Interesting idea. I think most digital cameras block infrared, but maybe there is a workaround.

I shoot film stills where flash is also a big no-no...
You would be surprised how dark some scenes are and can be a struggle using auto focus. I find the reflection on an eye is light enough to trigger the autofocus.. I shoot up to 6400 ISO and try not to shoot below 1/100th for sharpness. All on a 5d mk111. Depending on the lens, you can loose some sharpness shooting wide open. I have had some success with the new Sigma Art Series. They trounce the L-series Canon for sharpness (@1.4). I have both 35mm 1.4f and 50mm 1.4f. I still love my 70-200mm 2.8f Canon though :)
For those on Instagram you can check out my car page @the_escape_road

Seriously. Sony A7s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_1vdHw-fiI

Are you pushing film to 6400?

Think I'm going to start buying bulk film - cheaper.

the shots you posted all have a shutter speed slower than the lens length (1/60 w/ 85mm, 1/30 w/ 55mm). For sharpness and reduction of camera shake, I like to keep the shutter speed at least equal to the lens length when well supported handheld, and 2x when standing when hand held, unless I'm looking for motion blur. I'm not real up on the cameras I don't have, but on the D4, The same shots you posted would have been able to use faster shutter speeds, and/or be able to stop-down a bit to a sharper aperture, by using iso 3200. IMO, shooting with ISO 6400 and above requires the use of noise reduction in post processing. There are some work flow tricks that help retain sharpness, but you will be downsizing the photo.

Also, A thing to consider, low light auto focus. It will hunt, and often is faster to just manually focus.

Great photos John. Very nice.

Yeah, the ability to use high iSO will be very helpful for me. I have pushed 400 film to 3200 but it has drawbacks plus you stand at the sink for like 25 minuteszzzzzz

Wow. That's cool.

Performance art does not lend itself to flash photography, infrared or not.
Low light plus lots of legacy Nikon glass equals Nikon Df (it has the D4 sensor) maybe the D750.
Sony A7S if you want to do low light stills and video, not enlarge too much (12 mp).
If you want to shoot jpeg, Fuji has quite good film emulation mode and familiar (film camera)controls.

The 2nd hummingbird shot is out of focus because with the mirror up it looked like it was in focus in live view, also holding the camera out in front of you likely camera shake too.

Here's a pretty nice deal on a Df if you're interested....

Nikon Df, FM2n, Billingham - Rangefinderforum Photo Equipment Classifieds

No affiliation etc, just an ad from a well established forum.

Thanks!

The high-ISO quality on the latest cameras is just insanely good. Film, and then the first digital cameras were really noisy at 800 or above so I was/is super impressed when my D3 and then OM-D E-M1 were pretty clean at 3200-6400. Now the D750 is usable at 12,800 or above. These things can literally shoot in the dark.

One reason I bought my D-610 was to avoid luminance noise. It's much better than the D-300 I replaced, but at 3200 the shots are unusable for my purposes. I shoot mostly vehicles with large areas of color and the noise is noticeable above 1200.

Interesting. For sure noise will be more prominent and bothersome in certain shots. Are you shooting raw and applying noise reduction in post? I find Lightroom does a great job with NR when necessary.

I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but I'm lugging around a Sony A6000 these days and really like it. Incredible low light performance, which is my favorite way of photographing architecture and city scenes.

Yes, I use the luminance noise reduction slider, but it messes with the sharpness in details. Also, when I lighten shadows to increase dynamic range, the deep shadows have a lot of color noise in them. It's not insurmountable in LR, but I like the pictures better when I start with more dynamic range.

I have ordered used camera equipment from a few of the bigger name retailers out there. The one I always buy from, if there is a choice, is Adorama. You might pay a little more, but you usually get more. Their rating system seems to be more in line with what I expect to get when I purchase something. Lenses usually come with caps and hoods and sometimes cases. Used Cameras usually come in the original box with all the manuals and Cd's. Shipping boxes are well padded and email's are sent with tracking numbers. I haven't been let down yet with something I have bought from them.

Regarding the two issues, I'm calling BS on both. First, you can configure the XT1 with a few different focusing aids. You can set it up to automatically zoom in (in the viewfinder) when you turn the focusing ring. In addition, you can set that zoomed in view to either have a split image (like the focusing screen in old film SLRs) or "focus peaking" which will show colored highlights and make it obvious when you have sharp focus. As soon as you hit the shutter release half way, it goes back out to normal view. It's very intuitive and faster for manual focus than any traditional DSLR I've used.

Regarding noise above ISO 800, there are better cameras in this regard, but the Fuji is very good. If she was having problems with this, she was either exposing wrong or had something wrong.

FWIW, I have an XT1 and I also have a Nikon D600 and lenses.

Are you shooting in RAW or JPEG? Also, how are you seeing the noise? Are you seeing it in prints or zoomed into 100% pixels in your editor?

The D610 is getting a bit old at this point, but it's still probably in the top 10 cameras available in terms of image quality. The D750 is an improvement but not by much (other features are much nicer). The only cameras the have significantly better noise performance are the D4/Df and the Sony A7S.