p.1 #1 · Interested in Z6 IR Conversion for travel to Iceland, Africa, US Prairies, etc...
Hello,
I have absolutely no knowledge about this subject, but I am interested in experimenting with IR conversion. My goal is to produce black and white images, and to use a camera for landscapes during less than optimal shooting periods. In the US, when shooting in the prairie and mountains, we are often restricted to the edges of the day. High sun and blue skies make for flat images or ones with too large of a contrast range. The same can be said for midday in Africa. In addition, I will be making my 4th trip to Iceland and want to do something a bit different this time.
The specifics... I have a Z6 that is the back-up to the back-up. I am interested in converting this body for IR use, but I don't know where to begin.
1. Do you think the Z6 is a good camera for this purpose?
2. What should I look for with respect to IR conversion... Is Kolari the best company to go with? Does it make sense to go with an in-camera filter instead of putting filters directly on the lens.
3. What lens makes sense for landscape photography. I've seen that some lenses are prone to hotspots. I saw one source that indicated that the Nikon Z28-75 f2.8 is excellent for IR use... thoughts?
4. How do you process these pictures? Can they be processed with LR Classic? Do you make them monochrome in LR and then adjust to taste, or are they monochrome raw files?
5. Pitfalls / usefulness / other... Please advise.
p.1 #2 · Interested in Z6 IR Conversion for travel to Iceland, Africa, US Prairies, etc...
Z6 is great, I had it until I got Z63 converted. I recommend life pixel which is cheaper and reliable. Also I recommend getting full spectrum conversion so you can use it in many different ways.
You can use lightroom to process IR black and white but fit more creative color, use Photoshop.
p.1 #3 · Interested in Z6 IR Conversion for travel to Iceland, Africa, US Prairies, etc...
Can't help with specifics, Bruce, but as mentioned above check out LifePixel's web site. They have lots of info and tutorials that might help you, as well as specific info about which cameras are good and not so good for conversion.
p.1 #4 · Interested in Z6 IR Conversion for travel to Iceland, Africa, US Prairies, etc...
The Z7 suffers from PDAF banding showing in infrared images. I experienced this. The Z6 might not be as bad since it's lower resolution.
As for Z lenses, I never did try the 28-75mm but I can tell you I was never happy with the 14-30mm despite everyone saying it performed really well. I experienced a color hotspot and the edge performance was not good.
Look up Rob Shea on Youtube to get info about processing and shooting infrared.
