Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • 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 :)

Simple question: camera is shocking us, literally!

Tanner Stauss

Tanner Stauss

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 1, 2008
Messages
344
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
41
Location
California
There's not much more to it than that. Towards the end of a long day of shooting today, almost any metal accessory or camera piece was carrying a pretty good current of electricity, enough to produce a nice little shock whenever you touched it. My operator was doing hand-held on his should and I could even feel a small current running through his slightly damp(sweaty) shirt.

Anyone ever have this? More important, does anybody know why or how to prevent?

Thanks,

Tanner

P.S. Build 15, using RED batteries, LCD and EVF.
 
tannerstauss said:
There's not much more to it than that. Towards the end of a long day of shooting today, almost any metal accessory or camera piece was carrying a pretty good current of electricity, enough to produce a nice little shock whenever you touched it. My operator was doing hand-held on his should and I could even feel a small current running through his slightly damp(sweaty) shirt.

Anyone ever have this? More important, does anybody know why or how to prevent?

Thanks,

Tanner

P.S. Build 15, using RED batteries, LCD and EVF.
Click to expand...

Ian Bloom was (is?) having this problem with his camera Monday and Tuesday on his shoot over in the Bahamas.

P.S. This was BEFORE we shot RED underwater Tuesday and Wednesday with my camera (in case anyone was wondering).
 
Are you connected to a monitor via BNC? I have had this problem many times over the years with many different cameras. Usually it can be traced to a bad ground on the video village monitor sending a little AC down the shielding of the BNC, and agin to the camera body from there. If you are not hooked up, then it sounds like an issue.

Nick
 
I've had this happen to me before... to the point that it gave me a pretty good shock [enough to make me step back from the camera for a few minutes]. It's gotten some of my ACs as well.

Seems to be some shielding issues in the camera. The power board isn't isolated at all from the camera body and ports, so it's not all that surprising.
 
How can you get AC shock if camera is not hooked up to any AC?

Or is it via external monitor that is hooked up to AC but then it is this device that is sending AC down the line.
 
Yep check the BNC cables. It's most likely a bad ground on the other end of the BNC. Very common with other cameras.
 
No, I am not using any BNC. Here is our camera setup while on sticks or dolly. RED LCD, RED EVF, RED Drive, RED Brick, using HDMI to a Samsung Syncmaster. No BNC, SDI or HD-SDI being used at all. Here is a thought I have though. We were shooting in a prison and were sitting on metal bunk beds, BUT: it still shocked us when we were on a carbon fiber tripod with rubber feet, and when there was a blanket between the bed and the camera for low shots, the only thing actually touching the metal would have been the HDMI cable, which is incased in rubber. I still have no idea, we about to begin shooting right now, so I will see it if it does it again today, while not on the metal beds.

(P.S. we were in a real, working prison in Kazakhstan, both scary and exciting)

Thanks for any help.
 
Remove the HDMI cable from the Samsung to see if the voltage is still present. I'm thinking the monitior is plugged into AC mains? If so, house power or genny? If house power, are the electrical codes in Kazakhstan up to par, and everything properly grounded? You could have an AC Ground loop there. The monitor most likely is a Class 2 device, could that be faulty and have some leakage current?

This may sound strange but is the concrete floor grounded? Meaning the rebar in the floor, if there is any, it should be grounded as well. I was talking with an electrical inspector last week about a situation he had to investigate where a homeowner was receiving tingles from the water faucet. Turned out there was a voltage potential between the concrete floor and the water pipes. Grounding the rebar in the floor cured the problem.

This in conjunction with the Samsung monitor could this be possible????

Just a few thoughts.
 
well just because you are not connected to the monitor by bnc, doesn't mean you are not connected. Did the plug for the monitor even have a ground? The outlet in the prison was properly grounded?
ni k
 
I experienced something similar once with a Digi-Beta - I think the cause turned out to be a dodgy cable coming out of the genny (it was on location so there was no mains) - the charge was coming via video village down the BNC and into the camera (you may be experiencing the same thing but with an HDMI cable instead if your monitor is plugged into mains or a genny. It got fairly nasty when the cameraman put his eye to the eyepiece and got a shock to the eye!! Maybe get your sparks to absolutely double-check all their power cables right up to the genny/mains?
 
It could be a humidity problem. When the air is humid or you are working in a wet environment. If that is the case, keep the camera running as much as possible to keep the fan running. It will prevent the camera from cooling down and moisture to stick to the inside of the camera and the boards. Even when you're done shooting, keep it running for a long while.
 
I spoke to Ian's a/c today and he confirmed that it seems that either the monitor or their sound was plugged into AC power when they have had the problem.
 
2 prong to 3 prong adapter.

2 prong to 3 prong adapter.

AquaVideoRed206 said:
I spoke to Ian's a/c today and he confirmed that it seems that either the monitor or their sound was plugged into AC power when they have had the problem.
Click to expand...

I would not tell you the way to fix the problem with wall outlets that are wired backwards is to use a two to three prong adapter the wrong way around and not to connect the green wire to anything other than a known good ground and not before using a VOM to check for current through the ground that would indicate wrong connections.

Some old buildings have 2 prong sockets, or the two prong socket was changed to a 3 prong one and the wires are backwards and maybe the ground is not hooked up, or on the wrong lead.

In the old days you could reduce hum by reversing the AC phase by turning the plug arround since both lugs were the same size. Now some equipment uses one of the power lugs as a ground, which is a very bad idea, better to have isolation than a ground that can be hot by accident.

You might be able to make some socket boxes using GFI outlets and ground with a clip to a water pipe, that way if it is reversed it should pop its breaker.

It is a good idea to use isolation transformers between AC mains and any equipment. The known ground side for the equipment on the transformer secondary can then be grounded to a stake and or known good ground (the ground side lug on a wall outlet may not be a good ground). Do not use autotransformers since they are not isolation transformers. Isolation transformers used to be sold for use in TV repair shops to avoid shocks. If you are in a 220VAC country you should take shock hazards very seriously.

Another serious problem is that in a house in the US with 220V three wire, that gets split into two 110VAC circuits, if you plug something into a socket on one leg of the split and something else on the other then from "hot-to-hot" you have 220VAC with 110VAS to ground from each, if both wires get twisted the shock hazard is very serious and could be fatal perhaps. Taking power from three phase circuits is complex and should not be tried without proper skills.

Here are some links about this subject:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolation_transformer

http://www.tripplite.com/products/m...KNC-GA&HBX_PK=isolation+transformer&HBX_OU=50
 
It isnt the camera.

Avoid plugging a digital camera into anything that is plugged into mains.
I know not possible on studio shoots but having monitor and camera batteries to hand is essential to trouble shoot noise and other problems.




Mike Brennan
 
Not connecting the shield has been the cause for many deaths in the history of rock music…

Just don't do that! Get it fixed, don't use workarounds, this is serious.
 
Come to think of it, the first time this happened to me it was dolly that was passing current through a fault into the chassis and camera body. There are always other things to point the finger at first.

That said, I have had the camera itself shock me when there was no other source of potential power.
 
nomad said:
Not connecting the shield has been the cause for many deaths in the history of rock music…

Just don't do that! Get it fixed, don't use workarounds, this is serious.
Click to expand...

Can you explain this a little more please. I know camera stuff, but my electrical knowledge is lacking.

Also, to be honest, this crew doesn't seem to be very experienced in the electrical department either. It is some of these peoples first time shooting anything. It's a low budget film in Kazakhstan which out-sourced for the camera, steadicam and operator(me) to come over here. So, if you can inform me, I can gladly inform them of some proper protocal and electrical safety issues.

P.S. I brought the first ever RED into Kazakhstan, woohoo!!!
 
Brook Willard said:
Come to think of it, the first time this happened to me it was dolly that was passing current through a fault into the chassis and camera body. There are always other things to point the finger at first.

That said, I have had the camera itself shock me when there was no other source of potential power.
Click to expand...

Has anyone ever been hospitalized from a RED??? Any unfortunate war stories?
 
I was getting shocked off the shank of my indispensable ET EVF mount. Granted I've been sweating like a pig. We are connected to HDMI to my Samsung monitor and to two mini XLRs for sound feed. My AC also got a shock off of the BNC out.

My feeling is that the problem is EVF related as I've never had it since I started using the EVF.

I'm just hoping the camera doesn't get fried by these electrical issues, I'm hoping Red can give us some advice to prevent this problem. As I simply can't send it in for servicing right now.

IBloom
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top