Can radioactive thoriated lenses leave visible marks on film?
Asked 9/15/2021
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Some older lenses used thoriated glass, which emits a small amount of radiation. Could that radiation ever show up on film as fogging or black specks, especially on an unexposed frame left in the camera for a long time? I’m mainly wondering about real-world photographic effects rather than health concerns, and whether anyone has actually seen this on film or a digital sensor.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
4y ago
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I have a Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4, one of the more common lenses with a thoriated rear element. I've owned it for forty years, and a couple times left 400 speed film in the camera for several months with the lens mounted, and never seen any effect.
Why?
First, between the lens and the film is a mirror and shutter curtain (in an SLR -- in a Speed Graphic with an Aero Ektar, there's more distance, as well as a dark slide in almost all cases).
Second, because the primary radiation from decaying thorium is alpha particles (helium nuclei stripped of their electrons); they have very little penetrating power (in most cases, a few inches of air or a single sheet of paper will stop nearly all of them, never mind the metal reflective coating and glass of an SLR mirror). Virtually no alpha particles will penetrate metal parts of the camera body or lens body. Therefore the only radiation that could expose the film must pass through the reflex mirror, its mount plate (usually thin metal), and the shutter curtain (either opaque cloth as in my Spotmatic SP or metal blades as in my Ricoh Singlex II) -- and again, that isn't going to happen with alpha, or not enough of it to matter.
Now, most of these radioactive lenses are fifty-some years old (some as much as three decades older than that), so of course they have other decay products mixed with the thorium in the thoriated element(s), but most natural decay paths still produce primarily alpha radiation, with occasional beta (loose electrons potentially able to emit x-ray on impact with metals, but usually not energetic enough for that) and almost never direct gamma emission; beta penetrates more than alpha, but so little is produced that it won't expose the film in a reasonable time.
So, bottom line, even several months with the lens mounted on an SLR and 400 speed film loaded in the camera produces no noticeable fogging, at least in my experience since the early 1980s. The answer might be different if the camera shutter was locked open and mirror up (with lens capped, I presume), but that would be very, very unusual situation.
Originally by user89902. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user89902
4y ago
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Probably not in normal use. The main radiation from thorium decay is alpha particles, which have very low penetrating power. A few inches of air, a sheet of paper, or the materials already inside a camera can stop them. In an SLR, the film is also shielded by the mirror and shutter when not being exposed.
One community example came from long-term use of a Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4, a well-known thoriated lens: even after leaving ISO 400 film in the camera for months with the lens mounted, no film effects were seen.
So while thoriated lenses are detectable with radiation instruments, visible image effects on film are unlikely under ordinary photographic conditions. If any effect were possible, it would be more likely with film left very close to the rear element for a long time and with minimal shielding, but the provided experience suggests this is not a practical concern.
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