Davrian Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 (edited) This really works and the results are amazing! The background: I've been in to digiscoping for a few years now and have had Nikon coolpix 950 - 4500 camera's, I basically hang the camera off the eye piece of a 40x spotting scope, multiplied by the 4x optical zoom the camera has I can use 160x optical zoom which can give amazing results! www.digiscoping.co.uk www.digiscopediary.co.uk www.digiscoped.com In the middle of the week I stumbled across various sights giving instructions on turning digital camera's in to Night Vision! basically the CCD chip in all digital camera's are sensitive to IR (infra-red light) and to stop IR effecting your images they all seem to have an IR filter on top of the CCD, simply by removing this filter and using an IR light source you can take pictures / movies or just see in the dark! www.metacafe.com/watch/789830/diy_night_vision http://www.lifepixel.com/ir-tutorials/niko...nstructions.htm Now you can see how instantly I came to the conclusion that I could digiscope in infra-red with a rifle scope? So I asked around for an old digital camera I could digiscope with that would be cheap enough to pull apart and risk destroying! a mate came up with a Canon powershot A400 for £10! I set to work and spent a couple of hours with very tiny screws and pcb's all over the place but eventually found the small light blue coloured glass filter between the lenses and the CCD once removed the camera went back together easier than it came apart! (it would have been easier to do a camera someone had already done online!) The results are great! this means I can mount the digital camera on my scope and dismount it without making any adjustments so no dedicated night time rifle! I can take pictures or movies through the scope, the camera still works as a normal daytime camera with a little difference to the colours! The project isn't finished I'd like to find an earlier Nikon Coolpix 900 - 950 as the earlier Sony CCD's these use apparently are more sensitive to IR also these camera's have the ability to adjust the angle of the screen which could be useful, I need to make a hood for the LCD screen as the light from this lights my face up a treat! I need to make a decent IR light source as I'm only using the light source on the side of my Yukon NV at the moment which has a very narrow beam and too short a range for anything useful! The disclaimer: Obviously you are at risk of braking a perfectly good camera if you follow what I have done, you maybe at risk from electric shock if you take your camera apart, you'll almost certainly void any warranty! So DO NOT attempt this unless you are prepared to take FULL responsibility! Pictures to follow...... Edited March 16, 2008 by Davrian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davrian Posted March 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 OK, been reading 'Home made IR illuminator, Very effective' by PIN, very in depth, it appears the lamp is going to cost me more than the NV lol! but I will be sourcing lighting gels 'congo blue' and 'primary red' as suggested and a high power hand held lamp...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pin Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 I've got a fair sized roll of both somewhere, if you want a small amount for testing drop me a pm with your address and the size you want. What I found was in single layers there is still a fair amount of visible light coming through, double up and it gets less and less with only moderate reduction of IR. Despite all the faffing I went through I tend to just use my Deben max pro with the deben IR filter clipped to it - it's just more convenient having something that easily clips on, on a dedicated lamp which comes with a nice bracket to fix it to a scope. The handheld trigger mount for this lamp means you can switch over simply. I still have the IR "cannon" but to be honest the NV I have doesn't need that kind of range, 100-150 is all it needs and the deben does this perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labvictor Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 are you seriously telling me that by fiddling with an old camera you can turn a normal scope into a shootable infra red scope that will show the point of aim. Ime very interested but very dubious that it would be a workable peice of kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGalway Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Anyone tried this then, who's going to take one for the team Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavman Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 i like the sound of this, look forward to pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InGen Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 nice i always like these little projects lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGalway Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 I was interested until I saw the $145 dollar price of an infrered filter to be put in the cameras, here was me (dumb***) thinking I just had to remove something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 John you were right to start but you just need an IR Filter for your lamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGalway Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 (edited) John you were right to start but you just need an IR Filter for your lamp. Taken from this site. "As soon as the hotmirror filter is removed immediately replace it with the infrared filter to avoid any dust settling on the sensor." Infrared filter prices here. That's the process needed unless I'm mistaken? If so I'd like to be corrected as I'd buy a camera otherwise but to add $145 makes it too expensive for me. Edited April 17, 2008 by JohnGalway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 What range can you see images through the camera Davrian? It sounds very interesting I'd like to hear more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin1 Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 HI, i would like to hear more too.. would you noy be better off buying a cheap£80 monoculer and getting a vaccume pipe clamp and clamping it to your scope?? me is verry interested in this and venturing into n.v. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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