UV light

[Shinnen]

Today I was taking pictures of my black light bulb (actually it's a tube ..... F8T5/BLB) It is, of course, black to the naked eye, both on and off, and black to most of my cameras, except one. To one (Sony dsc f717) it is reddish (see picture). Does this mean that this camera detects UV?
Thanks,
...... john

[Shinnen]

Since posting this, I have discovered that putting a green filter in front of the lens makes the tube turn black. This makes sense since magneta (a combination of blue and red) absorbs magenta, which is the colour of tube when viewed by the camera. I'm still not sure what colour unfiltered UV light will appear as on the camera sensor.
I have also discovered that polycarbonate (which I understand blocks UV) prevents my camera from detecting this radiation, which is showing up as magenta on my camera. So, the question now is, how can I confirm that I am indeed detecting UV.
...... john

[Marko]

I think you should just call Sony for specific cameras questions like these.... I have to assume that like Canon and Nikon, they have 1-800- numbers for technical support.

[Barefoot]

I think you should just call Sony for specific cameras questions like these.... I have to assume that like Canon and Nikon, they have 1-800- numbers for technical support.

Marko is leading you down the right path.

Your Sony is somewhat dated and the likelihood of getting any advise here from someone who knows the camera is pretty slim. Your best hustle is not to ask new questions, but to look to the ones that have already been ask.

Check out that fliker group. And, by all means, have a gander at this youtube video. It'll show you how to tackle the IR stuff. In fact, it convinced me that I have to have a DSC F717 of my own.

[Shinnen]

Hi Marko/Barefoot,
I'm very familiar with what he's saying in the video. (I tried these tricks a long time ago, and found the double polarizer to give pretty good images; however it takes some experimenting to get the right polarizer pair.) My question was not concerning IR but UV. I know the chance of finding someone who is familar with both the camera and UV photography is slim, but I took the chance. Call Sony? Well, good luck with that adventure.
Thanks,
.... john

[Marko]

Is sony really bad w/technical support? Both Canon and Nikon are excellent and free so i just assumed sony had a similar technical help line.

[Shinnen]

Hi Marko,
I suspect that, because of the camera's age, and the nature of what I'm trying to find out, it's very unlikely I'll find anyone at Sony who has any idea about what I'm trying to do. I'm going to surf around, try some of the UV forums. My last hope would be Sony. I just don't think their technical support is equipped to deal with this kind of question.
..... john

[Shinnen]

Hi Barefoot,
If you do decide to track down an F717, make sure you don't get one with a bad sensor. There's a list of their serial numbers somewhere on the net.
..... john