For most of us, a smartphone satisfies all our photo-shooting needs these days. So, if we're going to pony up for a high-end camera, it better be pretty special. The new Fujifilm X-T1 IR is special indeed: It can shoot in infrared, which means that, in some situations, it can actually "see" through clothes.
WIRED explains: Instead of just capturing visible light, which falls between the 390nm (violet) and 700nm (red) wavelengths — what you see in a rainbow — Fujifilm's camera can see light up into the 1,000nm infrared range. Why would you want to shoot in IR? Because it lets you capture beautiful, trippy images where trees appear snow-covered and clouds look like cotton candy. Like Mayfair or Inkwell, it's a filtered way to view the world (but one you can't pull off without the right hardware).
This infrared capability also brings with it another..."feature"? Yep, it can give you the ability to see through clothing. Of course, the fabric has to be fairly thin, and the conditions have to be right, but this camera basically has x-ray vision.
You probably won't have to worry about folks using this gadget (which is priced at $1,700 and comes out in October) to see through your clothes while you're on the subway, though. The X-T1 IR is primarily meant for scientists, doctors, and crime-scene investigators — because IR photography can also be used to analyze things such as body-tissue injuries and bloodstains.
However, we also hope people will use it for those dreamlike images it can make of outdoor scenes, because just look at how awesome those are.