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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

concert laser destroy's epic sensor ?

Z

zak forrest

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i've seen a lot of articles online recently about red epics getting the sensor permanently damaged by a laser during a concert..

does anyone have any information about this? i've filmed with lasers directly hitting the sensor ever since the first day the MX'd RED ONE was taken out of the box. at all kinds of large and small concerts, and also in music video production. never had a single problem, sensors are all good over here. i even have varispeed footage of lasers travelling across the sensor, no harm done. (on both the Red One as well as the Epic)

i'm thinking perhaps the lasers used at these concerts that have "destroyed sensors" were actually not legal or safe? as in, not safe for human eyes as well as cameras. just thinking out loud, does anyone know about this because now i'm weary of taking my camera out the next time i see a laser, as well as using lasers in music videos. i'd like to know the answer, what the specs are that you need to stay BELOW when using them, or if your shooting a concert, if i can talk with the lighting tech and find out the laser specs to make sure i'm in the :safe zone."


OR are these articles wrong and it's actually a DSLR ? i've seen articles on both DSLR's as well as EPIC's getting "fried" by lasers though, but i have no clue of the validity of the source… perhaps it's fud..
 
i'm curious about that as well, however i don't like to see false information about the Epic spread and have everyone thinking the camera can be damaged by this. i'm fairly certain that if the lasers are in the legal safe spec (like the kinds you see at parties and shows) then it's fine for a Red camera. i really want to know if some of the reports are false, or if the lasers at these particular shows were not legal, etc…
 
It has absolutely nothing to do with the Epoc sensor why this happens. I have seen it actually happen to three cameras over 20 years in film and tv starting with an old Sony DXC537 to broadcast 900's. A laser can permanently damage any chip if the angle of the laser hits at exactly the right angle. So not every shoo with lasers but you run a big risk. In fact only last night I was on a seven camera broadcast of a three hour creative dancing show and there was one whole dance piece that all cameras were pointed to the ground as a camera was lost in last years show. It's a very common occurrence and best just avoided as their are no filters to stop this happening...well as far as I know. But considering the facilities company and network I was working for are the largest and biggest company in Australia and lost cameras before they would know. We even had another dance piece have the lasers specifically tuned for camera safe zones.
Best practice, don't shoot towards lasers without proper precautions like 'safe zones' or just don't shoot...no other way round it.
 
Lasers cause you grief (in a camera) when the amount of energy hitting an area is high enough to cause fine structures on the senor to be damaged. The amount of time it takes varies depending on the laser power, wavelength, and how small the area is (just like with the eye), but even with relatively low powered lasers can be milliseconds in the right conditions (for high powered lasers it can be femtoseconds). There may be guidance somewhere on safe energy limits for ccd exposure (found this... some more info: http://www.laserist.org/camera-sensor-damage.htm) but if it's really a concern you might try to find a filter that you can use when you're working around lasers and can't control the environment to avoid the possibility of direct exposure. I included a link on another thread to a vendor selling optical notch filters for use with lasers (you'd buy a filter that attenuated the wavelength of the laser you were exposing your camera to). They were pretty expensive... a 50mm screw on was $1200+, maybe more cost effective to buy insurance? The other issue with filtering is that even with a notch filter you'll lose chromatic data in the filtered area. They were around 9nm wide IIRC (maybe not a huge color problem) but it will possibly shift whites a bit and need some post work to correct. The key thing to remember is that you'd need a filter for every different laser wavelength you're working with. Red HeNe lasers (very common) operate at 632nm, Green often 532nm, etc...
 
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Recently (a week ago), a rental facilities from Paris had his Epic burnt with a laser. It's not a myth. WHen I work with laser, i always put a small object in front of the laser where it could potentialy target the sensor directly. Most of the time in music video, the artist is in front of the camera, but i've seen too much 5D sensor video....
 
Hi Zak,

My main job is filming big dance events & concerts... I do it every weekend.
I've seen thousands of differents circumstance were the sensor was damaged by a laser.

If you want to shoot lasers, and you don't have a safety zone... Always use wide lenses.
The closer you get in mm the bigger the risk you can have with it.

Try to shoot lasers from the side, not in front of it!

Eather way, if one laser accidently touch the right spot of your sensor... It's broken.

So always be carefull with it! For the moment there is nothing you can do about it ;)

Cheers, Kevin
 
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