Full spectrum with filters: one body, every look

The conversions guide ends at a decision: dedicate the camera to one infrared wavelength, or convert to full spectrum and choose with filters. This is the promised closer look at the full-spectrum path, because it is the one most people pick and the one with the most moving parts.

The idea in one line

A full-spectrum conversion replaces the sensor’s hot mirror with clear glass, so the camera records ultraviolet, visible, and infrared all at once, and whatever filter you put on the lens decides which slice makes the photo (Kolari).

One body, many cameras

With a small kit of screw-on filters, the same body becomes:

• A normal camera. A hot mirror (UV/IR-cut) filter on the lens restores ordinary color photography.
• A color infrared camera. A 590nm or 665nm filter gives the vivid false-color looks.
• A classic infrared camera. A 720nm filter for the standard look, glowing foliage and dark skies.
• A black and white infrared camera. An 850nm filter for deep monochrome.
• An ultraviolet camera. A UV-pass filter, though UV needs its own lens and lighting care, see the UV guide.

Each look is a filter change, not a new conversion (Kolari). For what each cutoff looks like, see the filter reference.

What the flexibility costs

Full spectrum is not free lunch. Compared to a dedicated IR conversion:

• You buy the looks separately. Each look is a filter, and decent filters cost real money. Buy for your largest lens thread and use step-up rings so one set fits every lens, instead of buying each size twice.
• White balance per filter. Each filter wants its own custom white balance, so save presets for the ones you use. The editing side is covered in editing infrared.
• On a DSLR, the viewfinder goes dark. An opaque IR filter on the lens blocks the optical viewfinder, so you compose by live view. A dedicated IR conversion keeps the viewfinder clear because its filter sits on the sensor instead. On mirrorless this whole problem disappears, which is a big part of why mirrorless bodies are the usual pick for full spectrum.
• Bare full spectrum is not a look. With no filter at all, UV, visible, and IR pile together into a washed, pinkish image. Usable for low light, but for defined looks you shoot through a filter.

Which should you get?

• Full spectrum if you want to explore, expect to try multiple wavelengths, shoot any UV at all, or want one body to do normal color in a pinch.
• Dedicated IR if you already know your wavelength and want the simplest handling: no filter swapping, clear viewfinder on a DSLR, nothing extra to buy or lose.

A sensible starter kit for a full-spectrum body is just two filters: a hot mirror for normal color, and a 720nm for infrared. Add a 590nm later if the false-color look pulls you in.

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New to conversions entirely? Start with camera conversions. Picking a wavelength? See the filter reference.