I prefer the rangefinder-style of Fuji cameras—the X100 series, the X-Pros, and the X-Es. Last week, though, a used X-T1 came up for a really low price, so I thought why not: it’ll be a great backup body for now, and it’ll end up as part of my outdoor (i.e., abused) timelapse kit down the road.
Plus, I’m weak. I can’t pass up brownies or inexpensive camera gear.
When the camera arrived, I ended up with this weirdness as my first shot.
I thought the white balance must be really off for some reason, and I tried to “fix” it for an hour without any success. I then went outside with the camera again, and as I looked through the viewfinder, I noticed the X-T1 was picking up light from a security camera, light that I couldn’t see with my naked eye.
Whoa. The company sent me an X-T1 IR. Or at least a modified X-T1.
I wasn’t super pleased at first. I have zero experience shooting infrared, and doing so didn’t initially appeal to me. I just wanted a normal backup body to throw in my bag, a camera that I could simply slap a lens on without having to think too much about it.
I’m starting to dig the possibilities of infrared though, especially if I can find a way to cancel the IR spectrum when I need to. I’ve ordered an IR cut filter, but I’m also playing with a custom white balance that will work under enough conditions to make the camera useable on a standard shoot. Definitely a work in progress though. Here is one example.
