Hoya R72 Screw-in Infrared Lens Filter 49mm - IR Pass Filter for Camera Lens Effects, Range from 760nm and 860nm Light Transmission for Enhancing Creative Effects - Compatible with Mirrorless Cameras

After reading reviews all across the web, the concensus was that this is the best all-purpose Infrared filter for photography - digital photography in my case. It is also a reasonably priced. I ordered mine and got it quickly, and tried it out right away. The user photos above are ones I took when I did some of my first tests.On a tripod and with the proper settings, this filter does what it is supposed to and does it well. It darkens the sky and lightens the foliage (Woods effect). It gives images an otherworldy appearance that many find appealing.I know that I will be using it quite a bit for my nature photography. Thank you Hoya!EDIT 08/07/2014: I just wanted to clarify that you do not need an infrared modified camera to capture IR photos using this filter. It will work on a standard digicam, though results will vary from camera to camera. Some may exhibit a "hot spot" (brigther central area) and exposure times are long si will require the use of a tripod. If it is windy, some foliage may blur, but that also can be interesting. If you want to capture infrared images of people and other subjects using a more standard exposure time, you will need an IR modified camera.

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.

Several years ago, to try Infrared Photography, I bought a cheap ($20) filter that was sold as a 720NM IR filter. It never gave me the results I was looking for, so I put it away.After purchasing the G1X used last year, I decided to try that cheap filter again. The results were the same a before, nothing more than a red filter over the camera. After watching Rob Shey's video on shooting IR with any camera, he listed several high-quality filters to use, with the Hoya 720nm being the one he was using in the video. I decided to spring for the $50 and try this Hoya filter. I was amazed by the difference it made. Now, I was getting the results I was looking for. B&W images with white foliage. Bingo, you do get what you pay for.

Great quality filter, returned cause I didn’t get the desirable results I was hoping for. I have sony cameras and apparently the newer the sensor technology the more infrared light it blocks. The filter didn’t do much. Long exposures and tripods are a must if you go the filter route. Didn’t get much color separation and everything foliage looks fuzzy cause the long exposures. Overall mediocre results, next thing for me, convert one of my cameras to IR.If you own a fuji camera you’ll get better results or maybe other brands your mileage may vary.