What is infrared photography? According to wikipedia.org, in infrared photography, the film or image sensor used is sensitive to infrared light. The part of the spectrum used is referred to as near-infrared to distinguish it from far-infrared, which is the domain of thermal imaging. Wavelengths used for photography range from about 700 nm to about 900 nm. Usually an “infrared filter” is used; this lets infrared (IR) light pass through to the camera, but blocks all or most of the visible light spectrum (the filter thus looks black or deep red).
Currently I’m using my old Sony DSC-V1 to take infrared photos, and I can tell you, I’ve never enjoyed this camera before as I am now. Read below to find out how I came about to using the Sony DSC-V1/a>
for infrared photography.
By default all digital cameras have an infrared blocking filtered installed between the lens and the CCD, which makes taking infrared pictures nearly impossible, even if most digital cameras react to a certain degree of infrared energy. But the Sony DSC-V1 solves this problem. With sony’s patented Night Shot feature on all it’s products, infrared photography is 
easy. With the DSC-V1 all I need to do is flip the switch to nightshot, which removes the IR blocking filter allowing the camera for IR Photography. The DSC-V1 and other Sony Cameras can accomodate IR Exposures allowing the user to take IR Photographs in Handheld. Ok now that we know that we can remove the IR Filter from the DSC-V1 with just the Flip of knob, is that all we need? Not so, because now that the IR Filter has been removed, we are allowing all sorts of light in to the sensor, and when you take the camera outside, all you will see is bright white, and since we want to shoot IR, this is not what we need. I needed to buy these two items below:
- Digital 2x Telephoto & Wide Angle Lens + 3pc Filter Kit for SONY DSC-V1
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Actually, I really don’t need the telephoto lens and the wide angle lens, what I need is the lens tube adapter that comes with this kit. If you can find just the lens tube adapter set for DSC-V1, without the lens, then you’re good. Normally this comes in a set of two tube adapter, one for telephoto and one for wide, both tube adapter has a 52mm filter size.
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However, if you have the original Sony Conversion Lenses for the DSC-V1, you have a choice of getting either a 52mm or 58mm infrared filter, because the Sony Conversion Lenses comes in two tube sizes, the Telephoto Conversion Lens uses the 58mm filter thread and the Wide Angle Conversion Lens has a 52mm filter size. I would suggest getting the 58mm infrared filter that you can attached to the Telephoto Conversion Lens Tube, instead of the 52mm, because with the 52mm thread size of the wide angle conversion lens, you’re stock with one focus length, camera zoom is disabled in wide angle mode.
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- Infrared Filter. Here are your options:
- 52 mm filter size
- Opteka HD² 52mm R72 720nm Infrared X-Ray IR Filter
-Price: $29.00
- Hoya 52mm RM-72 Infrared Filter
-Price: $43.00
- B + W 52mm Digital Pro UV/IR Blocking #486 Glass Filter for Blocking Ultra Violet and Infrared Radiation
-Price: $82.00
- Tiffen 52mm Infra-Red 87 Filter
-Price: $84.00
- Opteka HD² 52mm R72 720nm Infrared X-Ray IR Filter
- 58mm filter size
- Opteka HD² 58mm R72 720nm Infrared X-Ray IR Filter
-Price:$29.95
- Hoya 58mm RM-72 Infrared Filter
-$52.35
The Opteka HD² 58mm R72 720nm Infrared X-Ray IR Filter
or the 52mm IR Filter is suitable for most outdoor infrared shooting and cheaper compare to others.
- Opteka HD² 58mm R72 720nm Infrared X-Ray IR Filter
- 52 mm filter size
Below are test Shots taken with the DSC-V1



Thanks for the great blog. It totally convinced me to get a DSC-V1 and now I’m set to go.
My only question is regarding the tube adapter. The DSC-V1 has a small button switch in the lens housing that, when depressed, appears to override the ability to use the Nightshot feature. When I have the tube adapter installed the camera says ‘Nightshot Invalid’. Is there a way to disable this switch that you’re aware of? Or should I cut a small slot in my tube adapter to avoid depressing the button?
Any thoughts would be welcome. Thanks,
Chris
Chris, hi, yes there is,actually, the nightshot and night framing only works in the program (P), and automatic modes (the one with the camera logo). Apparently it is disabled on the creative modes - shutter priority(S), aperture priority(A), and Manual mode(M). The program mode (P) works great for me. I can still change the exposure, and the automatic mode works great most of the time especially on bright sunny days. I love the colors, it turns the blue sky in some sort of black color and it turns green into white. Hope this helps. Good luck taking pictures, and take lots of them, have fun. If you have some more question, just let me know.
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