I’ve never been a big fan of digital IR photography, especially ‘color’ IR, with its overtly trippy aesthetic, but I still wanted to give it a try since it is becoming harder and harder to find IR sensitive film. After hunting around online for a couple of hours, I purchased a very old Canon 5D that had been converted to IR imaging. It was in well used condition and only set me back a couple of hundred bucks. The first lens I slapped on the front of the camera was an old lensbaby. I figured the lens’s quirks would cover up any focus errors, something I had neglected to consider when going the penny pinching route. Later, I invested in a Voigtländer APO 90mm lens to help even more, but the funky old lensbaby was a fun combination. I think I still prefer the monochrome images better (old biases die hard), but with a bit of work the color images can work. So far, though, I have not been able to come up with a good project involving IR images, but the Canon 5D sure is a pleasant camera to shoot.
