Infrared Flash Photography With An Olympus XA2

It has now been four months since I first started experimenting with infrared flash with an Olympus XA2 and wrote my first post about converting the XA2. After the trial and errors I finally feel as if I have the system figured out. This should be my final post of the experiment, and will be used to summarize the project so that anyone who wishes to replicate it themselves can have a single simple guide without having to read and digest my many rounds of experimentation.

The Olympus XA2

An Olympus XA series of camera was chosen for this project primarily because the XA cameras are very compact, even with the flash attached. The second, and probably more important reason, is that they can run in a completely manual mode. I didn't want a camera that would going to try to do any auto focusing, or make any automatic judgments on flash output.

I used an XA2 for this experiment just because it was what I had on hand. After shooting a few events successfully with the Infrared Modified XA2, I really think that an Olympus XA4 with the wider 28mm lens could be the most ideal camera for this use. I'll have to keep my eye out for one.

Olympus A16 Flash

In the second round of changes I upgraded the A11 which appeared on the original photos of the camera with the larger A16 flash. The logic behind the the switch being More output = larger flash range. I didn't do any real world testing with the A11 flash since the A16 was giving me results that I was liking, so I can't say for certain how great the benefit is. It is very well possible that the A11 is perfectly adequate for this use, but don't hold me to it. Perhaps I'll shoot a few controlled comparison shots between the two flash units and revise this post in the future.

I originally used black tempera paint to black out the large orange flash-is-ready light on the A11 flash. I haven't done this yet to the A16 which is pictured above, but plan too do so in the near future. It was actually kind of surprising how many people would stare at the light in my hand as I approached them. On at least one occasion I actually heard one kid say to another "Oh, It is just a camera in his hand" as they passed by. I wonder what strange sort of apparatus they thought I was holding?

Ilford SFX A Filter

The original Infrared Flash guide that influenced me to do this used an 87 filter. This filter appeared to work fine for people who have done similar modifications who had easy access to the now discontinued Kodak HIE Infrared film. On the current market nothing seems available to be an adequate replacement in terms of speed and infrared sensitivity. With the easily available Rollei Infrared 400, and Ilford SFX 200 films, I found that an R72 filter provided infrared transmittance that worked very well with the Rollei and Ilford infrared films.

I ended up using an Ilford SFX A gel to filter my flash. Being a gel filter, they are very easy to cut and tape over a flash. Ilford SFX A filters are currently available on Amazon for $9.99. A single 58x58mm gel will be enough to cut a replacement or two in case they wear out over time from use of the camera.

Finding the best infrared filter for this project was address in the first and second rounds of the experiment.

Rollei Infrared 400 Film

Through my experimentation, I decided that Rollei Infrared 400 is the best film for the job in terms of quality vs price. As an added bonus, if you purchase ten rolls at a time, Rollei Infrared 400 comes in a classy wooden box.

Rollei Infrared 400 is available at B&H or in bulk at Freestyle Photo. The full write up of the films I tried can be read in my post about infrared film options.

The Results

I've set up a gallery for just infrared flash photographs. Take a peek and judge for yourself.

Shooting with the modified Infrared XA2

In the post Real Word Testing I addressed both the expected, and unexpected reactions by other people while using the modified XA2. From these tests I realized that the use of infrared flash is less about being stealthy, and more about being courteous to my subjects.

Maciek Pozoga recently wrote in with a few questions about shooting with the infrared modifing XA2 that are more technically oriented then what I had previously addressed. His questions are worthwhile, so I am going to answer them in this article as well.

Q: I read a lot on the Internet that focusing in infrared was not the same as in normal. Did you have any trouble with that?
A: Not that I've noticed. Being that the XA2 is scale focus camera, focusing is a very unpolished process to begin with. I just set the XA2 to the closest focus setting and try to get the subject about five to seven feet away. I care more about the content of the images instead of having absolute perfect focus, so I don't fret much if the end result is a little bit off.

Q: Also that the [infrared] filter costs about 5 stops, so 200 ISO should be shoot at 12 ISO. Did you do that?
A: I set the flash to fire at full power on each shot, and don't worry about the ISO. While I don't consciously think about the loss of power, it still is in play as the usable range of the flash is far shorter than it would be if I was using it normal, white light mode.

Q: How did you use your Olympus? All automatic, like TTL?
A: I set the flash to its full setting, and set the focus to the closest focusing distance. With SFX 200 or Rollei Infrared 400, the balance between the flash, film ISO, and f-stop comes out well to give properly exposed negative about five to seven feet away. The XA2 is completely a point & shoot camera when I use it this way. It is just up to me to work myself into a position where I'm at the right distance from my subject.

I feel I have the technical side of infrared flash with the XA2 firmly in my grasps, so I think is all I'll be writing on the subject infrared flash with an Olympus XA series of camera for a while, outside of posting actual photos I create from using it. If you still have any other questions, ask away in the comments section of this post and I'll do my best to answer them. If this little guide influences you to do anything similar, let me know and share your best results. I'd love to see them.

I also need to give props to Joni Karanka's blog post which led me to Matt Smillie's infrared flash tutorial since they were the influential posts that got my infrared ball rolling.