Digital Camera Review

Digital Camera Review

In the film era, shooting infrared was just a matter of buying the right film. If you wanted to be serious about it, you would also need a special-use filter. Digital photography changed that. Photographers who wanted to shoot infrared digitally could hack their cameras (or pay a pro to do it) by removing the UV and IR cutoff filter, or count on incredibly low sensitization. That was until the introduction of the Fujifilm FinePix S3 UVIR, released last year. Essentially, it's a prehacked version of the S3. Fujifilm removed the cutoff filter and replaced it with clear glass. The result is a camera that is sensitive to ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light. With the use of filters the camera can produce infrared or ultraviolet images. For this reason, the S3 UVIR will appeal to scientific and forensic photographers.
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Likes
- UV and IR capabilities
- Live preview
- Both Firewire and USB2
- Extended dynamic range
Dislikes
- No exposure meter (for IR or UV)
- No autofocus (in IR or UV)
- Live preview limited to 30 seconds
- Slow operation

Conclusion
The S3 UVIR is a potent and complex tool for technical photographers, with a steep learning curve. Fujifilm doesn't offer training in the UVIR's use. Company representatives say that the real experts on the S3 UVIR aren't at Fujifilm: they're users who have experimented with the camera, and come up with repeatable procedures. Some early-adopters in the technical field are making extra money training new users.

Buying the camera body alone isn't the only expense, though. The camera only works in combination with special narrowband filters that cost hundreds of dollars each. A user could spend as much on distinctly different filters as on the camera body. Given the level of interest in this camera, we expect that Fujifilm will continue to serve this niche market, either with another production run of S3 UVIR's or with an S5 UVIR.

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