Some Panasonic digital cameras are fairly easy to modify.
You remove the IR blocking filter from the CCD camera.
With this mod you'll get a mix of visible light and IR, I still had the IR passive lens from my childhood, I hang on to almost everything, spent the last 6 months getting rid of stuff.
Anyway there are two different IR passive filters, one is very deep red, the other appears black.
To use the "black" one requires the camera to be locked down on a tripod, you focus with the deep red, then change to the "black" filter and take your photo. Back then we used 100W incandescent bulbs on each side at roughly 45 degree angles.
Today you can see what the camera is seeing on the LCD screen, a heck of a lot easier.
I built an LED IR illuminator and I can mount the array using the quarter inch tripod mount.
I've built a 'gun' frame the camera is mounted on and the LED array is above the camera.
Looks like something from a cheap SF movie but it works pretty well.
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The built in xenon strobe produces very little IR. It's no big deal because I simply turn the flash off.
I have an IR blocking filter so I can mount it on the camera and use it for visible light but my wife has a ice Kodak digital camera we use for visible light and the camera on my cell phone is surprisingly good. It is 12 megapixals.
The big weakness with cell phone cameras isn't the CCD camera but the lens. Real cameras have sophisticated lens, multiple lens, each with a special diachromatic coating to reduce lens flare etc.
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My cell phone has a higher bit count then the Sony broadcast cameras we used at my last job.
Of course the lens for those cameras cost about 100k each.?
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I have the image intensifier lens from a 3nd generation night vision scope. it's an odd shape and I probably need to learn to print a plastic case. I'd love to interface a TV or still camera to the intensifier but optics gets complicated and really tricky.
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I have the output lens from a WWII sniper scope that used a "car" headlight with a gel IR filter to illuminate the scene. I had the entire sniper scope but the image converter tube went gassy after a decade or so.
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I need to come up with a lens to feed the image to the intensifier tube. This is probably a "I'd really like to make this work but I don't know enough." project. The tube is a reject because it has one more pixel defect then the specs allow.
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Given US regulations on such "high tech" stuff I can't go into any real details. Which is silly because a friend has a late model Russian night scope so clearly the secret is out there.
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""On the same note, it is a violation of ITAR to allow any non-U.S. citizen to look through U.S. Gen3 night vision equipment (even on US Soil). They are also not allowed to have access to any operator’s manuals or documentation, whatsoever, pertaining to US Gen 3 Night Vision Devices. This is a little-known fact about ITAR and Night Vision Devices, but it is true. We have confirmed this with the US State Department and major Night Vision Manufacturers. At TNVC, we take great care to ensure our clients are properly informed on laws and regulations pertaining to night vision. ""
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