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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 :)

is there anyway to expose for radiation digitally? a chernobyl image on film...

B

Brian Merlen

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saw a chernobyl image shot right after the accident and the film had actually captured the radiation in the image, and just was wondering via digital is there anyway to capture radiation in an image? I know some reds have been made to shoot infrared and am just interested in the concept. I found it interesting that film gave a medium for this invisible yet deadly substance...


so i have been considering self producing a doc about Chernobyl and am just looking into if there is anyway to capture that medium outside of film itself...
 
The image sensor in the camera would have to be designed and tuned for the radiation spectrum we want to capture. But yes, it's possible and there are cameras designed for this sort of use. Not sure if a RED sensor could be adapted for X-Ray, beta, gamma, etc..
 
I'm trying to find an example of the image. it was taken right after the melt down...a specific still image.... by one of the plant operators or by that first journalist on location, i forget which took it...been watching a lot of docs on the matter lately... i found some other images but none illustrate it the way his did, he was right there at ground zero and the particles were hitting his film dead on...

you could see the specs on the image where it was getting hit by the hot particles, which i thought would be really cool if i could recreate it and if there is even enough radiation there now to do so... it might be too problematic to even bother, I'm not sure if even film would pick it up now, maybe in the red forest or up close to the elephants foot? no idea...
 
Just curious: If you get the camera within sight-line of the elephants foot, how do you expect to retrieve the Redmag?
 
Gamma rays have enough energy that if they interact with the cmos imager they may induce an artifact in the image. Not sure what the likelihood of an interaction is... but I bet it's reasonably high. Here's an article on hardening imaging devices: http://www.photonics.com/EDU/Handbook.aspx?AID=41473 so it looks like not just will Gamma rays interact with cmos imagers... they may damage them in the process.

Maybe not a good idea to take a Red camera over... use a throwaway if you want to experiment. :-)
 
Todd T said:
Just curious: If you get the camera within sight-line of the elephants foot, how do you expect to retrieve the Redmag?
Click to expand...


heard they had a mirror to shoot around a corner to get to it, that or robot toy cars seem to do the trick these days...i don't think I'm gonna get that shot tho... but i'd like to bring some new concepts to a piece about the place, that is my goal...i got some more attainable ideas in mind as well that can hopefully work out, but being able to capture the subject matter is usually integral to most stories, and when i saw that someone had captured it so well, in only one shot out of the many many shots i had seen, it blew my mind. he captured the always invisible danger, not meaning to, but it was very interesting that it happened. i thought it was the most memorable shot in all chernobyl videos on youtube
 
Want to destroy a camera trying to capture those "dots"?
You know you were successful when you see them - the bad news: they won't go away.

With film, it's new emulsion every frame.
Thats why film badges are used to document radiation exposure for nuclear workers.

When video cameras used tube technology, once scarred by radiation, the tubes needed to be replaced.
While I have not blown away a CMOS sensor in a radiologically controlled area, consider the warnings and stories on this site about damage caused by lasers.
Just like everything else in the spectrum, it's a wave.

Mirrors will not work. Gamma rays are high energy that will pass straight through it.


I would think that going to Ukraine to visit the exclusion zone during this period of political turmoil might be problematic.
Expect it would be so for many years to come.

That said, if you really want that effect, this is one case where doing it in post or having a software developer create an app would be more appropriate.
Not worth killing cameras or breaking a DNA strand. The tie-in to cancer should not be taken lightly.
 
if you must re-create that image.. then use the following

if you must re-create that image.. then use the following

motion picture film, and a remote camera. then scan it at 4k.
However, there are LOTS of other issues.

I do have a friend who shot digital b-roll of chernobyl for a documentary a couple of years ago.

I will ask him how the equipment held up.

He had very limited time on site, and lots of safety minders supervising him.
 
Andrey B said:
http://gearmix.ru/archives/9801
Click to expand...


Translation to English:

New detector allows literally "see" the radiation
Source contributions to gearmix (Cowanchee)
Radiation detectors can be expensive and cumbersome. But now the market has a real alternative : University of Michigan project «Polaris-H» offers handmade wearable device that allows to see gamma radiation.

To use the camera , you must install a set of radiation in the room . Then connect it to an external touchscreen that controls the camera as she puts radiation image map room. According to developers, unlike other detectors which require cryogenic cooling components , Polaris-H works well at room temperature. However, other scanners do not provide the full visual images , and they have to move in space, to see the other side of the room . Finally , the price of the new detector is " less than 100 thousand dollars ," according to a press release of the university.
Several nuclear power plants have already adopted the new development on arms and declare that it can become a new standard for the industry.


Thank you for the link Andrey!
 
Brian,

Even if there was a way to modify a RED sensor (or any existing CMOS camera sensor) I highly doubt you would be able to capture the same effect if you went back now.

Aside from the fact that CMOS sensors aren't really close to what is used in even medical nuclear imaging and the geopolitical events happening, most of what was probably captured in 1986 is gone now.

*Note I'm not a nuclear scientist so I may be a bit off here but...* immediately following the accident there were massive amounts of high energy Xenon, Tellurium, Iodine amongst others actually floating in the air (from the steam explosion) and being emitted from the chunks of the graphite core on the ground and roof (and exposed reactor). The particular isotopes of these elements that were present had half-lives of 5 to 8 days meaning almost 30 years on and with no material which to emanate from in the open air would not be present in a form enough to capture even with the correct equipment. Most of the detectible radiation in the exclusion zone now is caesium-137 and strontium and that is captured in the environment and food chain (flora and fauna, animals) and soil.

As far as I am aware there is no way to actually photograph the core itself and the elephant's foot as said above would present a huge problem as well. If you were able to somehow capture this phenomenon any equipment used would be hopelessly radiated.

As someone with a massive interest in Chernobyl I wish you luck! I would love to go there someday.
 
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