On Sun, 12 Sep 2010 08:59:29 -0700, "Steve B"
wrote:

Has anyone here any experience with welding photography? I am going to take
some pictures of welds during real time welding. Does the shielding of a
normal lens work?

I have a Sony DSCH1 camera. A decent camera that is worth about $300. I
don't want to screw it up. I may have to buy a dedicated camera, though, as
I will have to make a protective box and a remote shutter release.

Steve

Yes, shielding the lens will work. An ordinary filter plate will stop
UV and IR, and attenuate visible light to a suitable level.

The camera needn't be in a box. Just a piece of filter plate over the
lens will suffice. You can get a round 50mm (2") disc in darkness up
to shade 14 from these guys:
http://www.phillips-safety.com/store...hp?cPath=41_66

Just go by whatever shade you use in your regular mask, probably about
shade 8 or 10.

Some cameras use IR or visible light from the camera for autofocussing
in what the camera perceives as "dark" conditions. That optical path
would have to be unobscured, or the camera set to manual focus if
that's possible on the Sony.