7250i and "Infra-Red camera" romour - read the truth!

[Thanh]

Hello peoples :)

I came across this several times in different threads.

Someone mentioned "One of the 7250i's upgrades from 7250 include a Infrared camera".

On they went, finding out that the camera in fact can detect IR-light such as from a remote control, yet people think, that, together with "night mode", makes it a military-style IR camera!

NO IT DOES NOT.

When it's pitch black, so will your pictures be, night mode or not. The IR thingy works, however.
Yesterday, i got my boyfriend's 7250 (no "i") back from the pawn shop where it has been for over two months. And i did the test.

Yes, also a 7250 (again, no "i"!) can detect IR light. And since i got a new cam phone also (a Sanyo SCP 550) i tested with it as well, and, yes, also that one can do it.

Since i have no data cable for the 7250, i took three photos with my Sanyo (got a cable for that one) and upload them here.

The file "remote.jpg" shows a Sony remote control, and me pressing a button.
The file "adaptor.jpg" is that IR thingy which belongs to my camera wristwatch, a Casio, and this sits on my monitor.
And finally "7250ir.jpg" is that very 7250, trying to send a business card to my Sanyo's camera lens.

Three different units, one thing in common: They send IR, and the mobile phone camera (both 7250 and Sanyo!) can pick it up.

Now, i have no clue WHY those cameras can do such things (my Sony Cybershot does NOT pick up IR!) but - isn't it nicer to have a unit handy to test if that remote does work still?? Or that phone's IR? Or - any IR source??

But there is no way this can be used for night shots or, as one guy suspected, "shooting people naked although they wear clothes" and such crap. Won't work, and that is TRUE.

And - no need to rush for 7250i when you own a 7250... you won't gain much, at least not in terms of "IR camera".

Kind regards.....
your Thanh

[Thanh]

*bump*

those rumours are rampant, i think this should be on top for a little while :)

Regards
Thanh

[vip3r]

i havent come to this forum for quite a while, so i have no idea of any rumors on the ir crap. but its true, i just tried capturing a remote control on a 3650, the IR is visible in blue, just like thanh's pics. kinda useless but its still cool, lol. thanx for the info thanh!

[Thanh]

Dear Vip3r!

Nice to see you again :)

Well, this IR detection is not too bad after all.... still, i have no clue why cam phones actually DO pick up IR (as i said, my cybershot doesn't and that el-cheapo digital cam which i use for a webcam (Eye-on) also does not. But now we have confirmed 7250, 7250i, 3650 and Sanyo SCP 550.

It is not useless. If you got the cam phone anyway, you can easily test if a certain IR source is still working. For example, Nokia phones. If you can't connec t it with the computer, using IR adaptor, just let the phone send a business card via IR (i think every IR-equipped Nokia can do so) to your phone-camera lens. Works? Good, take the same test with the IR adaptor as i did (adaptor.jpg). If that also works, THEN check the drivers or format C: or go for a beer.
I was already yesterday able to show my boss that the remote control for the fan actually works, so it must be the receiver in the fan itself that's screwed, since it doesn't react to the remote. So, in short, a handy IR tester :)

But better don't let Nokia know that, or one of two things will happen: The next generation cam phones can no more pick up IR or they cost 50 bucks more and got one extra "feature": IR detector :))

Kind regards....
your Thanh

[anton1]

Hello peoples :)
Now, i have no clue WHY those cameras can do such things (my Sony Cybershot does NOT pick up IR!) but - isn't it nicer to have a unit handy to test if that remote does work still?? Or that phone's IR? Or - any IR source??

But there is no way this can be used for night shots or, as one guy suspected, "shooting people naked although they wear clothes" and such crap. Won't work, and that is TRUE.


The reason it works is that any device with a CCD is sensitive to infra-red light. Your Sony cybershot doesn't pick it up because these days camera manufacturers place an IR-blocking filter over the CCD. On camera-equipped phones, however, the components tend to be pretty cheap so no-one bothers. In some old Sony digital camcorders the "night mode" switch would work by moving the IR-blocking filter away from the CCD, allowing IR images to be picked up by the CCD. This often led to embarassing situations.. at a friends birthday party, we used one of these cameras and one particular girl's underwear at the party was clearly visible through her pants. This is because Infra red light has a shorter wavelength to visible light and can go right through thin materials, reflect off the surface underneath and pass through it again... the image of whatever is underneath the material get's picked up by the CCD and voila!! X-ray camera...
However... This only worked because there wasn't much visible light around to confuse the image and because this girl was wearing very thin pants... IR cant go through thick clothes like jeans etc...
If you want to check the see-through capabilitiesof your phone camera, the best idea is to get yourself an IR-pass filter from a camera store and experiment shooting through it, so that only Infra-red light gets to the CCD.