Life Pixel – Canon 5D DIY Digital Infrared Conversion Tutorial

Disclaimer: This tutorial is intended for experienced professionals and made available to you for informational purposes only. Tampering with your camera will void your manufacturer’s warranty. If you decide to perform the conversion you could damage your camera or be hurt or get killed from the high voltage present – you do so at your own risk, we are not responsible for camera damage or any harm you may suffer or any special or consequential damages. Also, by visiting this site you are legally bound by our Terms of Use Agreement, we highly recommend you read it.

Focus Warning:  Because of the complexity and requirement for specialized precision equipment, advanced training and experience, we do not provide any information regarding focus calibration whatsoever.

The mere act of removing the sensor from within the camera could potentially ruin the original factory calibration and render your camera completely incapable of achieving proper focus. If this happens we will be unable to help you and even the manufacturer may refuse to service your camera. This is very serious stuff folks.

Focus and dust are in fact the most difficult parts of the conversion process. We highly recommend you send your camera in for conversion instead of attempting to do this yourself.

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You will need these tools & supplies to follow the 5D infrared conversion tutorial:

– Our custom glass infrared filter to replace the hotmirror
– Soldering iron and desoldering wick or desoldering gun
– Small philips type screwdriver
– Tweezers
– Canned air
– Lens cleaning solution & tissue
– Grounding strap /w current limit resistor

If you prefer not to risk damage to your camera, have us convert it to infrared for you. It would be best to perform the conversion in a well lit area that is as clean and dust free as possible. Wearing a grounding strap will minimize the chance of zapping your camera with static and most likely rendering it dead.

Remove the rubber grip material.

Remove the rubber eye piece.

Remove the marked screws and diopter adjustment knob.

Remove marked screws and peel back section of rubber grip.

Remove marked screws.

Lift out the I/O connector cover.

Lift out the rear LCD plate and unplug marked connectors.

All connectors are lever type, lift lever to release ribbon cable.

Remove marked screw.

Desolder marked solder points.

Lift out the metal noise shield.

Remove marked screws.

Unplug marked cables (all lever type connectors).

Lift out the pcb (it’s still attached via the white connector/black cables – be careful).
Remove marked screws.

Lift out the sensor board and remove marked screws.
The blue arrow points to a screw that needs to be removed once the metal plate is lifted out.

Remove the hot mirror assembly.

Carefuly cut the glue around the hot mirror filter.

Lift out the hot mirror filter and cut away glue from the plastic hot mirror filter frame.

Using a sharp blade cut glue between the metal mask and black plastic frame.

Remove metal mask.

Place the infrared filter into the frame.

Glue all four sides with clear or black silicone adhesive.

After adhesive is fully cured clean the ir filter with lens cleaner and tissue, blow off with canned air and reassemble everything by following the instructions backwards. Set a custom white balance per our instructions page and take some test shots to make sure there is no dust trapped between the sensor and infrared filter. If you find dust and find it objectionable disassemble the camera again, blow off the sensor with canned air (make sure only air and no liquid is coming out by purging and holding it upright) and re cleaning the infrared filter.

If you prefer not to risk damage to your camera, have us convert it for you here.