A converted 300D

The Paper Clip - Palmerston North - Infrared converted Canon 300D

Sometimes a possibility comes up which you can’t turn down. In this case it was the chance to spend a week with an infrared converted (720nm) Canon 300D. I have a fond spot for the 300D, it was my first digital camera. Packing a whopping 6 mp, this was the crossover camera where digital could finally rival film in resolution. Nearly 20 years on, how would I feel about this camera now?

Of course nostalgia was not my primary reason for borrowing this camera. The chance to play with a converted camera, to compare it and the files to my unconverted Canon 6d. To see what the advantages and disadvantages of a converted camera is with my style of photography. Would it be worth converting a camera?

Lets first look at the advantages. Being able to shoot handheld, no tripod, with “normal” shutter speeds was quite a change. The image above was captured in a place where a tripod would have been hard to setup. The colours were good once the correct profile was loaded in lightroom. It certainly made capturing infrared images easier.

But easier is not the primary concern. As I have heard a few times, the image (or viewer) does not care. It does not care what the image was taken with, the ease of the process or the age of the camera. What do they care about, the story, the content, how it makes them feel.

“the image (or viewer) does not care. It does not care what the image was taken with, the ease of the process or the age of the camera. What do they care about, the story, the content, how it makes them feel.”

Now lets look at the disadvantages and what that revealed / confirmed for me. First of all, I was not concerned about the camera itself, I did not expect it to compare to more modern cameras. I missed the ability to capture longer exposures. I missed the way unconverted cameras make you slow down as well, the way the process makes you consider things more carefully, look for new angles while the current exposure is in progress.