FS7: Welding

M

morgan_moore

Major Contributor
I should know this.. FS7 and welding? Sensor burn?

Plan to reduce scene DR by blasting the subject up close with LED and using internal ND.. or maybe add more?
 
NO! Internal ND is not good because of the IR and UV, you want to block all of this stuff the right way. Get a welding helmet, one of the auto darkening ones and remove the shade assembly. Put the shade in front of the lens, then white balance through the "clear" shade (still lots of light). Strike an arc and adjust how dark it gets until you have a decent image. Ask the welder how dark they normally set their shade for the process and current (Mig, Tig, Stick, etc) as each process and each current level will dump out a differing amount of light. In general the higher the current, the more light is produced. If it is TIG, then you may want to have the welder buy some of the clear Pyrex cups on the market so you can shoot through them to see the point of the tungsten electrode, they require some slightly different hardware on the torch than the standard cups, they will know what I mean. Check out Weldingtipsandtricks and The Fabrication Series and weld.com on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcxlBLmujrjTVSSUkzZ2Jlg

https://www.youtube.com/user/weldingtipsandtricks

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM0kHJXSHR1k1wtLuliKmHg

Also make certain you cover all of your skin and have some kind of safety for your eyes, you'll probably want to make some kind of light block to put in front of the viewfinder to protect your head/face from the same UV/IR that will cause problems with your camera. The light in the viewfinder is not an issue, it only gets as bright as the VF gets, but the stuff soaking into your skin can be very bad for you. And you won't know you've been burned for several hours! Been there, done that. Cotton and leather are the suggested materials, and that includes your feet (no nylon sneakers!!!) This goes especially true if you are shooting flux core MIG, that stuff spits hot droplets EVERYWHERE!
 
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Most things will want a #10 (or darker) lens so you may still need internal ND, but that shade should block all of the UV and IR. Being far away is much safer, but I'd still take some precautions with sunblock being one of them. And still no synthetic fabrics, nothing worse than having a hot blob of metal come flying through and hit you, then suffering the lingering pain of the melted plastic. Not really dangerous but a huge annoyance.

I just taped the shade assembly into my matte box, it was too thick and oddly shaped to fit correctly. Then had to use a 50 or 85mm because it was a smaller cheapo shade from a Harbor Freight helmet. Need to order a larger one, but need to order a new welder first... My Hyl is dead and the importer has run away so no hope of getting it fixed under warranty (or probably ever), so need something that will hopefully last.
 
Greg - thanks for your thoughts.

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I remembered I got pinged in Zambia by a welder.. maybe 200mm loose shot on a construction site - actually the sensor did not burn.. but I still favour the super ND approach :)
 
Ave did a video on the cheapest auto dark shade he could find, it was the clear glass in front that stopped most of the harmful stuff. Personally I wouldn't risk the sensor, some kind of welding shade in front just makes sense to me if the welding is going to be in the shot.
 
I've shot loads of welding Sam. Expose for the highlights, watch out for flicker from the welding lamp and make sure you have a clear filter on your lens for protection from the sparks.
 
To make cool shots I would aim the camera at the welders helmet and sparkles dropping on the floor instead of the actual welding point.
 
Liam Hall said:
I've shot loads of welding Sam. Expose for the highlights, watch out for flicker from the welding lamp and make sure you have a clear filter on your lens for protection from the sparks.
Click to expand...

So you dont feel a need for deep filtration? WHat about a compromise of a normal 3 or six stop in front of the lens?
 
I've shot a fair amount of welding over the last few years (arc, laser and plasma) with no issues.
I usually try to minimize directly seeing the burn by framing the shot so the actual weld is blocked by the operators hands, or I'll use some sort of foreground element on a longer lens (often placed by me) to partially obscure the weld. I usually try to expose in the middle between the arc and the reflected light, or expose for the welders mask. Exposure bracketing is the name of the game. I'll sometimes roll in a little ND for a shot, but will often use a clear filter and stop way down to capture a starburst effect.

On a cutting table where the arc is unavoidable, I try to keep the shot moving so the arc doesn't stay in one place, or let the cutter travel through the frame. I try not to let any shot last longer than 5-7 seconds before I pan away and vary the focal length often. I tend to overlight light the area, knowing I'll be stopped down, often with an emphasis on edge lighting. In this example, the room was mixed shop light with high windows. I keyed 4000K and went 5500K temp mostly for the edge and back lighting.

That all applies to "beauty shots." If you're tasked with shooting a "how-to" video that requires extended close ups on the actual weld, all I can say is use a cheap camera and good luck...

Here's some stuff I shot for a client recently, sorry about the low rez. Sony F5, Osmo Pro and Dana Dolly:

 
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Interesting vid :)

I want that machine!

The big spark out is well over..

Im thinking my LEDs backlighting on max (about 2-4 feet off the subject.. thats close in) .. the room would basically be 5-10 under before the weld.. indeed rimlight all the way.. lets see how I get along.
 
Also shot a lot of welding over the years.. no problems.. biggest danger .. sparks hit the front of your lens.. that will screw the front element .. I would wear a hat too.. stay back on a long lens.. you'll be fine
 
I’ve shot a lot of welding and cutting over the years. Never used any type of special filtering, but it’s not like I was shooting a documentary on welding or needed to see it in any special way. Knock on wood, no sensor problems, but most of it was shot with CCD’s, if that matters. I think the last time I shot some was with an Amira, though. The biggest concern, as others have said, is just don’t let any sparks hit the front of the lens. Get back and shoot ‘long lens’. I lost a filter in a junkyard, because of sparks(and I was prob. 10’ away), but I swapped out the filter and we kept going. If I had been one of those guys that doesn’t believe in front filters on their lenses, the shoot would have over(we were only like 45 mins into the day) and I would have been down a lens for who knows how long for repair and out $$$ to replace the front element.
 
JCummings said:
I've shot a fair amount of welding over the last few years (arc, laser and plasma) with no issues.
I usually try to minimize directly seeing the burn by framing the shot so the actual weld is blocked by the operators hands, or I'll use some sort of foreground element on a longer lens (often placed by me) to partially obscure the weld. I usually try to expose in the middle between the arc and the reflected light, or expose for the welders mask. Exposure bracketing is the name of the game. I'll sometimes roll in a little ND for a shot, but will often use a clear filter and stop way down to capture a starburst effect.

On a cutting table where the arc is unavoidable, I try to keep the shot moving so the arc doesn't stay in one place, or let the cutter travel through the frame. I try not to let any shot last longer than 5-7 seconds before I pan away and vary the focal length often. I tend to overlight light the area, knowing I'll be stopped down, often with an emphasis on edge lighting. In this example, the room was mixed shop light with high windows. I keyed 4000K and went 5500K temp mostly for the edge and back lighting.

That all applies to "beauty shots." If you're tasked with shooting a "how-to" video that requires extended close ups on the actual weld, all I can say is use a cheap camera and good luck...

Here's some stuff I shot for a client recently, sorry about the low rez. Sony F5, Osmo Pro and Dana Dolly:

Click to expand...

^^ Nice work JCummings.
 
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