Sony had the "night mode" on several fixed lens video and still cameras in the early 2000s which flipped the IR-block filter out of the way of the sensor. Then the product liability suits rolled in when users discovered that nylon fabrics are essentially transparent to IR illumination and thousands of peepers at the beach had the opportunity to photograph people in see-through bathing suits. Sony responded by crippling the night-mode at first (it could only be used with the lens wide open and at exposure times between 1/30-1/60 second, effectively destroying pictures at the sunny beach) and later dropped it entirely.
I doubt any manufacturer is going to put that into a consumer camera again as a standard function any time soon. An expensive, special purpose astronomical camera ... sure. Astronomers rarely spend their time peeping at nekkid girls on the beach because they're sleeping during daylight hours ... ];-) On Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 11:15 AM, Darren Addy <pixelsmi...@gmail.com> wrote: > I think the discussion of bodies is a good direction. > If Pentax could take everything they have learned and executed up > until now (in the K-5) and add a few features: > > USB 3.0 connectivity > A second card slot > A built-in intervalometer > An articulating live view screen > > The most radical idea (that NO one has done yet, to my knowledge)... > an IR block that can be flipped-up or slid out of the way for infrared > shooting. If implemented, this should not be off the sensor when > lenses are removed from the body. (Pressing the unlock lens button > should automatically re-engage it). It would be interesting to have > the capability to automatically shift the focus in the AF for infrared > with Pentax DA lenses also. This would make this model especially > attractive to the astrophotography market, which Pentax seems to be > acknowledging with their GPS unit. > > Darren Addy > Kearney, Nebraska > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > -- Godfrey godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
