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Tips and tools for digital diversions. By Charles Platt and Mark Frauenfelder

OFF-THE-SHELF INFRARED

If you want to shoot mood photos like those in Richard Kadrey’s feature on page 50, but you lack the time or patience to seek out vintage cameras with unimpaired infrared capability, an exciting new option is the Fuji Finepix IS- 1.

Illustration by Tim Lillis

Unlike any camera of comparable quality, this 9-megapixel digital SLR is being marketed with its IR sensitivity fully active. Simply screw in a deep-IR filter such as the Tiffen 87, and you exclude almost all visible light, revealing the infrared realm. For regular color, you substitute an IR-cut filter to block the infrared and display the world as you normally see it. Thus, this is two cameras in one.

The IS- 1 is so sensitive to IR that you can use

almost-normal shutter speeds, enabling photos of people and animals as well as landscapes. Since it also takes good conventional pictures, this is an interesting choice if you’re thinking of buying a new camera anyway. Expect to pay slightly more than for a comparable digital SLR: around $800, plus extra for filters.

VOX POPULI

Google’s Blogger software has become ubiquitous, but if you want something that looks a little different and offers multimedia functionality, check out Vox. It can help you to incorporate audio, video, and photos into blog entries.

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