[2old4toys]

Pentax Q, Q10-IRcut, most Sensitive Sensor ILC
Successfully modded a spare Q by removing it’s IR cut filter glass. Thanks again to goe444’s very detailed instructions that gave me sufficient confidence to proceed.
It wasn’t difficult to perform. Use folded bits of paper post-it notes to steady the sensor box. Use a fresh sharp hobby knife blade.The plastic is softer than I thought it would be. Score it a few times till you feel it pop through. If I were to do it again I might be able to preserve more of the bottom lip of the sensor box frame. I would also have at hand some glass to cover up the sensor ASAP after removing the ir cut filter to reduce chances of contamination.
The rubber gasket under the ir cut filter is not glued in place at the base but lightly adhered to the glass.

As this point the camera is full spectrum, taking in a mix of both the visible and IR light.

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Last edited by 2old4toys; 09-18-2019 at 08:25 AM.

[kayakfari]

Wow, you've done it!! I've been holding back, thanks for being brave 2old4toys!
Would love to see some samples now ..

[barondla]

Pentax Q, Q10-IRcut, most Sensitive Sensor ILC
Successfully modded a spare Q by removing it’s IR cut filter glass. Thanks again to goe444’s very detailed instructions that gave me sufficient confidence to proceed.
It wasn’t difficult to perform. Use folded bits of paper post-it notes to steady the sensor box. Use a fresh sharp hobby knife blade.The plastic is softer than I thought it would be. Score it a few times till you feel it pop through. If I were to do it again I might be able to preserve more of the bottom lip of the sensor box frame. The rubber gasket under the ir cut filter is not glued in place. I would also have at hand some glass to cover up the sensor ASAP after removing the ir cut filter to reduce chances of contamination.


As this point the camera is full spectrum, taking in a mix of both the visible and IR light.

Cool modification. Also want to see photos. Lots of photos. Thanks for being so brave and to Geo444 for providing the instructions.
Thanks,
barondla

[2old4toys]

Further notes.
Whilst lifting out the IR cut glass, you will feel the ribbon cable tethered to the bottom. Due to the awkward placing, I could not find a way to cut it off neatly and ended up gently tearing it off the glass instead. I don’t see any resulting error messages when activating the dust shake, which of course is in any case rendered a useless feature after this mod.

Without replacing the 0.6mm thick IR cut glass, 01 and 02 lenses won’t AF/manual focus to infinity any more. However my modded infinity focusing Pentax 07 shield mount looks ok with it’s usual signature blurry edges, only now with IR! Added a Hoya R72 filter screwed to front to get rid of some visible spectrum. Did a fresh custom white balance and the live view becomes semi monochromatic. Some blues showing through. ISO 125, 1/100s handheld lunch break shot.

I am still looking for some ordinary glass to replace the removed IR cut glass. Hopefully it will result in my AF enabled PQ lenses to be able to focus to infinity in the IR spectrum. Not so keen on the alternative to shave the mount thinner if I can avoid it.

I hope this helps others get into fast shutter IR on a Q! No need to smash any glass and no complex disassembly and reassembly of the Q and Q10. For a quick full spectrum mod, all you need is a sharp hobby knife. Would not surprise me if the Q7 or Q-S1 would be very similar.

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Last edited by 2old4toys; 08-17-2019 at 04:45 AM.

[barondla]

Further notes.
Whilst lifting out the IR cut glass, you will feel the ribbon cable tethered to the bottom. Due to the awkward placing, I could not find a way to cut it off neatly and ended up gently tearing it off the glass instead. I don’t see any resulting error messages when activating the dust shake, which of course is in any case rendered a useless feature after this mod.

Without replacing the 0.6mm thick IR cut glass, 01 and 02 lenses won’t AF/manual focus to infinity any more. However my modded infinity focusing Pentax 07 shield mount looks ok with it’s usual signature blurry edges, only now with IR! Added a Hoya R72 filter screwed to front to get rid of some visible spectrum. Did a fresh custom white balance and the live view becomes semi monochromatic. Some blues showing through. ISO 125, 1/100s handheld lunch break shot.

I am still looking for some ordinary glass to replace the removed IR cut glass. Hopefully it will result in my AF enabled PQ lenses to be able to focus to infinity in the IR spectrum. Not so keen on the alternative to shave the mount thinner if I can avoid it.

I hope this helps others get into fast shutter IR on a Q! No need to smash any glass and no complex disassembly and reassembly of the Q and Q10. For a quick full spectrum mod, all you need is a sharp hobby knife. Would not surprise me if the Q7 or Q-S1 would be very similar.

Neat photo! Love the ir look. Fascinating that piece of flat glass affects infinity focusing so much.

Have a possible idea on glass replacement. Was playing around shooting some prepared microscope slides last night. Could the ultra thin cover glass work well as a filter replacement for the Q? They are small, very thin, and optically as perfect as possible. they should be relatively inexpensive.

Thanks,
barondla

[geo444]

.
Good Job ! Sincere Congratulations 2old4toys !

... some glass to cover up the sensor ASAP after removing the ir cut filter to reduce chances of contamination...
The rubber gasket under the ir cut filter is not glued in place at the base but lightly adhered to the glass...

Further notes.
... Not so keen on the alternative to shave the mount thinner if I can avoid it...

.
Sometimes, appearances are misleading ?...
Are you able to count the number of Dust Particles on your Photo #3, 1st Post ?
Particles are already visible on sensor... guess on a cover glass ?

I'm lazy... I choose the simpliest way to get the focus on sensor w/o any complication
... you just have to thin the bayonet mount... until the pictures are Sharp !
Reversible by putting a gasket of the exact thickness removed

... Was playing around shooting some prepared microscope slides last night. Could the ultra thin cover glass work well as a filter replacement for the Q ? They are small, very thin, and optically as perfect as possible...

.
Hi Barondla !
I too played with a microscope a long time ago when I was teen...
So I too had that idea, but...
- How to Clear the Particles off the inside of the Rubber Bellows, Post#1 Photo#3 ?
... of the sensor's Protective Glass ?... of the Cover Glass ?
- How to know the Refractive-Index of the Dichroic-Filter used by Pentax ?
... a special Dichroic Filter that let pass all the useful light througth
- How to fit the Cover Glass exactly parallel to the sensor ?
... once you've cut the ledges off the Filter Box...
- Everything is smaller than fingers !

That said... I would like to see the Difficults, hem.... Ooops ! No, the Results !

After a looong Brain OverHeat... I was able to add 1 page to my site

Samsung-NX-mini-M48-or-M42-Mount-Adapter

Photos tagged with "nx-mini": Galleries: Digital Photography Review : Digital Photography Review

Good Luck, 2old4toys !

[barondla]

.
Good Job ! Sincere Congratulations 2old4toys !



.
Sometimes, appearances are misleading ?...
Are you able to count the number of Dust Particles on your Photo #3, 1st Post ?
Particles are already visible on sensor... guess on a cover glass ?

I'm lazy... I choose the simpliest way to get the focus on sensor w/o any complication
... you just have to thin the bayonet mount... until the pictures are Sharp !
Reversible by putting a gasket of the exact thickness removed


.
Hi Barondla !
I too played with a microscope a long time ago when I was teen...
So I too had that idea, but...
- How to Clear the Particles off the inside of the Rubber Bellows, Post#1 Photo#3 ?
... of the sensor's Protective Glass ?... of the Cover Glass ?
- How to know the Refractive-Index of the Dichroic-Filter used by Pentax ?
... a special Dichroic Filter that let pass all the useful light througth
- How to fit the Cover Glass exactly parallel to the sensor ?
... once you've cut the ledges off the Filter Box...
- Everything is smaller than fingers !

That said... I would like to see the Difficults, hem.... Ooops ! No, the Results !

After a looong Brain OverHeat... I was able to add 1 page to my site

Samsung-NX-mini-M48-or-M42-Mount-Adapter

Photos tagged with "nx-mini": Galleries: Digital Photography Review : Digital Photography Review

Good Luck, 2old4toys !

Not sure how to solve any of the points geo444 mentions above. But I wonder if mounting the microscope cover glass parallel to the sensor would be any more difficult than shaving the mount to be perfectly parallel? Guessing the glass might be less critical based on the Sony SLT with pellicle mirror (45 degree angle). I would have to purchase another Q for these mods. Not happening soon since I just bought a Pentax K-1.
thanks,
barondla

[2old4toys]

@geo444 admit the camera body was pretty filthy and without a body cap when I received it. Lord knows how long it was left exposed like that and the environment it was in. However, once inside the opened up sensor box, the sensor itself under the IR cut was fresh and spotless! I want to keep it that way for as long as possible. What do you do to keep it clean?

1st thought is to lay clean glass on top of the sensor box so keep parallel with the sensor. Will find out this weekend as I have some 0.5mm thick glass coming in that I will trim to fit. Fingers crossed.

[2old4toys]

Adding back a pane of 0.5mm ordinary glass works to restore AF to infinity in IR tested positively on my 01, 02 and 08 lenses. Expect that other Pentax Q lenses will also be fine to focus to infinity in IR now. However... I can tell that some AR multicoated glass will be even better.
Would love to try this Q on UV photography/video too but a lot more costly for the right UV filter.

The rubber gasket is under the glass and I put back the frame on top. Just taped it to the front of the sensor box temporarily.

Rainy days prevent me from getting more sample IR shots using native Q lenses.

[2old4toys]

Using a Pentax 02 lens and the Hoya R72 on my Q without the IR cut filter. Will have some other IR pass filters to try out soon.




A surprise finding. Same 02 lens but this time with a cheap variable ND when set to max by eye looks black, blocking out the visible spectrum but I found it is actually still letting through IR! The output is pretty stark. Quite handy being able to change the strength of the IR effect with a quick twist of the front filter vs swapping in a dedicated IR filter like the Hoya R72. Maybe some polarisation is happening to the IR too and perhaps not the best way for an IR pass, but at a pinch it’s a neat trick!


Taken with variable ND at max.


Turning a variable ND to control IR!

[barondla]

Using a Pentax 02 lens and the Hoya R72 on my Q without the IR cut filter. Will have some other IR pass filters to try out soon.




A surprise finding. Same 02 lens but this time with a cheap variable ND when set to max by eye looks black, blocking out the visible spectrum but I found it is actually still letting through IR! The output is pretty stark. Quite handy being able to change the strength of the IR effect with a quick twist of the front filter vs swapping in a dedicated IR filter like the Hoya R72. Maybe some polarisation is happening to the IR too and perhaps not the best way for an IR pass, but at a pinch it’s a neat trick!


Taken with variable ND at max.


Turning a variable ND to control IR!

Super images 2old4toys. The variable nd with ir is a valuable find. Not sure I could stand to perform surgery on a Q. Almost like operating on the family dog.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla

[geo444]

... I wonder if mounting the microscope cover glass parallel to the sensor...
would be any more difficult than shaving the mount to be perfectly parallel ?... barondla

.
Hand shaving the Bayonet Mount to be Perfectly Parallel is not so difficult...
... it would just take a somewhat longer time to achieve...
0,02 mm precision to be expected !

... What do you do to keep it clean ?...

.
With or without the IR-cut filter in place, I think it's difficult to clean in both cases ?
... I always put a cap or a lens on my Q-10 to keep it clean !

... I can tell that some AR Multi-Coated glass will be even better...

.
AR Multi-Coated glass is mandatory for Astrophotography purpose :
... you often get Very Bright Stars in the frame, so...
you'll get Strong Light-Reflections between an Ordinary Glass & the Sensor's Glass !

> That's why I shaved my Q10's mount :
Pentax Q, Q-10 modified for IR-Landscape photography
... and, I am able to add every Astro-Filter :
1"25 Astro Filters inside Pentax K2Q Adapter

... Rainy days prevent me from getting more sample IR shots using native Q lenses...

.
Congrats 2old4toys : #1 and #3 are Nice And Sharp !
+ isn't the #3 to show some... retro look ?

[Nikoch]

I want to see more photos & maybe focused raw files. Can you post more? Cause I still dont know do I need to convert my Q10. Will it be good enouth for realising of my ideas.

[kb244]

I stumbled across this after wanting to get a 'full spectrum' camera, as I already have an old Olympus E-M1 Mk1 that does Infrared from 590nm onward (equivalent of the "goldie" filter).

Then I wondered about my Q10 since I hardly use it now days as it's showing its age and what not, and saw this thread and found it easy enough to go ahead and do.

Well definitely works. I had an old Schott BG3 1.5mm filter sitting around that I never used because it had no benefit to my infrared camera which I already had 695nm, 720nm, 850nm, and 1,000nm filters laying around for, and none of the cameras I have could see UV... til now. The BG3 passes roughly all of UV-A and UV-B, and some of UV-C (100nm to 280nm), tiny bit spill from UV-A until drops completely at 500nm, picks up again around 720nm (near-infrared).

[kb244]

Couple more earlier today.

Full spectrum (no filter in front) - Front yard of a house

UV+IR (Schott BG3) - Lake with people

And Deep IR (Schott RG1000) - Little creek