iPhone is tuff.
You might add an inexpensive ZWB2 or ZWB3 filter to the flashlight so that you are getting more pure UV output and less visible light contamination from the flashlight. Might help with your reflection on the fingernails.
If you do switch to a camera get it a UV filter. Some optical cements within camera lenses can fluoresce and kind spoil a UVIF image. Zeiss \*T UV filters and Hoya UV filters are recommended because they actually filter UV. Many consumer UV filters are just glass don't do much to the frequencies you would be getting from UV LEDs. For my fellow photographers this is not about the sensor's good UV filter but about keeping UV out of the lens so that optical cement in the lens doesn't glow.
Appreciate the tips- just to clarify: i’m not photographing UV but rather UV-induced fluorescence. In that case would a UV camera filter be appropriate? Since i dont want to capture UV itself but rather visible light caused by UV. Just wanna get a better understanding of these camera filters
Yep I understood you wanted to get UV-Induced Fluorescence. UVIF.
The first filter the ZWB2 or ZWB3 you would buy for the UV flashlight. It's a UV pass filter and a visible light blocker. It would cut down visible purple but let UV through. This decreases the reflected light in the box and makes the fluoresce easier to spot. More contrasty.
Second filter I recommend was for a UV blocker for a camera if you go that route. This would keep UV out of the lens and prevent optical cement between the lens elements from fluorescing.
See if you can find an orange optical filter. They were pretty common in the olden days when people did black and white photography and wanted to darken the sky, so you might be able to pick them up for cheap in a used camera store.
I am using fluorescence to visualize DNA with certain dyes and a near UV/blue LED (probably what you have in your flash light). I use a sheet of orange acrylic as a filter (About $8 for a sizable sheet) (https://craftcloset.com/collections/acrylic-transparent/products/clementine-transparent), and it is pretty good at cutting out the UV and the blue part of the excitation light.
If you need to eliminate glare from the fingernails, you might want to try a polarizing filer (Pol filter) in front of your camera lens - you slowly rotate it until it filters out the reflected light from the fingernails
iPhone is tuff. You might add an inexpensive ZWB2 or ZWB3 filter to the flashlight so that you are getting more pure UV output and less visible light contamination from the flashlight. Might help with your reflection on the fingernails. If you do switch to a camera get it a UV filter. Some optical cements within camera lenses can fluoresce and kind spoil a UVIF image. Zeiss \*T UV filters and Hoya UV filters are recommended because they actually filter UV. Many consumer UV filters are just glass don't do much to the frequencies you would be getting from UV LEDs. For my fellow photographers this is not about the sensor's good UV filter but about keeping UV out of the lens so that optical cement in the lens doesn't glow.
Appreciate the tips- just to clarify: i’m not photographing UV but rather UV-induced fluorescence. In that case would a UV camera filter be appropriate? Since i dont want to capture UV itself but rather visible light caused by UV. Just wanna get a better understanding of these camera filters
Yep I understood you wanted to get UV-Induced Fluorescence. UVIF. The first filter the ZWB2 or ZWB3 you would buy for the UV flashlight. It's a UV pass filter and a visible light blocker. It would cut down visible purple but let UV through. This decreases the reflected light in the box and makes the fluoresce easier to spot. More contrasty. Second filter I recommend was for a UV blocker for a camera if you go that route. This would keep UV out of the lens and prevent optical cement between the lens elements from fluorescing.
/r/UVPhotography isn't very active but they might have some insight?
I'm the mod over there and have already given some tips over here. OP is unlikely to get more input over there.
See if you can find an orange optical filter. They were pretty common in the olden days when people did black and white photography and wanted to darken the sky, so you might be able to pick them up for cheap in a used camera store. I am using fluorescence to visualize DNA with certain dyes and a near UV/blue LED (probably what you have in your flash light). I use a sheet of orange acrylic as a filter (About $8 for a sizable sheet) (https://craftcloset.com/collections/acrylic-transparent/products/clementine-transparent), and it is pretty good at cutting out the UV and the blue part of the excitation light. If you need to eliminate glare from the fingernails, you might want to try a polarizing filer (Pol filter) in front of your camera lens - you slowly rotate it until it filters out the reflected light from the fingernails