Would you like to own a TB550/660/850 filter from Midwest Optical? Coincidentally, I sell a couple of them. All are unused and in the original packaging.
The TB550/660/850 can be used to shoot authentic Aerochrome-like images. Just browse the blog – I’ve written various posts about this particular filter. For example, how to set the white balance, which values should be entered in the channel mixer, or how to attach it to the lens.
Because the diameter is 30.5mm. That’s small, I know, but the filter can be attached to the back of the lens. Depending on the sensor size, it could even be installed directly in front of the sensor.
In my opinion, the TB550/660/850 filter is the best option for authentically recreating the look of legendary Aerochrome film with digital cameras. It is especially suitable for video as well.
Price per piece: 100 Swiss francs plus shipping
Interested? Write me at criskummer@hotmail.com
Here is a video. Taken with a Nikon D7100 and the TB550/660/850.
5 Comments
Hello, great results, very accurate !
Do you use the triple bypass filter instead of the dual bandpass 850 plus a yellow filter because it is more convenient use one single filter ? I wonder if you may loose some color information with only two little bands getting through in the visible spectrum. I would like to see more pink in the vegetation that reflect a lot of green as well as infrared. I rewatched extracts from “the enclave” by richard mosse and noticed that the vegetation typically looked pink in direct sunlight an red in the shades. I figured that infrared light is able to bounce more times beetween the foliage before being absorbed than green.
Do you know if there is any camera that has a chanel mixer in it ? I think the sony PMW-EX3 has a chanel mixer, but its a tri-CMOS video camera and I dont really see how you could shoot infrared with this type of color separation system.
Last question : Do you know any other important work other than Richard Mosse’s the enclave/Infra that uses Aerochrome ? I know there’s some late 60’s album covers but i would like a bit more…
And congratulations again for your reaserch on digital aerochrome, that’s very nice !
I made tests with DB850 and yellow filter (12) respectively orange filter (15 or 16). I found the result worse, much less variation in the colors of plants. (Could repeat specific tests for you though, just got a new filter set from Lee Filters). My opinion so far: if you want pink meadows, TB is the best. You can also try x1-Orange (I made a post about this where you can see photos with the colors), but there you have more trouble with post production – plus the shutter speeds are comparatively long.
The only small problem with the TB is really setting the white balance correctly in combination with subtracting the IR in the channel mixer so that the sky becomes really blue and the vegetation sufficiently saturated. I think that’s also a little different from sensor to sensor. What are you shooting with? It doesn’t match Aerochrome a hundred percent, because with Aerochrome film the sky goes a little more cyan. Interestingly, the colors are more accurate with video than with photography – why I don’t know.
Regarding Aerochrome original: No, I don’t know of any works of significance there. If you’re looking for examples, I’d look for groups on Flickr or on Reddit. I’m sure you’ve noticed that the results are massively different – depending on the filter, depending on the process. And with Aerochrome, there were also different variants, which differ again. I would therefore say: Do what YOU like.
For me, these photos are exemplary. But you see here too – the results often differ greatly. Sometimes a cyan cast, sometimes more magenta, sometimes uniform colors, sometimes rich tones. https://www.flickr.com/photos/infracolor/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/12762076@N04/
Thanks for these links. It’s interesting to see how the colors come differently each time. I was also suprised (and disapointed?) to see that a lot these images actually look like IRchrome shots. Infra/the enclave and its crazy colors is a whole other world… But it is also because of the subject, the impact can’t be the same.
I shot most of my pictures an old canon 1000D and now I also have a more recent 1200D to be able to make video. I’m not that interested in a complicated digital Aerochrome process because what I’m trying to do is to have the final colors in live view when I shoot. That’s why I was so thrilled by you blue trees technique which I hope to be able to try soon.
But speaking of pink vegetation, I also wanted to know if you were aware of the “Candy pink” technique that a canadian by the name of Jean-Pierre Martel discovered. it’s color-rich process that’s all in-camera. I suppose you know it already, the world of digital infrared is so small… At least when you’re trying to push the limits of color IR.
Yeah, the TB Aerochrome method doesn’t work in liveview, of course, unless you could load the process onto the camera in a LUT or otherwise preset. No idea if any cameras could do that (?).
I don’t know the name you gave. Just googled it. Looks cool and reminds me of variants with the DB850. If you combine this filter with certain green filters, you pretty much get this look. My recommendation to you if you want to find out new things: buy a swatchbook from Lee Filters – it’s very cheap. Next to that the DB850 and maybe the Chinese “inneficient” Hot Mirror, GRB3. With that you can cover almost everything and get many in-camera styles where you don’t need a channel mixer process.
Yes I have the Lee swatchbook and the GRB3 already. The DB850 is on its way to me. I hope I receive it soon. I think it’s going to be my favotite filter.