New FinePix S3 Pro UVIR Digital SLR photographs in the Ultraviolet and Infrared Spectrums

The human eye is a remarkable imaging device to be sure, but it can’t see everything. Its sensitivity range is limited to wavelengths that normally start at 400 nanometers (violet) at the short end of the visible spectrum and extend to 700 nanometers (deep red) at the long end. This is also the realm of standard digital and film photography where, with certain exceptions, what you see is what you get. But there are times when ordinary visible-light pictures do not reveal everything a criminal investigator, scientist, or medical researcher needs to see. This is where ultraviolet and infrared imaging comes into play.

Scientists define wavelengths shorter than 400 nanometers as ultraviolet (UV), and wavelengths longer than 700 nanometers as infrared (IR). Technically, neither UV nor IR is "light" because humans can’t see it. However, photographs taken at UV and IR wavelengths can capture and reveal information that is otherwise undetectable by the human eye – literally "colours" we can’t see but that cameras, sensitive to IR and UV wavelengths, are able to record and make visible. It is the visual equivalent of the dog whistle we humans cannot hear.

This uncanny ability to reveal the unseen is why technical professionals in fields ranging from law enforcement, to military surveillance, to medical research, to art history, to biology have long used UV and IR photography to discover crucial observational facts that would ordinarily elude the keenest human eye.

Until recently, both UV and IR photography were film based and entailed the use of heavy filtration and long exposure times. In the case of infrared, special, difficult-to-handle films were required along with heavy filtration that extended exposure times and often made focusing difficult.

Digital UV and IR photography had its own set of problems. Since the CCD and CMOS imager sensors of digital cameras incorporate strong UV and IR filters to achieve good color accuracy with standard visible-light subjects, a normal D-SLR is not very sensitive in the UV and IR ranges and is therefore inconvenient to use in these applications. That’s why many technical specialists, who needed UV and IR imaging in their work, modified their existing D-SLRs by removing the UV and IR filters, an expensive procedure undertaken by small private companies. Even if properly done, this bit of modification work voided the camera's warranty.

In response to the genuine need expressed by many top professionals in the law enforcement and scientific communities, Fujifilm developed the FinePix S3 Pro UVIR, the world's first and only factory-made D-SLR designed specifically for UV and IR photography. It has many of the same features that made the standard FinePix S3 Pro a stand-out -- like the Super CCD SR II sensor for expanded dynamic range and a Live View CCD that allows for real-time subject focus for up to 30 seconds -- with some modifications.

The IR and UV filters were removed from the standard model and, after exhaustive field and lab testing, replaced with a specially formulated glass protective filter. The FinePix S3 Pro's menu system was also reconfigured to be more user friendly for UV and IR shooters – for example, the Live Preview shooting now mode comes up on the very first screen.

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