 Nancy Davenport |
How to shoot an Industrial plant/magnetic field I am a photography student and would like to do a project photographing inside a Magnesium remelt facility and an Aluminum plant. I have been told that there are enormous magnetic fields in these facilities which renders most photo equipment ( it affects the shutter apparently) highly unstable , if not useless. Digital photography is impossible, I am told - but I am wondering whether it might be possible with older equipment (cameras and light meters). Will it damage my equipment? I would appreciate any advice anyone might offer.
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Jon Close |
Electronic cameras, digital or film, generally have the following FCC compliance statement in the user manual: "This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject Item (2) means that the camera is not sheilded against the electro/magnetic fields you're likely to encounter in the factory. It's unknowable in advance whether such interference will cause a malfunction or cause permanent harm to the cameras electronics. I don't know, but I would expect a fully manual film camera, especially one with a cloth shutter (Pentax K1000, Canon Ftb, etc.) would be little affected by magnetic fields.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
magnetic fields, light, and airport x rays are all the same elector magnetic radiation. airport x rays don't damage a camera, so I wouldn't think a supposed magnetic field in a magnesium/aluminum melting plant would. I'm not convinced that there would necessarily be a mangetic field in an aluminum melting plant. Aluminum isn't magnetic. Are you sure you're not talking about electromagnetic interference.
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Nancy Davenport |
Thanks for your response. Perhaps it is electromagnetic - in any case the manager of the plant has advised me that watches, automatic car keys will be permanently damaged. He also said that more than 1 corporate report photographer has left with damaged equipment. It's very hard to get specific info on this...and I would like to be well prepared (as well as keep my equipment safe). Thanks again for your advice
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
looked around and I'm thinking this most be a plant that melts down alloys to separated the magnesium out. So I can see the high temperatures and the other metals in the alloy producing magnetic fields. Whether enough to damage a camera is something I'd like to try if I had one I didn't care about getting damage. Some 35mm cameras have plastic shutters. If a corporate report photog used a medium format, I think they have metal shutters. so if somebody has had the stuff damaged, then it is possible. If you can get in contact with who's had the cameras damaged, you can ask what kind they had and what was done to it. I'd like to take a cheap digital in there just to see what would happen to it.
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