UV vision - a bit off topic

[swarmcatcher]

I know this isn't night vision but wondered if any of the very knowledgeable people on here new much about this - particularly whether or not it is easy & relatively inexpensive (in a similar way to night vision) to adapt a camera to display objects reflecting UV light in various degrees - showing up the invisible patterns on flowers etc

[phoenix]

Many cameras have inbuilt filters which block IR and UV light so that only visible light gets to the sensor and allows the camera to more accurately reproduce visible colours.
Removing the filter will allow the camera to "see" ultra violet light, although don't know how far into the UV end of the spectrum the camera will work and how sensitive it will be in UV.
Probably the best camera we use for NV work is the KT&C E700 and this has a UV/IR filter fitted which is easily removed, alternatively one of our sponsors SURE 24 (link at the top of the page) sell the E700 with the filter already removed.

Cheers

Bruce

[swarmcatcher]

Thanks phoenix - i made up a camera a couple of years ago for my youngest boy, will give that a try out. Think it was an E700 from Sure with filter removed. Hopefully be able to get a hold of it at the weekend.

[Midnight.Sun]

I'm not that knowledgable but I think you can always capture the fluorescent shine-effect that'd be reflected from the fluorescent materials being shined by a UV light source with any regular digital camera without removing the IR/UV block filter, because the fluorescent glow will be reflected back in the visible wavelength spectrum as the UV energy would be mostly absorbed by the fluorescent material. So you just need to shine a good quality UV illuminator on the flowers in a dark room or the garden at dark night, but it needs to be a good quality one, like using a 365 nm Nichia or Ledengin LED inside it, or others like any proven custom UV LEDs, and it also needs to have some radiant flux measure, like > 1000 mW. You can also try to control the shape and colour of the beam by experimenting different light defusers like white paper which helps absorbing a little of the blue and violet colores, Edit: or try visible/IR blocking filters, the professional ones should be expensive, they'll leav only invisible UV rays, but that will show only the fluorescent elements (most of the flower shape will not show in the picture).

UV safty glasses (usually yellow or clear polymer lenses) are needed to protect eyes vission from damage due to UV light exposure.

As for the dark vision aspect of a dedicated UV-rays cameras, Sony and other manufacturers make cameras with sensors that receipt mainly (or only) UV rays, they give shiny black & white pictures of the finest details of the filmed object because the UV-light short wave lengths can reach into the tiny details of the smaller textures. It can be considered a type of dark (or night) vision too just like the IR based type, but UV starts on the other end of the spectrum, for example the longest wave length of UV-A at about 400 nano meter is half the lenght of the shortest IR wave at about 800 nano meter, so it packs double (probably more) the energy that the IR light has at those particular wavelengths, and of course if the UV wavelength is shorter like a UV-B at 300 nm vs an IR at 940 nm the difference of power will be greater, that more dangerous power is probably the reason why UV is not a good idea for night-vision option, rather it's widely used in other applications like medical and forensic inspections and labs as it shines many fluids and materials, also for sterilising and killing germs and bacterias, skin tanning ... etc. Edit:UV based night vission applications are useless for hunting purposes as most animals do see well inside the Ultra Violet spectrum.

[Midnight.Sun]

This light is very budget friendly at $20 for a REAL 365nm UV that is tested to work very well by many satisfied end users, the Nichia 365nm UV LED in it looks authentic in the pictures. It is a 3 Watts power light, its radiant flux is not mentioned in the specs but is suspected to be between 650 - 900 mW which is a good amount of real 365nm UV. The radiant flux measure will depend on the Nichia LED series being put inside which could get regularly upgraded from batch to batch, given it's an long term product.

https://m.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/ ... OcQAvD_BwE

Again: UV safty glasses are needed to protect eyes vission from damage of exposure to UV light.

[Lambda]

Hi....

Swarmcatcher.... some food here...

http://uvirimaging.com/wp-content/uploa ... ameras.pdf

you can find inspiration here...

Fluorescent UV converter screen is the key element in this document...

Enjoy.

Lambda

[swarmcatcher]

Hi guys thanks for that extraordinary amount of info, I had been searching for hours and hours and hours and had not found anything as useful. I have only now got hold of the nv kit so will have a play over the festive period and also try to get hold of a decent light source, hopefully I will be able to come back to you with a story of success.
A really BIG thank you to Lambda, Midnight.Sun & Phoenix