atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Security, Alarms and Paging Infrared/Dark room

I have someone that needs a camera in a dark room for photography... The first thing I thought of was an IR camera that wouldn't cause visible light, but would record in there.

Will IR beams affect the film/developing paper at all? Thanks!

From Wikipedia:
That being said, infrared cameras normally use either the 850nm or the 940nm IR range LED's. The better illuminators (higher power) are the 850nm, however at this frequency you will see a dull red glow. The 940nm (less range, cheaper units) seem to be invisible to the naked eye so that would be my guess for a darkroom.

Humm...
It is a black/white photo darkroom, and it does have red lights in it.

When people are in there, the red lights are on, when photo is not being developed, the white lights are on, and when it is empty they turn all of the lights off.

There has been some vandalization to the darkroom (at a school) so the advisor wants some assurance that it is being recorded. I haven't seen the size of the darkroom, so I have no clue what range would be needed.

If I understand your thinking, a 940nm would be best? If it is, and the units are cheaper, I can see about getting one on both sides of the room, covering things a little better.

The darkroom has 24 enlarging units, so I don't suppose that it would be a small room. I still need to see how big it is.

One thing I was thinking was a LED panel... mounted on the cieling then smaller range cameras? Panel such as this:
[img]https://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/pinecom_1913_4156446[/img]
L-05 140 Infrared LED Light Panel with auto sensor.
Weather proof plastic molded case with 140 Infrared LED lights.
Built-in CDS(Photo Conductor Sensor) for panel to turn On/Off.
Power Consumption : DC 12~15V 800mA.
Illuminantion Range : 60 degree / 30 feet.
Lightwave : 850nM (Nanometer)
Size : 21mm x 120mm x 160mm.

I have seen some bigger/better than this one, not sure if it would even do the trick...

An ir puck may work for you with a few cameras

something like this


https://www.123securityproducts.com/vaprinilpu.html

You may want to find out a little more about what type of photographic processes are carried out in the darkroom. And, share your concerns regarding the infrared light source.

True, black-and-white darkrooms don't need to be completely dark. In fact, if they're setup properly you can actually see very well. Most B&W films/papers are hyper-sensitive toward the blue end of the spectrum. which is why darkroom "safe" lights are usually red or amber. Color darkrooms do live up to their name, they're dark...no light.

The light doesn't have to be visible to expose the materials. With the typical increased sensitivity to blues, ultra-violet light (not visible) is a definite problem (and x-rays).

I would think that you'd PROBABLY be OK in the typical B&W or graphic arts (process camera) darkroom. You would have more chance of a problem if there was any Color processing in the room.

You would absolutely have a problem if they happen to be working with infrared film.

Thanks for expressing your feelings/concerns and the information. I need all of the advice I can get about this. Mainly, It is black and white...I don't believe its IR film/paper though. My first concern was the camera altering/interfering with the images. Would be a DEFINATE problem.

The puck looks like an awesome idea! much better than a panel.

Now, if IRs end up being a problem, what about a regular camera, with a puck installed on the ceiling, then red filter paper over the puck? That would make the IR beams that filtered red I would think?

I tried to research the affects of IR in a darkroom but of course I only got information about IR negatives/paper.

Filters actually work by removing (filtering) particular wavelengths of light, rather than changing the color of the light that passes through. Of course, when the other colors are removed, the light that passes IS a different color.

If the work being done is B&W you'll probably be OK with an infrared light source. I would just keep the output as low as possible.

Making prints/enlargements from infrared negatives shouldn't be a problem either. It's infrared film, in particular that would have a real problem. Its not likely that they are using those types of materials, but its worth asking. In fact, you might just ask if they do ANYTHING in the darkroom that their red safelight needs to be turned off for. If they EVER work with materials that are sensitive to the red end of the spectrum, your infrared light sources will likely fog the materials.

Okay, thanks Marty. I'm talking with the advisor today, I'll ask her.

From my experience in photography class...color photography there is virtually no light. We had some very small lights on the wall that were greenish in color (if memory serves) just so we could see the walls going in and out of the darkroom. For B&W, everyone is correct, you use an amber/red safelight.

I talked with her, and none of the things they do in that class require all of the lights being turned off. It is a small sized darkroom, so two cameras in two opposite sides of the room with a illuminator puck has been requested.