thermal photos

paulmallon

anyone know if i can use my nikin dslr for thermal imaging?
is there some method for converting it to take thermal images.
I am thinking of heat loss pics for dwellings in particular

Slidinginfinity

you would need a heat sensitive camera not a light sensitive one.

enda1

Slidinginfinity wrote: »

you would need a heat sensitive camera not a light sensitive one.

To expand on what he says - you would need a sensor with ability in the infra-red range of light to be able to record thermal images.
Normal cameras can not sense infra red light. <- actually it is the internal filter which needs to be changed to allow IR light through and block standard light

Here you go for a D70! http://www.lifepixel.com/ir-tutorials/nikon-d70-digital-infrared-conversion-instructions.htm

Martron

jaypers.... good look with that!!!

DaireQuinlan

enda1 wrote: »

To expand on what he says - you would need a sensor with ability in the infra-red range of light to be able to record thermal images.
Normal cameras can not sense infra red light. <- actually it is the internal filter which needs to be changed to allow IR light through and block standard light

Here you go for a D70! http://www.lifepixel.com/ir-tutorials/nikon-d70-digital-infrared-conversion-instructions.htm

Actually most camera sensors can sense IR light just fine, in fact there's an IR blocking filter in front of the sensor to try and stop as much as possible. That's what that link above is about, removing the IR blocking filter in front of the sensor of the D70 to make it more sensitive to IR.

Unfortunately this is near-infrared, ie infrared light that's just off the visible scale. Thermal imaging requires a sensor that's sensitive to far-infrared.

FX Meister

But a lifepixel conversion won't be any good for heat loss pictures like the user wants.

paulmallon

thanks all, sounds like a non-starter.
Are there any other methods for thermal images,other than spend a lot of dosh on a thermal imaging camera?

enda1

paulmallon wrote: »

thanks all, sounds like a non-starter.
Are there any other methods for thermal images,other than spend a lot of dosh on a thermal imaging camera?

Run really fast away from your subject to induce the doppler effect?

trooney

Not going to give you a thermal image, but will measure the IR heat

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=220790

DaireQuinlan

paulmallon wrote: »

thanks all, sounds like a non-starter.
Are there any other methods for thermal images,other than spend a lot of dosh on a thermal imaging camera?

I actually went a-googling to see how much they were, and ...

trooney wrote: »

Not going to give you a thermal image, but will measure the IR heat
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=220790

... this seems like a much better bet.

on the one hand, £17.99 and a bit of inconvenience, on the other hand, a groovy thermal camera but you're £20,000 out of pocket :eek:

Maybe there's somewhere you can rent them ? Or contract it out if its an on-going concern ?

fade2che

For heat loss you need a specifically designed camera. These guys are top notch. http://www.flir.com/uk/
They have a rep that that comes to ireland once or twice a month I think.
They have a full array of devices and can recommend equipment to suit you needs.
I having nothing to do with the company, just thought about getting into thermal surveys for construction etc. I met the rep and while I was impressed with the equipment, it was too expensive for my needs. However you may get them cheaper now with the downturn in construction.

They are companies who convert your DSLR to an infrared camera
http://www.lifepixel.com/ir-tutorials/canon-5d-digital-infrared-conversion-instructions.htm
this is not a thermal camera however.

CabanSail

Somewhere in the distant past I recall reading an article about some IR Films which would work at longer wavelengths than the normal IR Film. Now this was probably back in the late 70's but IIRC it was not cheap, needed a lot of careful handling and required special chemicals for development. I remember seeing images of cars with the Hot Spots and them realising a wheel bearing was faulty as it was hotter than is should be.

It was probably such a specialty film it is probably not made anymore.

NakedDex

I have cause to use them in work on occasion. The one that the company ever so graciously dropped the cash on was an Irisys. It's considerably cheaper than the FLIR brand with roughly the same resolution, if not the penetration distance.
I'll see if I can get a couple of images off it to post up here this evening (may be tricky, proprietary file extensions etc), to give you an idea of the visual difference between heat sensitivity and IR light sensitivity. I've seen the results of that D70 mod, as well as IR film (still available, though difficult to find) and, while fairly impressive looking, they're nothing close to thermal imaging.

DaireQuinlan

NakedDex wrote: »

I've seen the results of that D70 mod, as well as IR film (still available, though difficult to find) and, while fairly impressive looking, they're nothing close to thermal imaging.

This is what IR film gets you ...



Its barely past the visible light wavelength, about 700->750 nm or so I think. It's reflected IR light. For thermal purposes you want emitted (blackbody) radiation in the far IR band.

NakedDex

Yeah, that's pretty much it. I always felt IR film produced an image that looked more like a B&W HDR image than anything else.

DaireQuinlan

NakedDex wrote: »

Yeah, that's pretty much it. I always felt IR film produced an image that looked more like a B&W HDR image than anything else.

I do not think that word means what you think it means ...

NakedDex

I hope it does, or dabbling with Photomatix was a wasted effort (in colour, obviously). What I mean is that IR film gives a similar effect in displaying the vast difference in IR levels that HDR gives with colour. Maybe I worded it obscurely.

That image of the tree for example; the leaves show a massive difference in reflected IR to that reflected by the bark, to the extent that you can see a large proportion of the branches which would be less noticeable if the photo was just B&W, or even colour.
In a colour HDR image, they would be just as distinguishable from one another by the HDR effect than they would in a plain colour photo.
That's the parallel I was (attempting to) draw, between the highlighting of the intensity levels of colour vs intensity levels of IR.

NakedDex

You'll have to excuse the quality of these. Unfortunately I couldn't find a .iri to .jpg converter, or anything akin to it, while at work. In place of them, here's some screen grabs of the unit itself taken with an iPhone.

Thermal imagers have four main choices in their views of heat. Each have advantages and disadvantages. Here's the same image in each mode.

Ironbow


Greyscale


Rainbow


HC Rainbow (aka, Predator mode)

Ricky91t

OP you might be best off looking into Hiring one..An IR camera conversion isn't what you want and it seems that thermal imaging cameras are pricy..

If you know someone who's a guard they might know of a guarda helicopter they could lend you :pac:

As far as I know they are fitted with thermal imaging cameras.