What lens material can handle extreme heat, up to 400°F?
Asked 12/7/2011
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I want to use a camera around very high temperatures, roughly 60°F to 400°F. Is there a particular lens material that can withstand that kind of temperature range, or do I need a different type of camera setup for this environment?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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None of the big brand commercial DSLRs or compact cameras will withstand a temperature of 400 fahrenheit, they'd all be junk if exposed for more than a moment. 100 F or so is the practical limit.
Which means that you'll have to start looking for specialist industrial applications like this quick search result: http://www.lenoxinst.com/Pultz_High-Temp_Cameras.html
Having read your question on Physics I think a practical answer might be to remove or borrow an untinted glass oven door from an old oven, place it in front of your fire and photograph through it with a big macro lens. That's assuming you want to take pictures of a fireplace up close of course. If you want to take macro pictures of burning coal/logs then the link above is a better idea.
Originally by user7226. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user7226
14y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
At 400°F, the lens material is not the main problem—the entire camera is. Standard consumer DSLRs and compact cameras from major brands are not designed to operate in that kind of heat and could be damaged very quickly. In practice, around 100°F is much closer to the upper end for normal camera use.
If you need imaging at temperatures approaching 400°F, you should look at specialist industrial high-temperature camera systems rather than trying to find a different lens material for a regular camera.
If your goal is to photograph a very hot subject rather than place the camera in that environment, a practical approach is to keep the camera farther away and shoot through a heat-resistant barrier, such as oven glass, using a longer or macro lens as needed. That way the subject can be hot while the camera and lens stay in a safer operating range.
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