The revised list and my theory.
When shooting digital IR, certain lenses produce a “hot spot” in the center of the frame. For a long time I thought this was solely due to the lens elements and had no relevance to the type of camera. Recently, I read an article that supposed the hotspot was due to some reflectance between the sensor surface and the lens element… which might be complete bullshit… but it got me thinking that the susceptibility of a lens/body combo to IR hotspotting might be directly related to exposure length. That being said, a “normal” hand holdable shutter speed (like obtained with a permanently converted body) might eliminate the hotspot effect… or at least make it so subtle it is a non-issue. I know for a fact the EF 50mm f/1.4 has a HUGE hot spot issue when IR exposed on my 1-series body with a Hoya R72 attached, so I’m going to try to shoot some test frames with it on my 5D to test this out and I’ll let you know how it goes. Here is “the list” again (I have only personally tested a couple of these… most are from Internet sources):
Suitable for IR (no or minimal hot spot):
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L
Canon EF-S 17-85 f/4-5.6 IS USM
Canon EF 22-55mm f/4-5.6 USM
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L
Canon EF 28-135mm/3.5-5.6 IS
Canon EF 28mm f/2.8
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 MKI
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 MKII
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4-5.6 L IS
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Canon EF 135mm f/2 L
Sigma 400mm f/5.6
Tamron 28-300mm XR
Not suitable for IR (hot spot):
Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 fisheye
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Canon EF 20mm f/2.8
Canon EF 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Canon EF 24/2.8
Canon EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5
Canon EF 28-70mm f/2.8 L
Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5
Canon EF 35mm f/2
Canon EF 35-80mm f/4-5.6
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4
Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8
Sigma 30/1.4
Tamron 17-35mm
Tamron 19-35mm
Tamron 70-300mm Macro
Tokina 12-24mm
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