Customer Reviews

Hoya 52mm RM-72 Infrared Filter

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I use this filter with my Nikon D60 and it does a super job on IR pics. If you are new to IR photography, this is the filter for you! FYI, I shoot it in bright daylight using the same 90 degree rule you would use with a polarizer. Generally, I set the camera on manual, close down the aperture to about F22, set the white balance to auto, set the shutter speed to 30 seconds ( yes, 30 seconds, so you need a tripod ), ISO to 1600, pre-focus with the IR lens off, lock the focus, then take the pic. At 30 seconds, you're going to want a less breezy day, but the long exposure gives you those wispy, eerie, clouds. You're going to get a REALLY red image, but that's ok, you can tweak it in PS or iPhoto or even the viewnx program that comes with the D60. You can manipulate the hues and saturations, contrasts and tints in these programs to get your desired effect. I don't think you really need a more expensive IR filter when this one works just fine..........

This filter blocks nearly all visible light. Consequently, it looks opaque and black to the naked eye, though if you hold it up to a strong light source, you will be able to see a dull, deep red image through it. The R72 is one of the most common filters used in infrared (IR) photography. If you get really serious about shooting in IR, you may want to look into having your camera modified to remove its built-in IR-blocking filter, but even with that filter in place, some cameras can be used for IR photography, given a suitably long exposure. (Incidentally, what we are talking about here is "near-infrared" light, which, although invisible to our eyes, behaves very much like normal light in the way it reflects off objects. This is not the same as seeing heat as light, which involves a deeper portion of the IR spectrum.)

I have used this filter with an unmodified Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera and a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens (the original version from the 1980s, not the all-plastic one made now, which may or may not take the same size filters). The camera's auto-focus capability works perfectly with the filter in place. In direct sunlight, I have found that with the camera on a tripod, an exposure of about 15 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400 produces a good image. After that, what to do is a matter of creative judgment; the picture obviously won't be in natural colors (that's the whole point of shooting in IR), so you can adjust white balance however you like. I often exchange the red and blue channels, as well. Sometimes I reduce the end result to grayscale, sometimes not.

Now, one may ask at this point, if we are photographing infrared light, what is all this talk of red and blue and white? The answer is that the camera's sensor, though designed primarily to pick up visible light, is also somewhat sensitive to IR. However, the camera cannot distinguish between IR and visible light. The IR that it senses, it records (incorrectly) as shades of visible light (mostly red). This is what we see in digital IR photography. We are seeing, in colors we can see, an image made from light that we cannot see directly.

IR photography is a lot of fun and at times it provides a strange sense of discovery. It is strange and sometimes thrilling to see our familiar world in such an unfamiliar way. The Hoya R72 filter is a good choice for IR work.

Works quite well for digital infrared photography, where more IR restrictive filters would result in insanely long exposure times - provided the camera is sensitive enough to use them at all. Haven't yet used it for film IR, but I can certainly recommend it without reservation for those thinking about it for digital IR.

This works very well on my Nikon D40 and kit lens. I can almost hand-hold this but it does require about a 1/2 second shutter on a clear sunny day so a tripod is preferred. After taking a picture you will need to do some post processing with software like Gimp and a RAW editor. There are plenty of good free ones out there. Take your pictures in RAW mode and after you download them to your computer in your RAW editor set the white balance to a green item in the picture. Then swap the red and blue channels. This will allow for a blue sky with all the flora appearing a ghostly white color. For more instructions Google for "IR workflow".

Here is a picture I took with my Hoya 52mm filter ordered from Amazon.com:

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If you want to be a little more creative with your photography, you should consider getting an infrared filter for your digital camera. You can search the web to get more details on how to use it, but my 16 year old son jumped in an just started using it and created some very interesting photos. Typically, the filter requires a longer exposure than normal, but it still depends on the amount of IR light that's present. Color images will have a reddist color, but if you are able to change the color setting on you camera to b&w, you will see some great images.

Hoya has always produced high quality camera filters. Choosing a smaller filter size, like 52mm, is quite an affordable way to try IR photography.

Recently purchased this filter for my Nikon D60. After reading the reviews here and other places, I was not quite sure if this filter would work well for IR photography with my D60. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Eventhough it does require long exposures to get good images, it works very well as long as a tripod is used. The quality of the filter itself is superb (well meets the standard one would expect from Hoya). This filter provides an inexpensive option to explore IR photography without spending all the money necessary to get a camera converted to do strictly IR. As a beginner in the world of photography who is not ready to spend a ton of money for this, this meets all my needs in exploring and learning something new.

I had no idea how to use an IR filter when I ordered this. All I had was a simple online tutorial to get me started. Since then I've fell in love with IR photography. It works so well with a Digital dSLR, that I'm trying to get anyone I can to give it a try. This filter is so well priced and easy to use that everyone should give it a try.

This is a good filter for infrared photography. I was pleasantly surprised when my camera meter still worked with it. I use this filter on my Nikon D40. You have to compose and focus before you put the filter on. It isn't as infrared as I thought it would be. For the ametuer, this filter is good. To get a really true infrared picture, one would have to spend a lot of money on a higher-priced filter.

I'm impressed by the quality of photos that i'm getting with this on my D40, however, the filter itself seems very...touchy. i dropped it into grass, and it has a minor scratch already. not noticable in photos, but it's enough to worry me. get a uv filter to protect it, you'll be fine.
great for beginning IR photographers.

I use this on my Nikon D60, it works quite well, make sure you read up on how to take IR pictures though, otherwise you'll just end up with a bunch of red pictures. If your interested in trying IR photography, you might as well get this filter, works great for such a low price.