Magnets Dangerous for Video Cams?

[vcfilms]

Hey all,

This may be an odd question but I am building a counterweight system to balance my shoulder mount with the ex1 and was wondering if I use magnets could they damage anything internally with the camera. I know that magnets can damage hard drives so I was wondering if anyone knew if they had any affect on a video camera.

Any input appreciated.

Thanks

 

[pixelated]

A magnet in a camera counterbalance is probably not going to be close enough to the camera to affect its operation, but what about when its placed on a table next to some tapes, or monitor, or....

Magnets in the vicinity of magnetic media is never a good idea. If they're never on the set, they'll never get blamed.

 

[Casalen]

Flash media uses charged circuits to store data, and I don't think that camera takes tapes. So they would be safe if there aren't any tapes on set. The circuitry in the camera wouldn't be close enough to be affected, and there's all that shielding on it. So I would be extremely surprised if you managed to damage something with a standard magnet... but, it's still a field that could somehow do something. So don't throw it in the same bag as everything else if you do insist on using it. If possible, find something you don't have to ask this question about. As for it damaging hard drives; I've never actually heard of it happening, and those things have magnets built in anyway. I don't mean the writing ones; there are large magnets that move the arms.

 

[Jason Davenport]

You might want to try some lead fishing weights, like the big ones you get for deep sea fishing. They might find some that are finger shaped and you can add what you need. Thinking like 4 or more taped together to get close to 2 or 3 lbs. I have a small (gold brick looking) 3lb lead weight that I can put in a wireless bag that connects to my Cavision shoulder mount. Pretty much is balanced when I have on matte box and follow focus. We're back to heavy but the darn thing is so front heavy.

 

[DCSensui]

Guess where you can find some very powerful refrigerator magnets:

At the base of any seek-head mechanism in any hard drive!

Yep, just a few millimeters from the critical storage platters are some very powerful magnets that are necessary for any seek-head mechanism to operate with the speed necessary to feed data streams for video.

So unless you're talking about some huge magnet with a lot of gauss, most magnets are safe around computers and certainly not a problem around cameras. Just don't let them rub against the lens!

As for using lead, it's a health hazard. Bare lead will leave bits of itself here and there. As bad as lead-based paint could be, it's even worse with metallic lead. Note how a fishing weight can almost be used as a marker on a piece of paper. So if you're going to use that as a counterweight material, have it encased in vinyl or epoxy. Something that won't let it get rubbed off or get loose.

 

[Kenny_G]

What I know for sure is that a strong radiowave is bad for your recordings.
I was shooting next to a guy from a radio station and my VF went crazy.

 

[basspig]

Magnets only affect the tube cameras, because they used magnetic beam scanning to pick up the image from a photosensitive target. Modern solid state cams don't have any such reliance on magnetic deflection to convert optical images to electrical signals.

Radio frequency energy continues to be a hazard for ANY unshielded electronics. Although I have to say that XDCam does far better than the cams from the 80s, which would record herringbone patterns and radio and TV station audio onto their tapes when in the viscinity of such powerful emitters of RF.

 

[robbz]

You might want to try some lead fishing weights, like the big ones you get for deep sea fishing. They might find some that are finger shaped and you can add what you need. Thinking like 4 or more taped together to get close to 2 or 3 lbs. I have a small (gold brick looking) 3lb lead weight that I can put in a wireless bag that connects to my Cavision shoulder mount. Pretty much is balanced when I have on matte box and follow focus. We're back to heavy but the darn thing is so front heavy.

JD, I see you have the Cavision Matte Box and shoulder mount, but what is the rails/riser system? I have the same set up but my Cavision rails hang down quite a lot... Also what is the Follow Focus unit that you use?

Cheers

 

[DCSensui]

Speaking of radio waves, I remember being aboard the USS Nimitz and the ship's radar really messing up my video. The guys in the electronics department was nice enough to wrap my TR-81 Hi8 camera and that solved most of the problem.

Several years later, when I went aboard the USS Abe Lincoln I took a Canon XL1s and wasn't able to get it wrapped (was a short day trip). But it was pretty much RF-proof. The viewfinder would get "hit" but the recording came out clean.