The Fujifilm X-T4 ES is an ordinary X-T4 but without the IR filter—it’s actually full-spectrum. Fujifilm has produced several IR cameras in the past, but the X-T4 ES is the first that they made available to the general public. Despite no fanfare, the camera sold-out quickly. Hopefully Fujifilm will produce and sell some more copies of the X-T4 ES (or another similar model), because I’m certain there is demand for such a camera.
While I’ve only had my Fujifilm X-T4 ES for a few days now, I’ve been busily photographing with it any chance that I get. Already I’ve made some wonderful discoveries that I cannot wait to share with you in the coming weeks and months. Capturing the invisible light spectrum is extremely fun and rewarding because it transforms an ordinary scene into something truly extraordinary. The world becomes a fanciful place filled with unexpected colors.
Common advice found everywhere on the internet is that you need some specific infrared filters (which are often expensive), and most likely you will need to significantly edit the RAW files, which likely includes color channel swaps. With a couple exceptions, there’s not a good way to get good straight-out-of-camera results. I’m happy to report that that is not true. You will (for the most part) need some filters, but probably not the ones you’ve been told that you need. And you can get excellent results straight-out-of-camera, no editing needed.
The pictures below demonstrate several different looks that I’ve been able to achieve right out of the Fujifilm X-T4 ES. They’re unedited JPEGs (other than some cropping and straightening). Capturing striking pictures like these on a full-spectrum Fujifilm camera is very easy. You can expect some Film Simulation Recipes for infrared photography to come soon. I haven’t named the Recipes yet (or even finalized them… they still might be tweaked), so I’ve sorted them by prominent color.
Purple/Lavender
Sort of reminiscent of LomoChrome Purple film.
Raspberry/Red
An Aerochrome film aesthetic.
Salmon/Pink
Also an Aerochrome film aesthetic.
Brown
The color of late-autumn.
Yellow
Yellow fall-like rendering.
B&W
No color, but interesting nonetheless.
That’s very interesting post Ritchie, especially on your comment on special and expensive IR filters usage.
I back you up fully on the fact that colour swapping channels is not a necessity, and you can do SOOC with a FS camera.
If not so I would not have converted to FS my X-A3!
But so far from my trials, using IR chrome and InfraBlue filters do help a lot to achieve certain aesthetics. A least out of my X-A3 which has a Bayer sensor.
So your initial trials are very promising!
Can’t wait your IR recipes out of your them!
I’ll be more than interested to try thtm out and adapt them on an older sensor and Bayer tech.
I think what I’ve discovered is that if you have the right color blue filter, it is the same as the IR Chrome filter. I haven’t (yet) found which blue filter that is (80A and Blue 47 are both close but not quite correct). I also believe that InfraBlue is a similar story. In other words, there’s nothing inherently “special” about those filters… it’s simply the color that they are, and there are other filters with a similar color (or even the same color) that will do the same thing, but for much less money.
Cannot wait for what you can come up with for your recipes. Still learning full spectrum myself (on an X-E1 in my case), and in many case using colored filters instead of IR or UV (the later still waiting to arrive). To come up with JPGs directly will change my ways of working for this camera really (although I shoot RAW, I dislike color swapping for my need somehow in my IR editing so far… either go with BW or celebrate the weirdness of IR rendering).
Looking forward to your next posts!
Awesome! Hopefully my experiments will be valuable to you. Can’t wait to share!
Brown and pink would do for me on occasions, but I realize such camera is not for me. If not color, then B&W without Bayer or X-Trans color filter. And preferably, full-frame where I can adapt amazing film era lenses for the “correct” out of focus/focal length “ratio”…
I despised Sony for their color science and flat images, but in this case would be perfect. Monochrome and film lenses (Nikkor, Rokkor, Fujinon, etc.). Hopefully, a bargain.
I do think Fujifilm should make a monochrome-only model. That would be epic!
I don’t think Fujifilm will go full frame in the foreseeable future. FF equivalents of the X-T and XPro series would be sufficiently distinct that they wouldn’t be in futile competition with Sony/Nikon/Canon, but they would be competing with their own APS range and I don’t think the market could support both.
Besides the regular infrared filters for b&w, and Kolari’s IRvision for aerochrome, I have been using ZB2 (same as BG3) and QB2 dual band pass filters for effects straight out of camera similar to your yellow effects. They require a custom white balance, but nothing else. I am all ears for details on your experiments!
The QB2 looks very similar to my Blue 47 (which is for B&W film); the ZB2 seems similar but darker. Great discoveries, those are both pretty affordable.
I wonder why Fujifilm didn’t make previous cameras more widely available. I assume it’s more for practical reasons than deliberately trying to restrict them. Distribution and logistics is a bigger overhead than most people realise, and also retailers might be reluctant to use valuable space stocking such a niche product. Does the camera have extra badging or graphics?
The B&W are my favourite. An Ilford SFX simulation would be nice if that’s technically possible. I’m never likely to buy this camera or an IR modified normal camera but I’d be interested to see other people’s images.
Manual focus lenses usually had a separate focusing mark for IR (typically red instead of white) because IR is refracted by lenses differently from visible light so adjustments need to be made. It doesn’t seem to be a problem with the photos Ritchie has posted here but I assume it could be an issue with large apertures at closer distances. Alternatively it might be they tweaked the firmware to make the necessary adjustments.
It’s my understanding that it is a liability issue. These cameras can be used for nefarious purposes, and are actually illegal in some countries. The X-T4 ES was only made publicly available in the USA to US citizens, because it is legal here. Even so, there is a note that came in the box that says by using the camera, the user agrees not to break any laws with it, or engage in unethical conduct. So they’re definitely trying to tiptoe.
The only extra badging was on the box. The camera seems identical to a regular X-T4…. I have no idea if any firmware adjustments were made for the IR sensitivity… wouldn’t be surprised if something had to be adjusted.
I had no idea about the legal situation. They’re certainly legal here in the UK: there’s plenty of info on the subject in books and magazines published here and I know of at least two companies based here who carry out conversions. I bought a magazine only this morning that had an article on IR photography.
If you fold out the screen there’s probably a very inconspicuous sticker with tiny printing. It might say X-T4 ES or Extended Spectrum but I’m just speculating. Possibly also something in the EXIF?
I mean, I say “legal” in the U.S., but it’s not completely straightforward… there are certain state laws and even federal that pertain to infrared devices. So I’m sure it’s something that is more complicated than a regular camera.
No inconspicuous sticker… in the SD Card door, there is a serial number. The EXIF only says Fujifilm X-T4.
Wow! I’ve always been fascinated by IR photography… Are these pictures shot full spectrum or did you use any filter?
It’s a full-spectrum camera, but I used filters for many of them.
Yes, that’s what I was wondering… The IR720?
Mostly filters that are for B&W film and color correction filters for color film. I did use the IR720 filter for two of the B&W images.