Blackmagic Forum

I was just watching the behind the scenes of NOPE and saw how they combined the film negative with a modded alexa 65 that captured IR light and combined it stereoscopically in order to do a day for night that looked pretty damn good.

My question is, given the new design of the URSA Cine sensor, could it be doable to get one where the white diode for luminance could be altered to capture IR data instead?

It would seem to become a special use case camera, but I do find the idea of it interesting.

Thoughts?

In theory you could have a special micro-lens that alters the focus of the infrared light which has longer wavelengths than visible light. Exposure would be very difficult if you’re trying to expose one sensor for visible light and infrared light given the strength of the visible daylight would tend to dominate; the infrared wavelengths have lower energy than visible light so there’s less photoelectric effect in the sensor.

Nothing’s impossible but achieving this for video is much more difficult than still photos. Maybe you could have had a 10 year research grant to investigate the concept, but there’s a couple of people in the US strangling almost all research based on its perceived immediate utility. You might have better luck creating a small modular fission reactor in your bedroom like any self-respecting student can do these days.

Maybe try an experiment to see what sensor is capable of:
First remove any filters that may block IR, then use an IR pass filter such as a Hoya R72 Infrared Filter (blocks visible up to 720nm) or a B+W 830/093 IR Black Red Filter (blocks up to 850nm, transmission curve at https://schneiderkreuznach.com/en/photo ... s/infrared.)
This will give you an idea of what the sensor can detect.

You would just have to remove the IR filter.