Filming welding

FSKP

Member
Has anyone here already filmed welding? We are currently building rails at my home mountain and I wanted to try filming welding.

So my real question is, do I need any ND filter to control luminosity and also to protect my camera sensor since it is a really bright source of light ?

Thanks
 
the protection aspect is debatable, there was quite a bit of hysteria with shooting the eclipse last August and people concluded its the heat from long exposure from concentrated bright light, your lens will heat up to the point the iris can burn and then get to the sensor, after minutes of directly exposing to the open sun with telephotos. I don't think welding footage would be bright/long enough to really do damage like the sun could. But regardless I'd recommend a strong ND to keep your shutter speed decent since welding is so bright, you don't want to ruin the footage by cranking to thousandths of a second just to keep the exposure manageable
 
Your camera will be fine. Just like shooting the sun, it's not the best idea to point directly at it for a long time. I've shot plenty of welders and never had an issue.

Like stated above, just use a decent ND filter to get your shutter speed down.
 
Make sure you wear a mask close your damn eyes though. Arc eye is a bitch.

I never really thought about the impact on a camera though. Usually you wouldn't be that close to the arc so you don't fuck up your camera body. And most passes aren't that long.

Idk though. Interested though. ever filmed welding but I build rails at work. I've seen those shots pop up in edits, but never tried myself.

Threadz for deetz
 
Ended up filming without an ND filter. I just wanted to see the welding but mostly the effect of it, the flashes. I didn't care if it wasn't extremely sharp. I shot at 60fps to have a shutter speed at 125 and I had an aperture of f/25 - f/29. I used a 70-200 to make a close-up and to stay far from the welding. Reviewing my shots at the end of the day, I am not really satisfied with the welding shots haha, they're really bright at the welding spot and really dark everywhere else. Btw, just wanted to give it a try to see how it would look like.

The shots I got from the grinder/buffer looks good tho !
 
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