Re: Safe distance for photographing operating tesla coils with digital cameras?

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Steve Ward <steve.ward@xxxxxxxxx>

I usually stand about 2X the maximum arc length away from my coils
when operating.  But this is not possible for my largest coil
producing 10+ foot sparks.  In the case of that coil i am about 12-15
feet away, with the digi-cam.  No problems at all, but its a DRSSTC so
the junk RF output is reduced considerably.

http://www.stevehv.4hv.org/DRSSTC2/spk9-3-18-05.JPG

That arc reached about 5 feet towards me, probably leaving me about
8-10 feet from the arc.  The camera obviously doesnt seem to mind.  Im
using a "cheap" digital camera (canon A60), so im probably a little
more care-free than others would be with a more expensive camera.
Note that a $200 camera is not cheap for *me*, but compared to whats
out there, its at the low end of the price range.

Steve

On 8/2/05, Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Original poster: "Garry Freemyer" <garryfre@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Recently, I posted a url to my website that has some pictures of my tesla
> coil in the photography Usenet group and the subject came up about the main
> picture here ....
>
> http://home.pacbell.net/garryfre/
>
> and what is the minimum "safe" distance one should be from a tesla coil when
> taking a picture, given the output power or voltage of the coil before it
> starts messing with the camera.
>
> Someone replied that by publishing this picture, I was risking the ire of
> the entire tesla coiling community. They said "You are publishing a false
> representation of what you actually saw when taking the pictures. What would
> happen to your credibility with them?"
>
> I asked him to elaborate on exactly what mis-representation he was talking
> about but he didn't reply. All I can guess is that he was taking exception
> to the publishing of the picture with artifacts that might have been due to
> EMF or maybe dust floating in the air, but he was quite serious and sounded
> angry. I am amazed how many crackpots are in that forum. Still it was only a
> guess that he was having a cow over some elite standard he had set called
> "Photo-Purity" and that artifacts constitute lies and that everyone should
> hold to this standard. Does anyone have any other clue what this hoser was
> talking about?
>
> I remember, that all my pictures from the Northern California Teslathon were
> ruined because I was too close and didn't know it. I had one picture, on the
> digital stick where the foreground was a wonderful picture of streamers from
> a coil at San Francisco, but was ruined by a clear image of my living room
> curtain from my apartment some 300 miles north. Bleah!
>
> So the question still remains. What would be the minimum distance for coils.
> Does anyone have any guidelines that might be a clue? With my small coil
> capable of 5 foot streamers, I kept a minimum of 30 feet away, and if I had
> to be fifty feet away, I'd have to sell my left leg for a telephoto lens,
> but I think it would not hurt to ask. Someone else might know via the lesson
> of hard experience, so that I don't have to. I find myself cringing at the
> idea of getting close to this coil I have, but how close is too close is
> something I have no real idea.
>
>
>