In my Tech Thursday feature article today, “Stations Prepare For Total Solar Eclipse,” I quoted Steve Mahrer, senior technologist with Panasonic, on ensuring safe use of an ENG camera to shoot the Aug. 21 eclipse.
I also received an email reply to my questions about camera use and the eclipse from Alan Keil, VP of Ikegami Engineering. It echoes Mahrer’s thoughts and I wanted to share it with you:
Alan Keil:
Momentarily shooting the sun as a highlight (above 100% video) is OK.
Also shooting the sun with the appropriate ND and iris setting so the video level is within 100% is OK for an extended period of time. I suspect this would be the typical conditions for shooting an eclipse.
Meanwhile, shooting the sun continually as a bright highlight is not recommended. On rare occasions I have seen damage from lasers, not the sun. But I can imaginie the sun also causing damage under extreme conditions. My experience is about the same regarding CMOS compared to CCD.
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