Les Henson Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 Does anyone know if it's ok to film or photograph electric arc welding with a normal digital camera. Would the intense UV light damage it or 'white out' the picture? Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 It won't be able to see what's happening at the tip, but my camera has taken numerous photos of welding. Always get a strange haze effect round the Stig though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 I don't think it'll do any damage to the camera, but you'll find it very difficult to get anything other than arty shorts. Trying to film the actual welding will just swamp the camera with light, I think. Might be doable with pro kit or maybe just a decent SLR, but a point and shoot digi camera won't give you enough control to deal with the extreme conditions*. * - I believe you can get special orange cameras for this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 This guy manages it OK Welding Video Play the movie on the page. If you go on the forum and contact the owner, Malcolm, he may be able to give you some tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1G UP Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 This guy manages it OKWelding Video Play the movie on the page. If you go on the forum and contact the owner, Malcolm, he may be able to give you some tips. He's filmed that through reactalite style lens,headshield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 I was going to say, Malcolm on Mig-Welding has had some pretty good results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gromit Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 Does anyone know if it's ok to film or photograph electric arc welding with a normal digital camera. Would the intense UV light damage it or 'white out' the picture? Hi Les, You won't damage the camera. As you are dealing with a very bright light, you need a low ISO, fast shutter speed and a small aperture. Most point-and-shoot cameras will probably not be able to achieve either. An SLR will. If using a point-and-shoot, or video camera, your best bet might be to hold a Neutral Density filter in front of the lens. These come in various densities and basically reduce the light passing through them, much like your welding shield. Edited to add: After watching that video, you can see that the exposure get completely fooled once he starts welding. This is because the bright central section makes the camera think it's brighter than it actually is, thus under-exposing and giving a dark image. The solution is to set the exposure manually, or if available, use exposure compensation to over-expose by a few stops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 This is a pic of a screenshot taken from lukes webcam whilst he was ali miging, you can follow the ark although you cant particully see whats happening. looks damn cool tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciderman Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 Ive got some pictures of my sisters wedding , they came out ok . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1G UP Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 TIG vid Just filmed one of the boys, Leeroy, doing a root on a 100mm mild steel butt weld.Crappy camera through my speedglas. You get th picture though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 you need a low ISO, fast shutter speed and a small aperture. Is that porn? Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 When I first glanced at the thread title I was ready to ask where the reception was being held I've taken photos of a solar eclipse through the glass of an old welding mask, maybe you could try the same? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest otchie1 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Ah, what you need here is a camera with a Peak White Inverter. It'll spot the brightest bit of the frame (the Peak White, probably the arc) and invert it to black so that the auto lens won't be forced to close down. It's usually a CCTV thing though, never seen it on a pocket camera. If you want to see the arc then get a couple of polarising lenses, one in front of the other on the front of the lens. Rotate one until the picture is nearly black and film through that. An old pair of sunglasses might do but Jessops'll sell you some that screw on the front of your camera lens. Or you could try squinting when you film it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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