Anyone else shooting UV?

Thank you. If you use an UV flashlight it should be 365nm and have a "black" filter to eliminate all other light. Here is what I used on the UVIVF ground foliage image. www.amazon.com/Alonefire-Flashlight-Rechargeable-Ultraviolet-Blacklight/dp/B08B638TZM/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3EJFI1URV1HN&keywords=Alonefire+brand+SV13&qid=1661559244&sprefix=alonefire+brand+sv13+%2Caps%2C237&sr=8-2

WARNING: you must wear UV blocking goggles for safety. Looks like some are included with the light. It is also recommended that your wear long sleeve heavy COTTON shirt for protection.

UVIVF works by illuminating subject with pure UV light. The subject reacts by emiting visible light. This is why a standard camera is used. The Tiffen haze 2E filter keeps the bright UV from overpowering the weaker fluorescence. Unfortunately the Tiffen is discontinued. I finally found 77mm size at B&H Photo. They call it an UV 2E filter on their site. With shipping it is about $100. Don't confuse this with a standard UV filter - it cuts out much more UV. My first filter was a Tiffen haze 2A filter. It works all most as well - see ground foliage image. You might get away with no lens filter to start. Especially with the UV flashlight.
Give it a try!
Thanks,
barondla

Xposted in Today With Your Pentax.

UV image. Kolari Vision modified full spectrum Pentax K-1 with Meyer-Optik Gorlitz V Telemegor 180. Hoya U360/ Schott S8612, each 2mm thick. ISO 100 F16 at 50 seconds.
Thanks for looking,
barondla

Not me but the work of Dr. Klaus Schmitt is well worth a look !! Warning - be prepared to give up after seeing his stuff ...

openphotographyforums.com/forums/threads/sempervivum-hens-and-chicks-multispectral.25902/

Impressive images for sure. He is one of the top UV photographers and has a very informative website. Dr. B. Rørslett and A. Blum also do some amazing work and own ultravioletphotography.com. A great place to learn UV, IR, multi spectral, and other invisible light photography.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla

My first UVIIRF. Cucumbers fluoresce Infrared when exposed to UV. Kolari Vision full spectrum modified Pentax K-1. Old metal Nikon EL-Nikkor 80mm enlarging lens with Hoya R72 and Tiffen Haze 2E filter stack. Lit from below by Wanfire (NEMO) 365nm UV torch. ISO 100, F11 at 15". Built a black "tent" around subject to stop light contamination.
Thanks for looking.
barondla

Good one of the cucumber.

Long ago I would test luminous watch hands including by irradiation with an LED UV lamp.

tcktek.blogspot.com/2008/05/uv-excited-lume-shots.html

Interesting that UV-excited stuff does not radiate UV necessarily; like, most watch hands look green.

@xpatUSA thank you. I was happy, especially for a first try. It is more complicated than the UVIVF. My understanding is fluorescence is always a longer wavelength than the light striking the subject. So it might take X or gamma rays to cause UV fluorescence. Not sure if that is possible.

Enjoyed viewing and reading about your watches. Great idea to photograph with lights off. If the led light wasn't fitted with a dark filter and the camera lacked a very strong UV filter, the image will be washed out. A standard UV filter isn't strong enough because the fluorescence is so much dimmer. A Tiffen Haze 2a, or better E, or Zeiss UV is required. A shame so many workers were injured painting those luminous watch bands.
Thanks for the comments and link,
barondla

With fluorescence the photon released is always of lower energy than the exiting photon, some energy being lost in a slower electronic transition within the molecule, before the light is emitted. This ensures any emission has a longer wavelength (as @barondla mentioned above).

Usually we notice UV excited stuff that emits visual light, but other combinations are possible. I used to work with an instrument that excited using a controlled wavelength in the UV (between 200nm & 400nm IIRC) & measured emissions at any longer wavelength in the UV &/or visual, but this is the first time I've come across fluorescence emitted in IR. I guess if we could see IR there would be many more examples of fluorescence emitted at these wavelengths, some probably caused by visual excitation :)

I'm gradually building a table of excitation/emission wavelengths for calibration purposes, aspirin can emit at 380nm when excited at 238nm (I'm not sure how critical the solvent is but this was listed as an odd 3 way combination). It's one of three compounds on my table where the emission is just within the UV. The other compounds are of more interest to me as they might help identify which wavelengths my home modified full spectrum flash emits.

In my mind, UVIF (UV induced florescence) is not actually shooting UV. The lighting may be UV but it's normally recorded with normal cameras. Shooting reflected UV is considerable more difficult, that I've tried but not really succeeded at. I started at thread specifically on UVIR here

Exciting, presumably?

Well spotted, you are indeed 100% correct.

Believe this is a Small Woods Sunflower (Helianthus Microcephalus) in the Asteraceae family. UV image using Kolari Vision modified full spectrum Pentax K-1 with old metal Nikon EL-Nikkor 80mm enlarging lens. Used my standard 2mm Hoya U360 and 2mm Schott S8612 filter stack. Light supplied by diy modified Vivitar 283 flash. ISO 200, F11 at 1/200.
Pretty happy with my "new" Vivitar UV flash. It puts out at least 1 full step more light than my same size modified Pentax 540 flash. Even though I removed the front glass of the Pentax, there seems to be another clear window covering the flashtube. It must be reducing UV. It looks sealed so I will probably leave it alone.
Thanks for looking,
barondla

Shot with a Pentax Takumar 500mm F4.5. Luckily, the lens takes internal filters and the 49mm Hoya U360/Schott S8612 4mm thick filter stack fits. Love how UV enhances fog and haze. Kolari Vision modified full spectrum Pentax K-1. ISO 400, F11 at .8 second. Shooting a large telephoto in UV light isn't easy.
Thanks for looking,
barondla

Xposted in UV Induced Fluorescence. A spooky Halloween image. Pentaz 645Z, Pentax 645 120mm macro, Tiffen Haze/UV 2E, 2 Adaptalux Pod Mini with UV arms. ISO 400 at F8 and 237 seconds.
A very long exposure that would probably never work outside. I will try raising the ISO on future shots.
Thanks for viewing,
barondla

Ice in UV. Kolari Vision modified Pentax K-1 with metal mount EL-Nikkor 80 enlarging lens and Hoya U360/Schott S8612 filter stack. ISO 100, F11 at 30". This was ice frozen in dog's water bowl. At least I finally got time to shoot something!
Thanks for looking,
barondla

Plants are starting to wake up. This is with The Kolari Vision modified Pentax K-1 full spectrum, Nikon EL-Nikkor 80 with Hoya 2mm U360/Schott S8612 filter stack. Trying out a Canon 199A flash I modified for full spectrum. ISO2000, 1/200 at F8. It worked well so time to pick up a few more. Can't have too much UV light.

Thanks for looking,
barondla

This is the first time I've heard of converting a flash for full spectrum- what does the conversion entail?

The Canon 199A is a great choice for full spectrum modifications. It is from the film era which makes them plentiful and inexpensive. It is safe for digital cameras because it has very low trigger voltage. It also has an uncoated flash tube that passes UV. The UV filtering comes from the yellowish plastic protection window. The mod requires removing the window. It is so easy to do! Didn't take 5 minutes to accomplish.

WARNING!
Electronic flash store high voltage in their capacitors. This could give you quite a shock or worse. To discharge the capacitor remove the batteries. Then turn flash on and hit test button multiple times. Now it is safe to work on.

The modification:

1. Set bounce head straight up. Look at bottom of flash head. Unscrew the two screws holding the bezel on. Look at top of bounce head. There is a centrally located "finger nail slot" pull it up and forward. Bezel now comes off.
2. The yellow protection window has a snap on each end. Carefully remove and try not to touch the wire connection on each end of the chrome reflector.

At this point I put the bezel back in with the two screws. This will allow the reflector to flop around a little, but is fine for testing.
At this stage do not aim at people or animals because flash tubes can shatter sending shards of glass everywhere. This is the end of my 5 minute mod.

1. Now build a new protection window. Use an old CD case. That plastic passes UV, visible light, and IR. Use the discarded yellow window as a template. Cut to fit.
2. The Canon has two dedicated contacts on the flash foot. I would tape over them to protect a different brand camera.

Have fun!
Thanks,
barondla