Welding and the bright UV rays produced by the welding arc are harmful to the human eyes. That is why welders wear helmets and safety goggles to protect their eyes from problems like arc eye (inflammation in the mucous membrane of your eye).
Due to the possible damage from welding to the eye, people often wonder will welding damage cameras or electronics?
No, welding cannot damage cameras or electronics. Cameras cannot be affected by the UV rays that harm the human eye during welding. However, photographing welding using a camera can still be a tedious job.
Protecting Your Camera From The Brightness of Welding:
Even though the bright UV rays produced during welding cannot harm your camera, the nature of the place where welding is happening and the heat produced can still pose a small threat to your photography skills. Therefore, you need to know how to protect the camera from possible hazards.
Safety Equipment
Sure, the camera can’t be harmed during welding, but you can! So protecting yourself is as important as protecting the camera if you want to capture some masterpieces.
You should ensure you wear leather clothes and a helmet if you are standing too close to the welder. Also, you should wear safety gloves and safety goggles too.
Furthermore, you should also use a full camera cover to protect your eyes from looking at the welding. As we have already established, welding can be really dangerous to the eyes, so this protective measure is vital.
Lens Filters
Now, we know we said your camera is safe, but an added form of protection can never be harmful, can it? Especially if your camera is expensive, you might want to take extra protection to protect it from any possible damage.
Lens filters, especially UV filters and clear filters, work best to give your camera extra protection. They are smaller pieces of glass and will attach to the end of the lens. Primarily, they change the light spectrum slightly so that your camera’s lens is not damaged.
Clear Filters
Clear filters are made of clear glass and have no light-changing properties. The basic form of protection they offer is that they protect your camera’s lens from any sudden light spots or any sparks, or material falling onto your camera’s lens.
UV Filters
Even though UV light will not be caught by your camera, the UV filter will help you capture clearer shots. These shots will need less editing as the UV filter adjusts the light spectrum slightly without which you can experience a welder’s flash.
Welder’s Flash
Welder’s flash, also known as arc eye, is an eye disease caused by welding. Since you will be operating the camera near welding, you should be aware of the potential hazard to your eye if you don’t use the proper protective gear.
In a welder’s flash, the mucous membrane of your eye burns, and becomes very painful to deal with. As a result of the welder’s flash, you can experience bloodshot eyes, blurred vision, watery eyes, and intense pain.
As you can see, even though your camera and electronics are generally safe from welding, there is some added protection you should go for. The extra protection will not only protect your equipment from any possible damage risk, no matter how low, but also protect you from conditions like the arc eye.
