RE: Detail in IR highlights

["R. C. Lacovara" <lacovara@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 09:37 AM 10/6/00, you wrote:
>This still holds true to some extent for infrared film although it does 
>get a bit tricky with HIE, as most of my attempts to increase the 
>highlight detail to my satisfaction ended up with very flat negatives. 
>Bright objects *seem* to reflect more uniformly the deeper you filter into 
>the infrared, leading to an apparent loss of subtle higlight tones.
>
>Konica IR is different again, mainly because of it's reduced IR 
>sensitivity and there is no real excuse for a lack of detail.

I have to jump in here, although not really to disagree, but to pose a 
question.

I've seen a variety of IR photographs, and there is sometimes a certain 
"luminous" quality which could easily become blocked highs, and in some 
cases, somewhat blurred edges in very bright objects. I've heard all sorts 
of explanations for this, and like many things, 90% were purely hot air.

(I've read that the longer wavelengths of IR light bend around objects more 
than visible light, hence the fuzzy edges, and also an increased 
penetration of film cannister seals as the light bends around the bristles. 
I'm sorry, but this is pure hot air: IR wavelengths of use in photography 
using HIE or Konica are so close in wavelength to the visible that you 
couldn't tell the difference in bending (diffraction) without measurements, 
except for the minor point that you can't see IR. For most purposes, IR and 
red light behave identically.)

Instead, I will ask this: is it possible that the lack of anti-halation 
coating provides a lot of the pearly, luminous quality of Kodak's film? 
Someone who is familiar with Maco and Konica may be able to respond to 
this. Maco has an anti-halation coating, but I don't know about Konica.

Bob

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