Follow-up video of Phantom 4 with IR Modified lens
Last week I upgraded to the Phantom 4 Pro and not wanting to totally abandon my original P4 I decided to do some lens surgery and replace it with an infrared (IR) pass filtered lens which only allows light above the 800mm spectrum to hit the sensor. Basically it blocks out all visible light. The end result is a surreal finish to the video. Water appears as black as ink and vegetation for the most part is white. Other object that appear to be the same color to our eyes may have a totally different IR signature. This is not FLIR and cannot detect heat in total darkness, but rather reflected IR light. FLIR produces glowing blobs that while may look interesting on police helicopter footage for the news, it doesn’t have much use (IMO) for photography purposes.
I’ve had a few of my digital camera converted to IR in the past and was excited to do this on the aerial platform.
Here is a link to one of my first flights with the new lens. Short trip down the Salt River near Mesa, Arizona, US. About 2:25 there is a close encounter with a flock of ducks on an intercept run.
This video also has a link in it to the first series of test flights and the conversion process.
Last week I upgraded to the Phantom 4 Pro and not wanting to totally abandon my original P4 I decided to do some lens surgery and replace it with an infrared (IR) pass filtered lens which only allows light above the 800mm spectrum to hit the sensor. Basically it blocks out all visible light. The end result is a surreal finish to the video. Water appears as black as ink and vegetation for the most part is white. Other object that appear to be the same color to our eyes may have a totally different IR signature. This is not FLIR and cannot detect heat in total darkness, but rather reflected IR light. FLIR produces glowing blobs that while may look interesting on police helicopter footage for the news, it doesn’t have much use (IMO) for photography purposes.
I’ve had a few of my digital camera converted to IR in the past and was excited to do this on the aerial platform.
Here is a link to one of my first flights with the new lens. Short trip down the Salt River near Mesa, Arizona, US. About 2:25 there is a close encounter with a flock of ducks on an intercept run.
This video also has a link in it to the first series of test flights and the conversion process.
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