Full spectrum conversion: every wavelength, one camera.

My Nikon Z7II is converted to full spectrum, and it is the camera I reach for most. On a fixed-wavelength body like my 665nm D750, the decision was made once, at the workbench. On the full-spectrum body the decision is made per frame, at the filter ring — and because a mirrorless camera focuses on the imaging sensor itself, focus stays accurate at every wavelength with no per-lens calibration.

How the filter becomes the camera

With clear glass over the sensor, the camera sees roughly 350nm to 1100nm. Everything you do next is subtraction:

• 590nm filter — warm gold false colour. 665nm — balanced pink-and-blue colour. 720nm — the classic white-foliage standard. 850nm — pure black and white. The infrared lens filter comparison covers each in depth.
• IRChrome filter — the red-foliage Aerochrome look with no channel swap in post.
• UV/IR-cut (hot mirror) filter — puts back what the conversion removed, so the camera shoots ordinary visible-light colour again. A full-spectrum body can genuinely be your only camera.

Clip-in filters vs screw-on filters

Full-spectrum shooters choose the wavelength with one of two filter types:

• Clip-in filters drop into the mirrorless body in front of the sensor. One filter serves every lens, adds no vignetting, and nothing on the lens changes. My default way of working — but they exist only for specific mirrorless mounts, and swapping them in the field takes a clean, careful hand.
• Screw-on lens filters thread onto each lens. Universally compatible — DSLRs included — and easy to swap outdoors, but you need one per thread size (or step-up rings), and thick rings can vignette on wide lenses.

Full spectrum vs a fixed-wavelength conversion

• Choose full spectrum if you want to experiment across wavelengths, shoot the Aerochrome look, or keep one body that can still take normal photographs. This is the flexible, future-proof route — and the one I would pick first today.
• Choose a fixed wavelength (like a dedicated 720nm or 665nm conversion) if you know exactly the look you want, prefer an optical viewfinder on a DSLR, or want a grab-and-go body with nothing to screw on. It is simpler and slightly cheaper.
• Either way, mirrorless wins for focus reliability — the sensor-plane autofocus does not care which wavelength is passing. The best camera for infrared photography guide compares the bodies I have owned.

Common questions