looking for Handycam that has infrared or night vision at DVinfo.net

Simon Denny · May 11th, 2012, 09:51 PM

I'm looking for a small HD Handycam that has infrared or night vision available. This is for b-roll situations.

Looking around the forums I haven't seen anything mentioned. Is there a handycam that has this feature?

I though Canon might have one.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Dave Blackhurst · May 11th, 2012, 11:52 PM

Pretty much any Sony "handycam", and IIRC there were a couple Canon models that experimented with adding that feature. "Nightshot" is the Sony marketing term, if you want to search for it.

Simon Denny · May 12th, 2012, 12:13 AM

Thanks Dave,

I have found that the Canon XA-10 and the Canon XF100 seen to have infrared modes, I'll have a deeper look at these.

Alastair Traill · May 12th, 2012, 07:10 AM

I do not know what the latest cameras offer but because some fabrics transmit Infrared earlier models were unfairly dubbed “X-ray” cameras. To prevent the use of the cameras in sunlight where the there was a risk of clothing becoming transparent the manufacturers introduced several features to prevent this. These features included setting the aperture to full, increasing the gain to maximum and making the shutter speed as slow as possible. From my point of view these were retrograde steps. I have had some success using cheap surveillance cameras that do no have Infrared cut filters. However they have no means of recording images and no viewfinder so their use is messy. The results can be useful if one takes care with lighting.

I would welcome the introduction of a camcorder with an Infrared setting that offers control of shutter speed, aperture and gain, let us know if you find one.

Mark Watson · May 12th, 2012, 08:02 AM

I have the long discontinued Panasonic AG-DVC30 which has IR capability. It's an SD video camera that records to tape.
It doesn't allow full control, but does have some of that x-ray vision (can see thru one layer of thin clothing)
in the 1/60 shutter, B&W mode, especially if using the optional IR floodlight in the SPOT setting.

The IR has 3 sub-modes:

IR -- aperture cannot be adjusted, shutter locked at 1/60, B&W (good resolution)
SUPER IR -- aperture cannot be adjusted, shutter locked at 1/4, B&W
COLOR NS -- aperture and gain can be adjusted, shutter locked at 1/4, Color, (lot of ghosting of moving objects)

I discovered the x-ray thing quite by accident while shooting some wild life footage, in a Bangkok night club on New Year's Eve.

May 11th, 2012, 09:51 PM	#1
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	looking for Handycam that has infrared or night vision I'm looking for a small HD Handycam that has infrared or night vision available. This is for b-roll situations. Looking around the forums I haven't seen anything mentioned. Is there a handycam that has this feature? I though Canon might have one. Any help would be appreciated. Cheers,

May 11th, 2012, 11:52 PM	#2
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	Re: looking for Handycam that has infrared or night vision Pretty much any Sony "handycam", and IIRC there were a couple Canon models that experimented with adding that feature. "Nightshot" is the Sony marketing term, if you want to search for it.

May 12th, 2012, 12:13 AM	#3
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Re: looking for Handycam that has infrared or night vision Thanks Dave, I have found that the Canon XA-10 and the Canon XF100 seen to have infrared modes, I'll have a deeper look at these.

May 12th, 2012, 07:10 AM	#4
Alastair Traill Major Player Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Melbourne Australia Posts: 626	Re: looking for Handycam that has infrared or night vision I do not know what the latest cameras offer but because some fabrics transmit Infrared earlier models were unfairly dubbed “X-ray” cameras. To prevent the use of the cameras in sunlight where the there was a risk of clothing becoming transparent the manufacturers introduced several features to prevent this. These features included setting the aperture to full, increasing the gain to maximum and making the shutter speed as slow as possible. From my point of view these were retrograde steps. I have had some success using cheap surveillance cameras that do no have Infrared cut filters. However they have no means of recording images and no viewfinder so their use is messy. The results can be useful if one takes care with lighting. I would welcome the introduction of a camcorder with an Infrared setting that offers control of shutter speed, aperture and gain, let us know if you find one.

May 12th, 2012, 08:02 AM	#5
Mark Watson Major Player Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Whidbey Island Posts: 873	Re: looking for Handycam that has infrared or night vision I have the long discontinued Panasonic AG-DVC30 which has IR capability. It's an SD video camera that records to tape. It doesn't allow full control, but does have some of that x-ray vision (can see thru one layer of thin clothing) in the 1/60 shutter, B&W mode, especially if using the optional IR floodlight in the SPOT setting. The IR has 3 sub-modes: IR -- aperture cannot be adjusted, shutter locked at 1/60, B&W (good resolution) SUPER IR -- aperture cannot be adjusted, shutter locked at 1/4, B&W COLOR NS -- aperture and gain can be adjusted, shutter locked at 1/4, Color, (lot of ghosting of moving objects) I discovered the x-ray thing quite by accident while shooting some wild life footage, in a Bangkok night club on New Year's Eve.