see more objects that are normally too dark for my naked eye?

[bombaykaizoku]

@HermidaTech no, it filters light It will not add light.

[DEATH333METAL]

@HermidaTech if you add ir spot lights on your car it works like night vision but you have to provide the light

[thepen1]

Thanks for posting, v cool idea! I'm really curious if you have any videos of people at night with the filter you'd be willing to share? Would greatly appreciate it!



[bombaykaizoku]

@WilliamRayWalters I have not. Im not sure what would happen. 

[WilliamRayWalters]

@bombaykaizoku Another nice video. Hey, since the low nm (~720) IR filter works with cheap cameras because of the sensor being cheaper and not having an IR blocker, have you tried it with a camcorder that has nightvision, but not 0 lux nightvision? In other words one of the 'low lux' nightvision camcorders. It should work, no? I mean, I've done my own experiments but not with one of the newer low lux models. They don't seem to manufacture true 0 lux nightvision anymore.

[bombaykaizoku]

@WilliamRayWalters From what I can gather it is Near Infrared. What I've read is that thermal IR is in the 900–14,000 nanometers range. I do not think the camera image sensor has decent sensitivity in this range otherwise car engines and pots of boiling water would look bright and I have not observed this. Also heat from the camera would cause noise in the image. Though, as an aside, the man in this video is wearing all black ( youtube.com/watch?v=weik5M_AKi­s )