Successful conversion of webcam to IR

This weekend I successfully converted a Microsoft VX-5000 to view infrared. I followed the directions posted by Joel here http://codecube.net/2009/02/converting-a-lifecam-vx-5000-to-see-ir/

His instructions were right on.

1. Remove the silver ring on the front of the camera. It’s stuck on using a small amount of adhesive so you just kind of have to pry it off.
2. Unscrew the two screws keeping the surrounding lens cover and remove it.
3. Unscrew the 3 screws and remove the entire front face. The live messenger button on top will also fall off once you remove it.
4. Unscrew the lens, it had a small amount of some sort of adhesive, which I just had to scratch off with a knife.
5. Remove the screws from the circuit board and remove it from the bottom casing.
6. Unscrew the additional lens housing from the bottom of the board. This is what’s covering the IR filter.
7. Once you remove that, you’ll have to remove the IR filter (it looks like it reflects redish light). It was glued on so I ended up having to kind of crack the ir filter to remove it piece by piece.
8. Install the IR-Pass filter … of course, this is where everyone seems to hack it, since lots of guides online tend to suggest using unexposed slide film. I cut out two pieces and put them in place of the IR filter.
9. With that done, rebuild everything you’ve just taken apart until the camera is put back together.

There are a few comments I would make. Step 4 is unnecessary. I ended up trying out two different IR filter's (black and white exposed film does not pass IR light!) and I realized that I did not need to unmount the lens from the lens backing. I agree with the consensus that two layers of unexposed slide film work well.

And I've also got some pictures of the process below