errantember: (St. Ember)
errantember ([personal profile] errantember) wrote2008-08-12 02:33 pm

Camera Excitment and Drama

The Sony camera I had before had infrared spotlights build into it to allow it to see in total darkness. Although my new Fujifilm camera can see infrared light, it doesn't have an infrared-only lighting system built in, so I want to construct one. I went to Radio Snack today to pick up a 16mW IR LED and some resistors to make it go. I hooked it up to a pair of batteries, and it works. It's totally invisible to the naked eye, but seen through my camera, it's visible, and can dimly illuminate something about 5 feet away. That's not powerful enough, but I see online LEDs that go up to at least 60mW, and three of four of those would probably do trick nicely. I'm also interested in adding a filter to my flash so it only flashes in IR.

In other news, however, the bachelorette party I shot the other night must have been too much for the poor camera, because now I'm getting "FOCUS ERROR" warnings when I turn it on, and it won't focus anymore. I've contacted the dealer, and will try to stave off suicidal depression long enough to get it fixed.

[identity profile] savanni.livejournal.com 2008-08-12 08:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Considering the nature of your camera, I am quite curious about the pictures from the bachelorette party. Or did you use the visible-light-only filter? ;)

[identity profile] errantember.livejournal.com 2008-08-12 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I used it without any filter at all, so it does both visible and IR light, which means it can't see through anything. :) The situation was ethically questionable enough as it was without adding in that wrinkle.

[identity profile] dj-warhammer.livejournal.com 2008-08-12 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
This is why we can't have nice things!

[identity profile] errantember.livejournal.com 2008-08-12 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm sure it will be fixed, considering it's still under warranty, but I *don't* want to have to send it back to the manufacturer, because so far I haven't had to sign their associated paperwork restricting what I can do with the camera. However, the place I bought it from (before I ever had a problem) said that Fujifilm would probably demand that I do sign it before they gave me any tech support.

[identity profile] bouncyone.livejournal.com 2008-08-14 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
gah! That was quick!

I hope it gets fixed soon.

[identity profile] errantember.livejournal.com 2008-08-14 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I RMAed it back yesterday, so I'm *hoping* I can get the replacement back by the end of next week.