Spark free cameras

[Greg Hawkes]

On another forum, The institute of Videography, a member has asked about a video camera, certified to be spark free.

I wondered if the Sony Ex series would qualify as I understand that the letters EX and a number is used to ignify such cameras.

[Chris Medico]

Spark free??

Here in the USA there are ratings for potential ignition sources. Sparks of certain temperature/energies are covered in those ratings. You may want to ask the question as to the Hazard Classification for the area which they want you to operate a camera.

The EX1 does not carry any ratings suggesting that it is intrinsically safe as an ignition source in a hazardous area. At least mine has no such labeling (a requirement for the rating to be valid).

[Chris Medico]

A quick search for intrinsic safe cameras turned up this:

PIXAVI™ | Intrinsically Safe digital camera and Video Camera

[James Kuhn]

You might want to research this electrical classification. You might also want to see if there are any "approved" cameras used in the Mining industry.

7 Indoor use in locations classified as Class I, Division 1, Groups A, B, C or D hazardous locations as defined in the National Electric Code (NFPA 70) (Commonly referred to as explosion-proof).

I hope this helps.

Regards,

J.

[Marcus Durham]

I had to look into this a while back. I contacted Sony and the EX1 has no ratings.

There are cameras from specialist suppliers that can do this but the quality wouldn't be anything other than domestic grade. They are also very pricey.

Depending on the situation you may find it easier to think around the problem. In my case I was shooting in clean rooms with production lines that were using pure alcohol. The manufacturer was able to switch the alcohol feed to pure water instead. However this was not easy or cheap as it meant downtime for the lines but also a lot of product that then had to be destroyed! But it was the only way it could be done.

[Marcus Durham]

I had to look into this a while back. I contacted Sony and the EX1 has no ratings.

There are cameras from specialist suppliers that can do this but the quality wouldn't be anything other than domestic grade. They are also very pricey.

Depending on the situation you may find it easier to think around the problem. In my case I was shooting in clean rooms with production lines that were using pure alcohol. The manufacturer was able to switch the alcohol feed to pure water instead. However this was not easy or cheap as it meant downtime for the lines but also a lot of product that then had to be destroyed! But it was the only way it could be done at a good quality.

I was told that camera enclosures were not an option either.

[Josh Rudy]

A quick Google search turned up this PDF. I read it over briefly, what I gathered was that it is not possible for one of our professional grade cameras to be safe in an explosive environment due to the power they draw. The Lithium batteries pose too great of a risk and create too much energy to ever be considered.

Take it with a grain of salt, I can't verify the legitimacy of this PDF on my work computer.

Hope it helps you find a solution though!

[Marcus Durham]

Yep. Pretty much why you can't just stick it in a sealed enclosure as well as far as I can see.