# Your digital camera might be able to see and photgraph infrared
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-digital-camera-might-be-able-to-see-and-photgraph-infrared/283883
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 9, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-digital-camera-might-be-able-to-see-and-photgraph-infrared/283883 "2005-01-09T14:57:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-digital-camera-might-be-able-to-see-and-photgraph-infrared/283883/1 "2005-01-09T14:57:20Z")
I just discovered today that I can see infrared lights on the viewescreen of my Olympus C4040 digital camera, [and photograph it as well.](http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/yojimboguy/detail?.dir=/2d97&.dnm=78b1.jpg&.src=ph)
This is a 3-4 year old camera, and I had no idea it could do this until I started screwing around with the camera’s remote control. which I never used before. I noticed the remote apperared to have a rapidly blinking _green_ light on the LCD screen in the back. Then I checked my other remotes, and the lights from all of them showed on the screen, and even more surprising, they showed up when I snapped a picture – I had to turn off the flash, though.
I’m trying to figure out with this might have any practical implications for my picture taking, but I haven’t thought of any yet.
BONUS! Note my Homer Simpson slipper in the pic. My foot goes into his mouth.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-digital-camera-might-be-able-to-see-and-photgraph-infrared/283883/2 "2005-01-09T15:00:25Z")
I have an HP 315 and it does that, too.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-digital-camera-might-be-able-to-see-and-photgraph-infrared/283883/3 "2005-01-09T15:00:41Z")
There’s half a dozen threads about this. The controversy a few years ago about cameras that could “see through clothes” was all about this. A little Googling and you’ll be amazed what you can learn.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-digital-camera-might-be-able-to-see-and-photgraph-infrared/283883/4 "2005-01-09T15:13:49Z")
The LED Museum tests LEDs, and gives picures of their output. They mention this effect quite a bit:
> [@The LED Museum](#):
>
> This is a photomicrograph I took of the LED’s die while it was turned on. This is right at the outer edge of my new Nikon camera’s radiation sensitivity, and the camera renders the IR radiation at this wavelength as a nasty shade of pukey sage green. You would _not_ see anything with the eye, other than a very dull, deep cherry red glow if you’re one of those who can just barely see into the near-IR. (You can tell if you’re “one” if you can see a dull cherry red glow from a Radio Shack “high output” IR LED at 880nm).
(The site is heavily framed. Select “Discrete LEDs”, “Intrared” on the left, and scroll down to the Roithner Lasertechnik model ELD-920-515-1 920-nm infrared LED.)
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### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-digital-camera-might-be-able-to-see-and-photgraph-infrared/283883/5 "2005-01-09T15:19:25Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> The LED Museum tests LEDs, and gives picures of their output. They mention this effect quite a bit: (The site is heavily framed. Select “Discrete LEDs”, “Intrared” on the left, and scroll down to the Roithner Lasertechnik model ELD-920-515-1 920-nm infrared LED.)
Holy crap! Who designed that site?
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-digital-camera-might-be-able-to-see-and-photgraph-infrared/283883/6 "2005-01-09T15:39:54Z")
It’s a 1990s-style flashback, isn’t it? I think it’s just one guy. Gotta love a site whose slogan is, “We put the ‘die’ back in ‘diode’.”… 🙂
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### Author:  [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-digital-camera-might-be-able-to-see-and-photgraph-infrared/283883/7 "2005-01-09T18:47:56Z")
My Minolta DiMage S404 does that, but all the remotes I’ve looked at (DVD, VCR, TV) have a pale red glow.
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### Author:  [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-digital-camera-might-be-able-to-see-and-photgraph-infrared/283883/8 "2005-01-09T19:00:58Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> The LED Museum tests LEDs, and gives picures of their output. They mention this effect quite a bit: (The site is heavily framed. Select “Discrete LEDs”, “Intrared” on the left, and scroll down to the Roithner Lasertechnik model ELD-920-515-1 920-nm infrared LED.)
For some reason, the existence of that website is making me smile. 🙂