shooting welder.....whats the verdict?
 

I have been put in a position that I will be shooting a welder welding on Wednesday or Thursday. What steps should I take to protect the CCD? I have used the DVX100 in this situation with no adverse effects but I am a little concerned because someone on this board had a problem with a laser frying the CCD block on the XL2 a few months back.

Any advice?? I have very little time to do anything about it but I'd like to try to protect the XL2 the best that I can.

Thanks.

I just videotaped one last month with an XL1s for a commercial. No problems at all. I also saw material shot by a Sony PD-150 with no ill effects to the CCD.

My experiences say that a welders arc would not be the same as a laser that is used to perform surgery. I am also guessing that the laser accidentally got pointed right into the lens to cause that damage but I want to make sure.

I just finished up a corporate dvd featuring many direct and indirect shots of the arc from plasma to electric arc and mig. Incredible looking stuff in 24p with the sparks showing incredible non-interlaced detail.

Throw the ND on and iris down ... play with the iris once the arc strikes and you'll have some pretty video.

No ill effects on the XL2.

Shot an arc welder from about 5 feet away straight on before. No protection at all. Everything was kosher.

Apparently, the ccd's in cameras aren't all that sensitive to UV light like they are to IR. That's what is being emanated from the arc which requires eye and skin protection. It's enough to give you an instant 'sunburn' on your skin and will burn your eyes. I would suggest placing a UV filter on the lens to help improve image clarity. Most people have one on their camera anyway as a lens protector.

Just make sure that you don't stare at that arc with the naked eye from 5 feet away. You'll know you've burned your eyes when it feels like there's sand in them everytime you blink for the next few days.
-gb-

Yikes! OK 5 feet is just too close unless you really need a wide angle shot. But the chance for a hot spark to hit you or the cam are quite high and while you will have a UV filter on at that distance for obvious reasons, it will be better to be about 22 feet away. Open iris, low frame rate = nice shallow depth of field. Just what you want from an intensly lit foreground with the background nicely out of focus and dark.

Also, Greg has descibed a malady known as "arc eye". You really want to avoid that outcome. It hurts and your viewfinder is useless once you suffer from it.