Do normal cameras capture UV wavelengths and could I simply apply a high frequency filter on pictures taken with a high-end consumer device or does this require a special camera for the UV spectrum? If so, who manufactures such devices?
In Denver the grocery store chain Whole Foods has the specialized UV cameras in their stores and are offering photos for free.
The cameras are manufacture by Canfield. The ones we used cost $10,000 used or $20,000 new.
Normal digital cameras have the capability of capturing UV but most professional cameras have a filter place in manufacture to remove UV and IR. There are companies who can remove this filter so your camera is sensitive to UV and IR or replace the cut-off filter with a UV transmission or IR transmission filters. Fuji did produce a UVIR camera the S5 Pro UVIR but it was very much better for IR than UV. Tetley and Young 2008 specifically tested a range of cameras for their UV sensitivity see http://informahealthcare.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17453050802195009.
However, what is also important to remember with skin is that the shorter the wavelength the more light that is absorbed and less reflected so with shorter wavelengths you see more detail in the surface a good example of this and how the photographs look is the paper by Mustakallio and Korhonen 1966 http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v47/n4/abs/jid1966152a.html.
In some circumstances e.g. to show scars it is possible to separate out the channels of an RGB photograph, with PhotoShop, so you can see the blue channel which emphasises the difference between normal skin and depigmentation of scarred areas. See photographs attached comparing Colour control and Blue filter 47B used with black and white film from a scar due to scalding from a shower taken for a personal injury case.
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