IR shooting & post-proc for thermal isolation

[Belg]

Could use a hand on this one,

I would like to get a tip or two on whether or not this idea would work, how well it would work, and if anyone has done it....

I've (well, sorta) got a house that... frankly... stinks in the winter to live in. There are more places that leak heat out and let cold in than there are doors, windows, and floors.

It occurred to me that... temporarily... converting my 300D to IR shooting might be of immense benefit to isolating... and fixing... many of these issues.

Converting the camera is easy, I've seen links to the firmware pack... but what I need to know is...

is the IR frequency range used in the firmware useful for true thermal imaging?

Can it easily handle a 30-50 degree temperature gradient?

Is there enough definition in a 5-10 degree gradient to sufficiently differentiate between ambient air and inflow? I mean, part of my sees black-inky clouds of cold air rolling in from cracks... is that realistic, or does it need a surface? Is air invisible to IR?

If all that is reasonable, what is the best way to colorize the IR picture so that hot areas are red, cold areas are blue, and do so with relative gradients in temperature so that a picture could be interepreted accurately and action could be taken...

TIA,

Mark

[z_28]

I'm not an expert in IR but for thermal imaging you need thermal camera !
IR is just step down from visible light.
Thermal radiation is waaaay lower.

[hgernhardtjr]

My experience leads me to think that it won't work ... the 300D has, if I remember correctly, about a 380-1000 nanometer (nm) bandwith after removal of the blocking filter, whereas thermography cameras are sensitive in the 900-140000 nm area. With all the IR photos I have taken, both film and digital, I have never been able to see the tiny differences in temperature house leaks would produce.

[jogle]

I'm sorry but this won't work.

Normal digital camera chips are sensitive enough into infrared to give you the infrared look to photos. But to do thermal imaging, you need to see much much deeper into the infra red end of the spectrum.

The silicon its self in the chips absorbs all the radiation that far into the spectrum, so the thermal imaging camera chips are made out of more exotic materials.

I've converted my Canon 10D to IR and tried shooting my stove elements, they have to be so hot they are glowing a little bit orange to the naked eye before they are noticeably glowing in the IR image. That is hundreds of degrees centigrade hotter then the surrounding objects

[Belg]

Thanks all for saving me the effort :=)