Here's the link for the ad for this x-ray camera lens. The ad was linked at Impact Lab which posted some photos purporting to demonstrate the lens' capability to take photos that lets the viewer see through people's clothes.
Not so fast there Superman eyes. It's really just an infrared filter, and what we are seeing is heat.
There's a simple explanation of how an infrared filter works at Core by Indigo. In short, heat emits infrared light which we can feel but not see, because the wavelength is in the spectrum that can't be seen with the naked eye. Filter out other light and the infrared light becomes visible.
It's often called thermal imaging, and you can see examples of some of those images at this photo display which shows side by side photos of a normal shot and thermal image showing the hot spots.
The thermal imaging cameras used by firefighters to look for humans in a smoky building are based on this principle, but they are very expensive. Make them rugged and waterproof and they are worth the high price a fire department has to pay for them especially if it means the firefighter doesn't have to crawl through a smoke filled house looking for a missing occupant.
A firefighter grade thermal imaging camera is lots of fun to play with, but the price is too high for someone who just wants a toy. So it's nice to know there's a way to make a poor-boy thermal imaging camera with a simple filter. For some tips on taking infrared photos see this PopSci article. However, it might take a little practice to get it right. And the PopSci article suggests experimenting with over or under exposure to get the desired image of the heat given off by a human. See the results of their experimentation at image page 5.
But for real X-Ray eyes I think you have to be from the planet Krypton.
Hi,
The X-Ray Vision Camera Lens is a basic IR filter that you can simply attach to any camcorder and the result is those captured images/videos will appear like wearing “see-through” clothing.
Posted by: tin whiskers | April 08, 2009 at 06:58 AM