One way glass

[Mark Hope]

I saw a tv programme the other day where someone had a window made of one-way glass installed to watch birds on a feeder. I was thinking of trying this on my hide to avoid spooking the birds when adjusting the camera lens in the hide.

Does anyone know -

a) To what extent the image might be 'tinted' by photographing through the glass?

b) A good supplier?

c) How the image might be affected by photographing through a one-way mirrored glass?

[naturelover]

hi mark welcome to wab,i have tryed through a glass window no good picks up the flash,i dont know if the same thing would happen,but i have sussed out that if you stand slightly side on to the window you dont get the reflection of the flash,anyway good luck and have fun on wab.

[Paul mabbott]

I'm not sure how they are made nowadays but they used to be formed with a very thin layer of aluminium on one side making the window a mirror on a sunny day. I've never tried photographing through one but feel that there should be only a slight shift to the blue end of the spectrum, if any ...

Originally Posted by Mark Hope

I saw a tv programme the other day where someone had a window made of one-way glass installed to watch birds on a feeder. I was thinking of trying this on my hide to avoid spooking the birds when adjusting the camera lens in the hide.

Does anyone know -

a) To what extent the image might be 'tinted' by photographing through the glass?

b) A good supplier?

c) How the image might be affected by photographing through a one-way mirrored glass?

[Hobjob]

Originally Posted by Mark Hope

I saw a tv programme the other day where someone had a window made of one-way glass installed to watch birds on a feeder. I was thinking of trying this on my hide to avoid spooking the birds when adjusting the camera lens in the hide.

Does anyone know -

a) To what extent the image might be 'tinted' by photographing through the glass?

b) A good supplier?

c) How the image might be affected by photographing through a one-way mirrored glass?

From my experieince in non-photography situations the one way glass
darkens rather than tints which may make photography difficult.

You can get a paint to apply too, that gives a sort of mirrored effect,
but you do have to keep the viewing side dark or else it is not one way

[eeyore]

easiest - and cheaper solution is to hang some scrim or camo net inside a normal window - the birds cant see you easily through it , and you can see and photography through the gaps - scrim/camo is widely available from army surplus.

if you have problems with the glass you can also hang camo net acrss an open window to the same effect

[Blackbrook Eye]

I have to agree with eeyore on this one, I have a normal white net curtain across my kitchen window which I drape over the lens with the window open and whatever I do, within reason on the inside of this does not spook the birds, why people spend hundreds of pounds on a precision lens and then expect it to perform through cheaply produced window glass completely escapes me, its like buying a five hundred pound lens and fitting a five pound filter.

[sometimes]

Another longer term solution might be to get out there more and make a point of moving about when the birds are there. Much of the 'panic' is reflex, once one bird panics they all go for it. If you can build up a tolerance level in some of the 'locals' you may find it becomes less of a problem.

But I'd agree about the point re putting stuff in front of lenses... bad news.

then there's the perch/pre-focus/remote shutter option, but you may not have the patience for that.

[coasty]

If you are really serious about try to take photos through a glass panel. Most decent glass merchants will cut you a hole through a pane to whatever diameter you want and you could fix a dummy darker circle when you arent using the camera....

[wondercloak]

...seems to work for Bence Mate quite well and I'd say he's pretty much setting the benchmark for wild bird photography right now!

If in doubt, take a look at his website - he uses one-way glass all the time.

I'm interested in this too so anyone with any experience or knowledge...your views would be welcome!

[Tringa]

Mark,

Found this link. It may do what you want, though it could degrade the image.

Privacy Mirror Window Film, Like One Way Glass