A digital image capturing apparatus, comprising: one or more camera hardware modules, CM , each including: an near-infrared, NIR apodization filter having for the NIR band a transmission profile with a lowest transmission at the maximum aperture radius and a gradually increasing transmission as a function of decreasing aperture radius to provide an apodized point spread function in said NIR band and having a non-zero transmission profile for the visible light, RGB, band that varies less than the transmission profile within the NIR band; an image sensor responsive within both the RGB and NIR bands, that has respective channels to provide RGB color information and to provide NIR intensity information ; and a lens system including one or more lens coupled to provide an optical path between an aperture and the image sensor, the optical path including the NIR apodization filter; and a microprocessor coupled to the CM, the microprocessor including logic circuitry to: receive input image data from the CM including at least RGB color information and NIR intensity information; and store the NIR information to an electronic memory in association with an output image data frame including the RGB information. one or more camera hardware modules, CM , each including: an near-infrared, NIR apodization filter having for the NIR band a transmission profile with a lowest transmission at the maximum aperture radius and a gradually increasing transmission as a function of decreasing aperture radius to provide an apodized point spread function in said NIR band and having a non-zero transmission profile for the visible light, RGB, band that varies less than the transmission profile within the NIR band; an image sensor responsive within both the RGB and NIR bands, that has respective channels to provide RGB color information and to provide NIR intensity information ; and a lens system including one or more lens coupled to provide an optical path between an aperture and the image sensor, the optical path including the NIR apodization filter; and an near-infrared, NIR apodization filter having for the NIR band a transmission profile with a lowest transmission at the maximum aperture radius and a gradually increasing transmission as a function of decreasing aperture radius to provide an apodized point spread function in said NIR band and having a non-zero transmission profile for the visible light, RGB, band that varies less than the transmission profile within the NIR band; an image sensor responsive within both the RGB and NIR bands, that has respective channels to provide RGB color information and to provide NIR intensity information ; and a lens system including one or more lens coupled to provide an optical path between an aperture and the image sensor, the optical path including the NIR apodization filter; and a microprocessor coupled to the CM, the microprocessor including logic circuitry to: receive input image data from the CM including at least RGB color information and NIR intensity information; and store the NIR information to an electronic memory in association with an output image data frame including the RGB information. receive input image data from the CM including at least RGB color information and NIR intensity information; and store the NIR information to an electronic memory in association with an output image data frame including the RGB information. <EOS>