There just aren't that many options available for doing infrared photography on film any more. But I wanted to give IR a try because I thought it might be helpful for one of my long term projects. According to B&H, there is Ilford SFX 200 and a couple of stocks from Rollei/Agfa (including Rollei Infrared). Ilford SFX 200 was the only medium format emulsion in stock at the time I was hatching this plan, so in the end, my decision was pretty straightforward. I decided to use my beloved Rolleiflex SL66 (and the 80 mm f/2.8 lens) for this shoot as correcting for the focus shift is relatively easy to do (I followed the recommendations found in L. A. Manheim's "The Rolleiflex Way"). To cut the visible light, I took an old Bay VI filter and replaced the original glass with a Hoya R72 insert from another filter. It is a bummer to have to take the filter on and off to focus and expose, but the bayonet makes it pretty easy. When setting exposure, I allowed 4 to 5 stops for the filter. According to the available data, I was working with a pretty narrow sliver of NIR light from about 720-740 nm. I think that is a good way to to learn about the possibilities of IR photography, right? Walk before you run. Maybe we should call this little experiment NIR photography? The next film I would try is the Rollei Infrared, that has sensitivity out to 840 nm.
To say that I was very pleased with the results would be a bit of an understatement! The detail was excellent and the grain was under control. The relatively narrow wavelength band close to the visible region gave results that were familiar to a visible light shooter like me, and also tamed the crazy white foliage effect that is sometimes seen on emulsions with sensitivity deeper into the IR.
The second image is not as pleasing to me as a photograph, but there are some beech leaves visible that show how the NIR reflectivity of foliage is rendered in this combination.
My tentative conclusions are that NIR film photography works well for static subjects like trees when there is plenty of light around. Ilford SFX 200 offers outstanding creative possibilities for sure. Next steps are to have a look at the Rollei infrared. Ultimately, I'll also compare the results to what can be achieved with digital IR.
