Most of the welders out there would love to record their work, But they are not sure whether to use your smartphone or a professional welding camera?
Just like that, many more questions might pop into your mind like
Which camera to use for filming the welding process?
Do I need to use a particular lens filter?
Do I need to protect my regular camera while filming?
Why wouldn’t we replace welding helmets with a helmet that has a display and a camera?
So stick around till the end of this blog to know everything related to welding cameras!
Contents
How to Use a Welding Camera
There may be multiple instances where you badly needed to film the welding process. For hobby welders, it may be the best weld they made and for professionals, it may be for showing the process to their clients, etc.
Sure, you can use your smartphone camera to record the welding process. Long gone are the days when you had to bring special camera sets aligned with goggles to film a weld being done.
However, there are several areas where a smartphone might not be the right option. Various reasons contribute to these situations like extreme light emissions, heat, etc.
Where all the other camera devices lack, the welding camera comes into play. The light released is so bright, it blinds the normal camera lenses.
Most of the regular devices have a 1000:1 range of brightness that they can capture, while the brightness of the arc almost exceeds 10,000,000:1.
Welding cameras or weld inspection cameras are the complete solution if you want to accurately film the weld being done. These cameras are standalone devices, which usually don’t require an operator.
If you want to monitor the entire weld process, you should get weld inspection cameras that can withstand heat and light, produced by the welding arc.
Will Welding Damage My Camera?
It is extremely unlikely to get your camera damaged by the welding arc if you film or click a picture. Beginner and hobby welders usually film with their gopros or mobile devices, while using a filter as a cover for the lens is advised to protect it from weld spatter.
However, you should keep in mind that long exposure of weld light emissions to the camera lens may be critical. Inevitably damaging the camera lens.
For those of you filming their weld time to time with a normal camera, and don’t want to spend much for the welding cameras can use the following hack
- Clean the camera lenses
- Find a shaded or dark tinted glass for your lens which fits perfectly
- Make a frame for your new setup
- Use a tripod to set it to a location
And voila, you got yourself a makeshift welding camera. Did I mention thousands of saved dollars?
Welding Camera: Buyers Guide
Now you are serious about getting one for yourself and were wondering which is the best welding camera?
To solve the problem we came up with this small buyers guide. The following are the features to look out for if you are going to buy one.
1. Real-Time Inspection: The welding camera should give functionality to welders and operators to adjust the settings and the process itself by providing real-time images and videos.
How fast the image or video produced is also very important, faster video means faster error detection in the process
2. High Quality: The photos and videos must be of really high quality, which makes the inspection process easier. Any discontinuity in the weld can be spotted easily this way.
The same should be safely stored and documented well. These are later used for the analysis of the process. Sometimes instructors use the same to teach welding remotely to students.
3. Portability and Setup time: Most of the professional welders love to take their welding camera with them.
However, some are stationary and difficult to move. A faster setup and integration time along with plug and play features for the welding camera are always a big plus.
4. Zoom : Welding results in several tiny bits of metals flying around. Zoom is the feature used to magnify into the image to get a close look at the arc.
The higher the zoom is, the clearer the picture produced in the close-up.
Other features like how robust the system is also very important, moreover make sure that the cameras are industrial grade which can work 24/7.
Welding Camera: Reviews
I have worked with welding cameras of all sorts, and consider myself in the right place to show you the best welding camera according to my expertise.
As technological advancement has taken place in the field of welding, there are several brands to look out for. And for professionals, their choices slowly incline towards the brand they have been following in the past.
These are my top two picks for the best welding camera:
1 Cavitar Welding Camera: A Finnish company to top the list. These welding cameras are exceptional and produce high-quality photos and videos. Based on your needs they have different welding cameras to select from.
2 Xiris Weld Monitoring Systems: This is a German brand, which is known for its superior quality. They make high-end weld monitoring systems, which require no operators and can be used in any environment.
They also provide you with software to display, record, and playback your welding process at any time.
Several other brands perform well, but these two are best-known cameras among welders around the globe.
Conclusion:
Recording your weld process can help in many ways including analyzing the weld, instructing your students, or just admiring how good of a welder you are.
Some clients might also ask the recorded visuals of the process along with the weld map and logs.
This article was aimed at clearing all the questions that cluttered your mind about welding cameras.
I hope you found the information you wanted, if you have any more questions comment down below. Let’s Discuss!