Examples of Digital UV

Sand ripples are beatiful to behold and make wonderful photographic objects. The images above were obtained using Nikon D1 with UV-Nikkor 105 mm f/4.5 lens. For the upper image, the Nikon FF + Tiffen hot-mirror filters were employed and for the lower, a Hoya U-360 filter was used. The FF filter has a bigger transmission side-lobe in deep red/near IR than the U-360 filter, besides being more linear in its UV response. Because D1 is quite sensitive to IR, using the Tiffen hot-mirror to cut IR proved advantageous. The downside is that this filter also reduces UV rays to some extent. A plot of the combined spectral response of FF + Tiffen filters is given here.

Despite the long exposure times (up to 30 secs), the D1 images were relatively free of digital noise. Both images were taking using the camera on its "A" setting so directly proving that D1 meters perfectly below 400 nm. The U-360 image contains little or no green and only small amounts of red, while the FF image comprises a wider gamut of colours. Both renditions are quite similar to the images obtained using these filters in conjunction with Fuji RTP film.

For an updated review of digital UV and IR photography, click here.

Last Update 1 October, 2002s