D5300 - IR conversion

[stenrasmussen]

Ok, no more waiting around...
First few photos of operation on this "monocoque" body.

[Jakov Minić]

Go Sten, go!

[Bjørn Rørslett]

I echo Jakov's sentiment.

D5300 is currently my main IR camera. At first I hated it because the GPS never got a satellite fix and happily would deplete its battery in the process. However, after downloading and installing an aGPS file as per Nikon Nordic's suggestion, that problem vanished.

[stenrasmussen]

Further into the 5300-abyss...

[stenrasmussen]

Still on our way to the core section...

[stenrasmussen]

And soon the sensor assy is in sight...

[charlie]

What is the purpose of the printed circuit board attached to the filter in this last picture, and did you cut it to remove it?

[stenrasmussen]

What is the purpose of the printed circuit board attached to the filter in this last picture, and did you cut it to remove it?

That's where the dust shaker is electrified from. I simply cut the flex cable off near the solder joints.
It is interesting that Nikon has reduced the thickness of the low pass filter (compared to earlier DSLRs).

[charlie]

Ah, thats what that is. Thanks, and thanks for showing the process!

[Olivier]

thank you Sten. it is unclear to me whether you had to desolder some parts or not. can you please elaborate?
And btw, did you go filter-free ? If not, what filter did you select?

[Bjørn Rørslett]

I'm sure you have lots of fun converting your D5300. Eventually you hopefully are rewarded with a splendid IR camera.

Personally I tinker with lenses but not with cameras. Thus, letting my Nikon repair techs convert the camera with filters ordered from Lifepixel etc. is my choice.

Here is my D5300 IR. I purchased a red camera to make it stand out better as dedicated for IR. Also shown are the MF and AF versions of the Nikkor 35-135 mm f/3.5-4.5 which is a proven IR performer. And inexpensive to boot.

Just remember to download and install an aGPS file for the camera. Otherwise the GPS hardly works as it becomes excruciatingly slow in getting a satellite fix.

[bjornthun]

That's where the dust shaker is electrified from. I simply cut the flex cable off near the solder joints.
It is interesting that Nikon has reduced the thickness of the low pass filter (compared to earlier DSLRs).

Do you have an estimate of the thickness of the low pass filter in the D5300?

Cool project! 

[richardHaw]

oh, i cannot take it. my heart almost stopped when i saw the electronics and motherboard

silly question. why the D5300?

[richardHaw]

It is interesting that Nikon has reduced the thickness of the low pass filter (compared to earlier DSLRs).

i noticed that,too

[Bjørn Rørslett]

...
silly question. why the D5300?

Sten can answer for himself, I chose D5300 because it has a pretty good sensor with 24 MPix and (built-in) GPS support. Plus it uses the same battery as my D3200 (for UV) and the Df (for anything else than UV or IR). Getting a massive discount on a brand new camera helped as well.