CLPEX Chat Board

Has anyone used this camera for fingerprint work? If so, what's your opinion. Thanks

Dan,

Are you currently using IR or UV photography for latent prints? If so, in what capacity are you using them?

Most of the work that we do using the ALS in UV is to cause fluorescence in the visible spectrum so that we can capture on color or B&W film. As an example; Ardrox under UV wavelengths fluorescing yellow. I haven't received any training regarding the us of IR film for latent print work. Plus, our photo lab doesn't normally process film outside of using the Noritsu, so it isn't that practical.

I had an opportunity to see this camera, in a sort of beta format, in January of this year during training in Quantico. We didn’t do anything with it from a latent print perspective – mostly documents (obliterated and burned) and some with bruises.

I hope to be back at Quantico in a couple of months where this camera will be a bigger part of the curriculum. I may have more information then. You can contact Mike Brooks, whose company is marketing the camera, for more information. Send me an email and I’ll get you his contact information. I’d post it here, but the bots are scouring these pages and extracting email addresses for spam purposes.

I made some initial enquires here in NZ without success the local importers will not bring it into the country without a sale first. I believe it was at the Boston IAI conference this year. I would also be interested in any comments.

You're right, Mike Brooks had it with him at the Boston IAI conference. He's involved in marketing it.

Maybe you can offer him a trip to NZ to show it off to your agency - that would be hard to say no to as Virginia enters winter while you're entering Summer!

Steve,

I have no experience with IR and very little with UV. My current method for capturing latents on non-porous items involves R6G and a wavelength somewhere between 450nm - 530nm.

I recently requested a 12 meg or greater camera to replace our 6 meg. My Sgt. then asked me to research the S3 Pro UVIR in regards to latent photography. Sounds like it might have potential for a documents examiner or for documenting injuries.....haven't found any information specific to latent work....yet. I'll pm you for Mike Brooks info, THX

As I remember it, UV works well with certain dye stains, contaminates and natural sweat in some people. The problem is getting a good clear photo as most modern lenses and digital cameras filter out UV because it plays havoc with normal photos, by changing natural colour tones and can upset focusing on Auto cameras. Perhaps, it may even shorten the length of life of the CCD, although that is a wild guess on my part.

The other hassle with glass lenses is that they cloud over so you get a hazy image when the UV gets to or below 350nm, to counter that people use Crystal or plastic Lenses. Crystal is expensive and plastic lenses are normally crap.

I would imagine that IR would be mainly useful to remove back ground.

So it will be interesting to see how this new camera copes below 350nm.

Mike Brooks says the Fuji S3 Pro UVIR is not capable of recording below 350nm. He says the camera's sensitivity is rated at 350nu-1000nu.

Have been working with the Fuji S3 IR UV (Wide Spectrum) for the past four to five months now. The camera works like the film IR, but you can see results right away. The camera works only in the near IR range and seems to me as sensitive or more sensitive than IR film. IR has never been applicable to general fingerprint work.

I have found digital IR great for enhancing fated tattoos, gunshot residue, some busing and injuries. There is no question that digital IR is good for questioned documents. One of the best applications I found digital IR at a crime scene or morgue is to see past thin layers of blood, dirt, grime, etc. to the top layer of the skin. If a face (or other body part) is covered with blood, the digital IR can cut through the blood & grime and you see a surprisingly clean up view. If there are any injuries (cuts, abrasions, bullet holes, etc.) you will be able to see them clearly, just as if the face was washed perfectly.

Had one case that a man was found in a pool of water. Had been there several days. The skin turned dark gray and a major tattoo on his arm had disappeared. The pathologist tried scraping the skin, used cleansers to wash skin, and even tired hydrogen peroxide to no avail. I photographed the arm that supposedly had a tattoo with the digital IR. I was able to see the tattoo as if it was freshly put on his arm the same day.

The S3 IR UV does not do as well in the UV spectrum. Although the S3 is able to record into the near UV spectrum (long wave UV), the glass and coatings on the lens will absorb most of the UV! Even when using a UV pass filter (403 or 18A), it will still be difficult. However, the S3 IR UV is still much better at digital UV than any other unmodified camera on the market. A tripod will be needed most of the time, even in bright sunlight. Unlike film UV photography, digital UV photography is very susceptible to IR light wave contamination. So whenever digital UV is done with any UV pass filter, an IR blocking filter should be used. This is a very important factor that most digital UV photographers over look. At first, I over looked this factor and did not find any information on UV photography requiring an IR block in any of the UV literature that I’ve fund. I consulted with Dr. Crag Golden Forensic Dentist, who also suspected that IR was contaminating our UV photos. This fact was later verified by taking spectrometer readings of our filters and talking to the filter-manufacturing Engineers.

I suspect that the IR UV with a Quartz lens will do as well or better than the very expensive “Crime Scene Scope” used to find undeveloped latent prints. I tried using a straight lens using both a strong UV light source and open sunlight to search for latent prints, but was unsuccessful.

Most photographers seem to think that Quartz lenses are no longer being manufactured. This is not true! A Goggle search locate a quartz lens manufacture. Found one company selling quartz lenses for about $ 1,500.00 (a great deal considering most quartz sell for over $ 6000.00).

Fuji has opened this end of Forensic Science for all kinds of research and to rediscover the last art of Forensic IR and UV photography.

Ricardo, thanks for the information.

Hello All,

Sorry I'm so slow in replying to these posts as my schedule as most of you know is insane, just like many of yours, too.

As so many know and others may not, I did a lot of the Infrared testing of the Fuji FinePix S3 Pro UVIR camera. Since the first 30 minutes I had the camera in my hand I still feel the same, it's a must have camera for any credible forensic photo lab. Additionally, any other forensic disciplines who use photography will also benefit from using a digital UVIR camera.

There are a lot of rumors going on about the Fuji S3 UVIR and what it can and can't do, how long will it be available, etc..

First, here are but a few of the applications the Fuji S3 UVIR camera be used for?

Questioned Documents
- Obliterations
- Alterations
- Charred documents
Latents on various syrfaces
GSR on various surfaces, fabrics and textures
Biological, Organic and Chemical evidence (Blood, Semen, etc,)
Crime Scene photography (with the Peca 916 hot-mirror filter installed over the lens the camera is converted back to a traditional visible light camera).

Here are some additional facts about the camera.

1) The Fuji FinePix S3 Pro UVIR is a bold step by Fuji in that it's a niche market camera and will never have huge sales numbers. However, Fuji must be commended for putting this camera on the market in my estimation. The new Fuji IS-1 digital camera is senstive to IR only but with the IS-1 Fuji is now offering a lower cost version IR camera to compliment their SLR version, the S3 Pro.

2) Once the supply of Fuji S3 UVIR run out some have asked me if there will a replacement. The answer is "YES". The newly announced Fuji S5 Pro will also be offered in a UVIR version.

I am very excited as the Fuji S5 will no longer have AA batteries, but a battery system that all Nikon users are familiar with as it is the same battery as is found on the Nikon D100 & D200 among other models.

The Fuji S5 will also have the live preview in both color and B&W. The live preview is the most incredible part of the S3 UVIR camera. The live preview allows you to see instantly if any of the various IR or UV filters are working with your evidence specimen. No more guessing like we did with IR film and spending hours if not days figuring out the exposure or if the 87, 87C or 89B filters are enhancing your evidence for analysis or allowing you to see through an obliteration or see an alteration on a QD.

3) The Fuji S3 Pro UVIR accepts most (if not all as I haven't seen it reject any Nikon equipment yet) Nikon lenses and accessories. I've used all of my Nikon lenses with the Fuji S3 UVIR camera, Nikon off camera flash cables, Nikon 10 pin cable release, and Nikon SB-28 through SB-800 flash units.

4) While the camera is sold as an Infrared / Ultraviolet sensitive camera, in reality it is the same camera as the Fuji FinePix S3 Pro daylight version with a small modification to the menu commands and, of course, having the hot-mirror removed from over the sensor in order for it to record UV and IR energies.

As already mentioned in this thread, the sensor is sensitive between 350nu up to 1000nu, therefore, it also records visible light. If you place a hot-mirror filter (Peca 916 filter) over a lens attached to the camera you will block nearly all UV and IR energies and you will now have a daylight camera, once again. You can use the camera in the B&W mode with your forensic ALS and have b&w capabilites for those applications.

5) Which filters should you buy? I will tell you right now, there are some vendors out there who don't know how the camera works and for what applications it can be used. That is usually at no fault of their own, they are sales people who know a lot (or in some case very little) about camera's but, very little about forensic photography.

If you want 100% of the Fuji S3 Pro UVIR's capabilities you "MUST" buy filters along with the camera or it's only 10-20% effective, perhaps less.

The filters you will need are the Peca filters I tested before they went into production. The Peca filers are great replacements for the mostly discontinued Kodak UV IR filters and I found in some cases they worked better then the older Kodak IR filters.

The only Kodak IR filter still made is the 87C. You will need the following Peca filter numbers; 900 (18A*), 902 (70), 904 (87), 906 (87A), 908 (87B), 910 (87C), 912 (88A), 914 (89B) and 916 (Hot-mirror filter).

*The numbers in paranthesis are the Kodak filter numbers with as already mentioned, the 87C being the only one still manufactured. You can find some of the other older Kodak filter number equivalents manufactured by other filter manufacturers, however, of those I have found one company (tiffen) makes on one of them and some make as many as four (Hoya). Peca is the only company where you can buy all eight, plus the hot-mirror filter.

6) The camera is senstive to UV energy, however, most modern lenses have UV coatings on them that protect the lens from UV energies. I've heard that in some instances the sensor doesn't record UV as well with lenses that are coated. I have a Nikon 105mm quartz lens that passes the reflected long-wave UV that the Fuji S3 UVIR is capabale of recording with no problems.

Finding a quartz lens these days is not impossible, just expensive. I've seen them listed from anywhere bewteen $1200.00 - $2500.00.

I plan on doing more testing of the Fuji S3 UVIR and Fuji IS-1 IR camera's and Peca filters. You can find my results on my website by signing up in the free forums area. Also, for camera and filter purchasing information you can go to my website, too.

http://www.brooksphotographicimaging.com

Regards,

Mike Brooks

There is a review of S3 UVIR on www.InfraredVideo.com which includes example photos shot with the UV Nikkor 105mm quartz lens.

Just a heads-up for those of you who will go to the review from your work computer:

The review found on the page that Ken linked is fine. But there is a link at the bottom of the review page showing some examples of photos used in his book that will likely not be acceptable for viewing on work computers.

Luckily I'm home sick today when I browsed the review and site.