Infrared lens database.

396 lenses across 36 mounts, rated for infrared hot spots. Find your mount, check the lens before you buy it, and skip the ones that put a bright blob in the middle of every frame.

A huge thank you to the team behind irlensdb.com. Compiling reliable infrared lens data takes patience, real-world testing, and a community willing to share results. Their open database is the most complete reference of its kind, and this guide would not exist without that work. If you find a lens here that saves you from a bad buy, the credit belongs to the photographers who contributed their findings.

Visit the original Infrared Lens Database →

What is a hot spot, and why does it matter?

A hot spot is a bright, washed-out circle in the centre of an infrared frame. It happens because the anti-reflective coatings inside many lenses were designed for visible light only, so infrared light bounces around inside the barrel and lands back on the sensor. It is worst when you stop down — a lens that is clean at ƒ/4 can be unusable at ƒ/16. Nothing about the conversion or the filter causes it; it is the lens, and the only reliable fix is choosing a different one (or shooting wider open).

Good
No hot spot, or one so faint it never shows in a finished frame.
Maybe
Usable if you stay wide open — a hot spot appears as you stop down.
Bad
A visible hot spot at most apertures. Not worth fighting in editing.

Search every lens

Type a lens, a focal length or a filter size to search all 396 entries at once.

Full Frame

APS-C

Micro Four Thirds

Micro Four Thirds
20 lenses
17 good0 maybe3 bad

Medium Format

Fixed Lens Cameras

Next step

Got a lens that works? Get the camera to match.

A clean lens only matters once the camera can see infrared. Kolari Vision did my own conversions and makes the clip-in and screw-on filters I shoot with.

Convert a camera Shop infrared filters

Links to Kolari Vision are affiliate links: if you buy through them the site earns a commission at no extra cost to you. They are the shop my own conversions and filters came from, and the recommendation would be the same without the program — full disclosure.

Related guides

Where this data comes from

These ratings are compiled from the community-maintained Infrared Lens Database, with contributor credits kept in the notes. Ratings are submitted by photographers using different conversions, so results vary by wavelength, aperture and individual lens copy — treat them as a strong starting point, not a guarantee. Retailer links from the source have been removed. If you have tested a lens, contribute your result back to the original database so everyone benefits.