A dedicated IR conversion mainly improves usability. With an unmodified DSLR and an R72-type filter, the optical viewfinder becomes effectively unusable and exposures can be very long because the camera’s internal IR-blocking filter is still cutting most infrared light. That often means tripod-only shooting.

A converted camera lets much more IR reach the sensor, so handheld shooting becomes practical and composing is easier. If the camera has Live View, it’s especially helpful because you can preview the scene in infrared and focus more accurately.

Tradeoffs remain. Infrared focuses differently from visible light, so autofocus and focus calibration can be unreliable unless you focus using Live View or manually compensate. Metering can also be off because camera metering is designed for visible light, so exposure compensation may be needed.

Lens behavior is another issue: some lenses produce IR hot spots, so conversion does not eliminate lens compatibility problems. You may need to test lenses to find ones that perform well in infrared.

In short: conversion gives much faster, easier IR shooting, but you still need to watch for focus shifts, metering errors, and IR hot spots.