I have been interested in Infrared (IR) photography for years, but the plan of taking IR pictures never really pan out. The reason?

1. Dedicated IR Converted DSLRs are too expensive.
2. IR Filter method works only for some cameras, and even those that allows some IR to the sensor, exposure time is long.

I am a person of no patience, so filter based IR photography didn't work for me. I did try, but the results never satisfied me. So I was waiting for an inexpensive IR converted DSLR, patiently :)

I luck came when I saw an IR Converted 20D on Craigslist for a very good price. I bought bought it and started to use it immediately. Now, IR is fun, but over-doing it will quickly destroy the motivation to take more IR pictures, because there is just too much sameness to the pictures, in terms of look and feel. For this reason, I only use the camera sparingly. Below is what I have learned:

1. Manual focus lenses works best, especially those with IR index (which most old lenses do). The next best lens are those with ultrasonic motors that allows full-time manual (FTM) focus adjustment. My favourite lens is the Pentax-M 20mm f4 which is basically permanently attached to the IR 20D. This lens focuses slightly past infinity, which is perfect, because IR focuses further than visible light. Auto focus lenses are ok, if they have FTM. All of the Canon lenses I have can focus past infinity manually. Again, this is a huge advantage as you will always need to focus slightly ahead of infinity compared to visible light.

2. Pictures look best when there is green in them, as well as sky and water. In IR, green will turn into a white colour. Without green, the pictures usually look very dull. If you take pictures of building in IR, they look very uninteresting.

3. Use an IR filter that allows some visible light through, such as the R72 for special colour effects. With a bit of visible light, you can have false colours in the picture, which make them looks weird and surreal. Shorter wavelengths will filter out all the visible lights. This is fine if you only want black and white in the picture.

4. If you use an R72 filter for false colour, swap the green and blue colour channels in post processing. This usually give very pleasant colour combinations. Most of my pictures are processed this way.

5. Wide angle shots tend to look better than close ups, unless you are doing macro.

As you can see, my experience is limited. I am still experimenting with IR. If you have some tips for others, please post them.