Infrared Films Underwater

Mark Mumford · Issue 6, Apr/May 2002 · pp. 36–39

Products mentioned: Kodak High Speed Infrared Film, Kodak XTOL, Kodak Technical Pan

“The man must be barking mad!” I hear you say! Well you must have recalled my article in Issue One about getting your local developer to correctly print negative films, and you remembered that colour levels drop off very fast underwater, with reds being the first to go. If this is the case (and it is!), then what on earth would we want with infrared films underwater? You may also recall from my that article that one solution to the problem of colour loss is to shoot on monochrome film stock, as black and white film doesn’t really care what colour is in front of it. And Kodak manufactures an infrared black and white film. Is it starting to fall into place yet? KODAK High Speed Infrared Film is a high-speed film with moderately high contrast, sensitive to light and radiant energy to 900 nanometres (nm) in wavelength. It is useful for [atmospheric] haze penetration and for special effects i…