That's really interesting how the discoloration isn't rendered by your digital camera. I wonder what is responsible for that? Does the color filter only allow a relatively narrow spectrum?
unless you use a camera with lots of options as to how the image is processed in-camera (e.g. white balance), it will usually balance the colours itself. Some cameras with this option that are cheaper will inappropriately colour correct if you give it too much of a single colour, and when you show it something white, it might still be showing that colour.
Makes me wonder how much radiation is produced by selenium meters...many of which were built into cameras that I often use, thus they are against my face...crazy!
People really need to take a basic course in nuclear physics. Thorium 232 is an alpha emitter. Some of it's daughter products are beta emitters and give off low level gamma ray radiation as well. The lens is on the front side of the camera so none of the beta or alpha radiation will penetrate to your eyes. The gamma rays could penetrate but without a test in a gamma ray detector it would be difficult to know for sure how much one would receive. I'm going to test one later this month.
I,m a fan of nuclear physics but i just got terrified by this video, it happens that i have in my room a yashica Electra 35, is there a way i can find if this model haves thorium too on it´s lenses??? and if so at wich rate can it get harmfull to me?, thanks :)
i dont know, maybe google knows if it contains thorium. shouldnt be harmful, just dont hold it right close to your eye. if the eyepiece itself is not itself radioactive, there's nothing to worry with the amounts of radioactive material used in these lenses.
@AgentCROCODILE thanks God no! but in the other hand it´s a device that can save your life, geez, when will we learn to be creative and at the same time environmentally constructive?.
Wow, I just bought a 50mm f1.4 s-m-c takumar yesterday and I'm thinking of getting a UV lamp to remove the yellow tint caused by thorium decay. By the way, you have a very cool voice. I love the tone you use in the first words of the video. Do you mind if I include them in a song one of these days? Of course, you'd be the first to listen to it. =D
i think the sun will provide a much better amount of UV than any lamp, even germicide lamps... you'd need YEARS with such a lamp, but just a few weeks with good old sun. =)
just put it on the window sill or something... :P
eh, and sure, go ahead. i'm too curious about that song than to deny your request. :P
@loldamnthat You can't become contaminated unless the particles get on you or in your body. The physical element emits the radiation. This is why the helicopter crews on the USS Ronald Reagan simply hosed debris off after going through the plume from the Fukushima plant and the scientists who have explored the Chernobyl Sarcophagus. Also why gas masked are used.
Once you understand radiation these little lenses aren't very dangerous I just wouldn't keep it close all of the time.
not really, no. however, if the thorium was even in the eyepiece (forbidden in europe, but could happen with asian cameras) AND you were a professional photographer, it could cause damage to the eye(s) over time.
because it increases the refractive index and thus, the whole optical system itself... and as a result, image quality, yes. it's in the description of the video, too, just read it. ;)
This type of radiation is quite weak, the front element and the metal body will completely shield any escaping radiation (which is still a small amount). The brown/yellow color in the glass can be removed by exposure to sunlight. Funny that I have 2 of these Yashica CC cameras and I was unaware that they used thorium glass. Too bad the radiation isn't strong enough to kill lens fungus.
this is too cool. i love your videos. when you said "..it's only background radiation" i still got a little nervous hah, really the fact that radiation is all around us kind of creeps me out sometimes! eek. ha
HALLO bionerd. Ich habe mich gefragt, viel und couldnt widerstehen Sie fragen, was arbeiten Sie? Sie sind ein Arzt oder eine Person, die arbeitet in einer Anlage oder etwas tut, was mit Radioaktivität oder was ist Ihre eigentliche Arbeit??
nope, i have nothing to do with science at work. i CURRENTLY am an intern in a hospital, working in nuclear medicine, but yeah - i'm just an intern for a few weeks, NOT employed there.
hi, I have a super takumar lens with thorium in it.. reading about this makes me kind of worried. is it harmful to use it with my camera? is it harmful to touch it?
it isnt dangerous to touch (the thorium is contained within the glass and doesnt come off)... or to use. the radiation even a pro-photographer receives from it by using the camera every day is too minor to cause any issues. some cameras (illegally) used thorium eyepieces though; there's a risk for cataract associated with that, as the eyes are very sensitive to ionizing radiation.
if it's just the lens though, you dont have much to fear - just dont grind it into dust.
Thorium glass? :O... it's a little brown isn't?? always thought that lanthanide/actinide glasses were higly coloured, and not usefull in (at least consumer) optics...
I buy Yashicas whenever i see them, because they take awesome low light pictures with those huge lenses. I had no idea I've been irradiating myself. What is the level of exposure when the camera is put together, measuring from the back?
a few uSv/h at max... i wouldnt worry too much about that, unless your EYEPIECE actually contains thorium - this is very seldom the case though, as that was illegal to do. this could do damage to your eyes (e.g. cataract), however, as the eyes are very sensitive to ionizing radiation.
otherwise, it's not too much of a concern to take photos with these cameras.
many old / analog SLR / TLR cameras contain thorium lenses, by the way; it's not just yashica.
@bionerd23 a few uSv/h measuring from the back? isn't this just an alpha emitter? so the film/camera itself would block any radiation from going into your eyes ( unless your eyepiece example ofcourse )
Th-232 is an alpha emitter, yes. however, it doesnt decay into "nothing", it has quite a long decay chain of radioactive daughter nuclides; google for "thorium decay chain" and you should find some images. the daughter nuclides are often in an excited state, meaning they'll emit a gamma ray to regain ground state. this is a very common thing to happen after decay.
the alpha particles indeed get absorbed in the glass itself already and cannot be measured.
true, but we're already planning to do a more advanced experiment; that is, with LEDs that emit everything throughout the spectrum, from UV to IR, to see what has an influence.
well, i knew that old watches contained radium, so i got increasingly curious about what other consumer products may be radioactive... and thats how i found out about thorium lenses, too. =)
awesome! not related, but i am going to be making my own sodium metal soon. i'll most likely drop large quantaties of it in water and upload it to youtube. I wish I had better luck finding stuff like that. No radium watchhands at my antique store, no old cameras either.
Be careful dude, pea sized amounts wizzing about in water dont seem that dangerous, but having a couple of 100gm of that stuff in your hand is a different story, there is a reason you keep it in parafin oil.
Ok, im sorry for being preachy, thats not my intention.
Ive just heard of people underestimating the reaction with larger amounts based on experience with smaller amounts and allmost loosing a eye and getting some painful burns.
they're using the US version. there's only one US version AFAIK. we have three different versions of the gamma scout here in germany. the gamma scout is a german product.
if you go by my educational papers, i cant even speak english. ^_^
oh wait, actually, i sneaked into psychology and IT at uni a couple of times - but i guess you were referring to me being a proper university student, right? =)
it's just a note block of paper, not the actual medication. it's a freebie for doctors who prescribe the stuff... not that i am a doctor, but i scored this at a hospital. i love having medical notes like a doctor. ^_^
but only if given enough time... if you just put in a film and used it up within a day and removed it from the camera, no problem. if you left the half-used film in the camera for weeks or even months before using it up, you'd have fog on the photo(s), as it was illuminated with ionizing radiation - and THEN with visible light again. if you had just put the film in the camera and left it there for months, then develop it without taking photos, you'd have a nice autoradiograph. =)
yeah, exactly. i dont think you'd notice anything within a day... but maybe within a week or so, i'm not sure. as you'd expose the film with visible light again and thus 'override' the illumination by thorium, i think the pre-illumination of the film would have to be very advanced before it becomes visible as fog on a photo.
skwaak
matt605 3 months ago
it reminds me of Fallout 3!
zejdkoco1 3 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
see more detail here
yenkijatt.hubpages.com/hub/Photographic-lenses
airwingsservices 4 months ago
Thats really dangerous radiation levels, im going to need to confiscate those lol
FakanBaka 4 months ago
if the radioactive metor detects radiation then arent you affected by it?
benji14ful 4 months ago
That's really interesting how the discoloration isn't rendered by your digital camera. I wonder what is responsible for that? Does the color filter only allow a relatively narrow spectrum?
TSorovanMHael 5 months ago
@TSorovanMHael
yeah, i think the human eye is capable of seeing more colors than the camera.
bionerd23 5 months ago
@bionerd23
unless you use a camera with lots of options as to how the image is processed in-camera (e.g. white balance), it will usually balance the colours itself. Some cameras with this option that are cheaper will inappropriately colour correct if you give it too much of a single colour, and when you show it something white, it might still be showing that colour.
alphamone 2 months ago
Makes me wonder how much radiation is produced by selenium meters...many of which were built into cameras that I often use, thus they are against my face...crazy!
AnalogSoulPhoto 7 months ago
I hope you put that lens back together and restored the camera to working condition!
:-o
I don't like the look of those huge grips at 0:13...
SAHBfan 8 months ago
People really need to take a basic course in nuclear physics. Thorium 232 is an alpha emitter. Some of it's daughter products are beta emitters and give off low level gamma ray radiation as well. The lens is on the front side of the camera so none of the beta or alpha radiation will penetrate to your eyes. The gamma rays could penetrate but without a test in a gamma ray detector it would be difficult to know for sure how much one would receive. I'm going to test one later this month.
prof1292 10 months ago
I,m a fan of nuclear physics but i just got terrified by this video, it happens that i have in my room a yashica Electra 35, is there a way i can find if this model haves thorium too on it´s lenses??? and if so at wich rate can it get harmfull to me?, thanks :)
ovnismx 10 months ago
@ovnismx
i dont know, maybe google knows if it contains thorium. shouldnt be harmful, just dont hold it right close to your eye. if the eyepiece itself is not itself radioactive, there's nothing to worry with the amounts of radioactive material used in these lenses.
bionerd23 10 months ago
Comment removed
AgentCROCODILE 10 months ago
@AgentCROCODILE thanks God no! but in the other hand it´s a device that can save your life, geez, when will we learn to be creative and at the same time environmentally constructive?.
ovnismx 10 months ago
Comment removed
AgentCROCODILE 10 months ago
ouh,i have a question.
why Bionerd?
why not RADIOnerd....
:)
Mosfetman97 10 months ago
Wow, I just bought a 50mm f1.4 s-m-c takumar yesterday and I'm thinking of getting a UV lamp to remove the yellow tint caused by thorium decay. By the way, you have a very cool voice. I love the tone you use in the first words of the video. Do you mind if I include them in a song one of these days? Of course, you'd be the first to listen to it. =D
vow20 11 months ago
@vow20
i think the sun will provide a much better amount of UV than any lamp, even germicide lamps... you'd need YEARS with such a lamp, but just a few weeks with good old sun. =)
just put it on the window sill or something... :P
eh, and sure, go ahead. i'm too curious about that song than to deny your request. :P
bionerd23 11 months ago
@vow20 it sound like microsoft sam XD
RoyCompera 11 months ago
Are Helios 44M lenses radioactive? I have an old Zenith EM camera and don't want to get contaminated!!
loldamnthat 11 months ago
@loldamnthat You can't become contaminated unless the particles get on you or in your body. The physical element emits the radiation. This is why the helicopter crews on the USS Ronald Reagan simply hosed debris off after going through the plume from the Fukushima plant and the scientists who have explored the Chernobyl Sarcophagus. Also why gas masked are used.
Once you understand radiation these little lenses aren't very dangerous I just wouldn't keep it close all of the time.
vids4chrome 11 months ago
@vids4chrome Thanks for the reply!
loldamnthat 11 months ago
Alpha and beta are easy to stop but gamma will hurt you
32sane 1 year ago
does this contain enough thorium to cause harm?
mdc2296 1 year ago
@mdc2296
not really, no. however, if the thorium was even in the eyepiece (forbidden in europe, but could happen with asian cameras) AND you were a professional photographer, it could cause damage to the eye(s) over time.
bionerd23 1 year ago
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ruedi67ki 1 year ago
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ruedi67ki 1 year ago
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ruedi67ki 1 year ago
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ruedi67ki 1 year ago
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ruedi67ki 1 year ago
Fascinating! Love your video's! Missed this one somehow, better check to see what else I missed!?!
dondude69 1 year ago
Last week you scored. Gratz. XDDD . Joking.
Electronicaljunkie 1 year ago
@Electronicaljunkie
well, i am radiophile, so indeed i scored. :P
bionerd23 1 year ago 2
@bionerd23 nice fetish.... I drool for military ...
Electronicaljunkie 1 year ago
why would they make the lens out of that . dose it make the pictures come out better?
Shakeandbake4321 1 year ago
@Shakeandbake4321
because it increases the refractive index and thus, the whole optical system itself... and as a result, image quality, yes. it's in the description of the video, too, just read it. ;)
bionerd23 1 year ago
This type of radiation is quite weak, the front element and the metal body will completely shield any escaping radiation (which is still a small amount). The brown/yellow color in the glass can be removed by exposure to sunlight. Funny that I have 2 of these Yashica CC cameras and I was unaware that they used thorium glass. Too bad the radiation isn't strong enough to kill lens fungus.
sangetsu04 2 years ago
lol, maybe you have radiotrophic fungus growing on your camera? who knows...
i'm not kidding, by the way, just check wikipedia for the term. ;)
bionerd23 2 years ago
this is too cool. i love your videos. when you said "..it's only background radiation" i still got a little nervous hah, really the fact that radiation is all around us kind of creeps me out sometimes! eek. ha
idotechno 2 years ago
Thorium 232, so in 14 years half the lens will be gone, or it the lens only have some thorium?
Tom60062 2 years ago
why 14 years? did you check what the half-time of thorium is? it's billions of years! o_O
the lens contains some ThO2, thorium oxide, but only ~12% of a typical camera lens are actually thorium.
bionerd23 2 years ago
HALLO bionerd. Ich habe mich gefragt, viel und couldnt widerstehen Sie fragen, was arbeiten Sie? Sie sind ein Arzt oder eine Person, die arbeitet in einer Anlage oder etwas tut, was mit Radioaktivität oder was ist Ihre eigentliche Arbeit??
rclvb 2 years ago
nope, i have nothing to do with science at work. i CURRENTLY am an intern in a hospital, working in nuclear medicine, but yeah - i'm just an intern for a few weeks, NOT employed there.
bionerd23 2 years ago
where do u get that beeping thing
vquinones11 2 years ago
Search online for Geiger counters.
baggedandblown 2 years ago
hi, I have a super takumar lens with thorium in it.. reading about this makes me kind of worried. is it harmful to use it with my camera? is it harmful to touch it?
idoor 2 years ago
it isnt dangerous to touch (the thorium is contained within the glass and doesnt come off)... or to use. the radiation even a pro-photographer receives from it by using the camera every day is too minor to cause any issues. some cameras (illegally) used thorium eyepieces though; there's a risk for cataract associated with that, as the eyes are very sensitive to ionizing radiation.
if it's just the lens though, you dont have much to fear - just dont grind it into dust.
bionerd23 2 years ago
Thorium glass? :O... it's a little brown isn't?? always thought that lanthanide/actinide glasses were higly coloured, and not usefull in (at least consumer) optics...
levogiro 2 years ago
yeah, it turned brown-ish due to defects caused by thorium's ionizing radiation over time.
bionerd23 2 years ago
but the colouring is due to radiation? or it's inherently coloured due to thorium...
th has a huge halflife... could concentrate enough as to be appreciable?? o.O?
levogiro 2 years ago
I buy Yashicas whenever i see them, because they take awesome low light pictures with those huge lenses. I had no idea I've been irradiating myself. What is the level of exposure when the camera is put together, measuring from the back?
cribley 2 years ago
a few uSv/h at max... i wouldnt worry too much about that, unless your EYEPIECE actually contains thorium - this is very seldom the case though, as that was illegal to do. this could do damage to your eyes (e.g. cataract), however, as the eyes are very sensitive to ionizing radiation.
otherwise, it's not too much of a concern to take photos with these cameras.
many old / analog SLR / TLR cameras contain thorium lenses, by the way; it's not just yashica.
bionerd23 2 years ago
@bionerd23 a few uSv/h measuring from the back? isn't this just an alpha emitter? so the film/camera itself would block any radiation from going into your eyes ( unless your eyepiece example ofcourse )
zetkaoo 1 year ago
@zetkaoo
Th-232 is an alpha emitter, yes. however, it doesnt decay into "nothing", it has quite a long decay chain of radioactive daughter nuclides; google for "thorium decay chain" and you should find some images. the daughter nuclides are often in an excited state, meaning they'll emit a gamma ray to regain ground state. this is a very common thing to happen after decay.
the alpha particles indeed get absorbed in the glass itself already and cannot be measured.
bionerd23 1 year ago
I like to collect radioactive things too
micLuc14 2 years ago
you silly americium, radium is for curium people, like einsteinium!
i heard californium are very nobelium people, though?
i hope i'm not bohrium you. seaborgium you later, polonium!
bionerd23 2 years ago
haha, nice, i bet that comment took a while
JRJvids 2 years ago
i just had a creative minute... ;)
or five of them.
bionerd23 2 years ago
sweeeeeeeeeeeet now you have no excuse not to try my experiment with the other one!
10mintwo 2 years ago
true, but we're already planning to do a more advanced experiment; that is, with LEDs that emit everything throughout the spectrum, from UV to IR, to see what has an influence.
bionerd23 2 years ago
COOOOOOOOOOOOLLLL!!!
10mintwo 2 years ago
Your brain excites me. How did you hear of thorium lenses?
doktorfuture 2 years ago
well, i knew that old watches contained radium, so i got increasingly curious about what other consumer products may be radioactive... and thats how i found out about thorium lenses, too. =)
bionerd23 2 years ago
awesome! not related, but i am going to be making my own sodium metal soon. i'll most likely drop large quantaties of it in water and upload it to youtube. I wish I had better luck finding stuff like that. No radium watchhands at my antique store, no old cameras either.
legominifigure7 2 years ago
Large amounts 0_o
Be careful dude, pea sized amounts wizzing about in water dont seem that dangerous, but having a couple of 100gm of that stuff in your hand is a different story, there is a reason you keep it in parafin oil.
TheCynicalAtheist 2 years ago
lol, i know
legominifigure7 2 years ago
Ok, im sorry for being preachy, thats not my intention.
Ive just heard of people underestimating the reaction with larger amounts based on experience with smaller amounts and allmost loosing a eye and getting some painful burns.
TheCynicalAtheist 2 years ago
why is your dosimeter w/ alert
JaksProductions 2 years ago
cuz it makes a noise (there's a cheaper version with no audible click or alarm).
bionerd23 2 years ago
wtf. but like ascannerclearly and those dont have the w/ alert and they do make a click... so wtf?
JaksProductions 2 years ago
they're using the US version. there's only one US version AFAIK. we have three different versions of the gamma scout here in germany. the gamma scout is a german product.
bionerd23 2 years ago
yeah I know you have 3 versions of it. normal, w/alert and online.
Ive seen their great site. I wanna buy an used gamma scout (with alert), because the new ones cost like.... WAY TOO MUCH!
JaksProductions 2 years ago
do you/ did you go to university?
vololoo 2 years ago
nope. :P
not even high school. o_O
if you go by my educational papers, i cant even speak english. ^_^
oh wait, actually, i sneaked into psychology and IT at uni a couple of times - but i guess you were referring to me being a proper university student, right? =)
bionerd23 2 years ago
I hope that box of Plavix was not for you
McQuackor 2 years ago
lol, nope. =)
it's just a note block of paper, not the actual medication. it's a freebie for doctors who prescribe the stuff... not that i am a doctor, but i scored this at a hospital. i love having medical notes like a doctor. ^_^
bionerd23 2 years ago
ooooh!
*runs away embarrased*
McQuackor 2 years ago
lol, dont worry about it. ;-)
bionerd23 2 years ago
As soon as I go back home I'll dismantle and gauge my passed-away father's old (video)camera collection. Maybe I find the reason why he died... ;-)
Gheven1 2 years ago
That's a nice hot lens. =D Hard to see the brown-ness though until those later images there, but I'll check out the still photos for a better look.
AScannerClearly 2 years ago
One thing i dont understand about radioactive lenses, is how in the hell did it not damage the photographic film?
TheCynicalAtheist 2 years ago
it did. :-)
but only if given enough time... if you just put in a film and used it up within a day and removed it from the camera, no problem. if you left the half-used film in the camera for weeks or even months before using it up, you'd have fog on the photo(s), as it was illuminated with ionizing radiation - and THEN with visible light again. if you had just put the film in the camera and left it there for months, then develop it without taking photos, you'd have a nice autoradiograph. =)
bionerd23 2 years ago
Ahh, so the lenses are not hot enough for it to damage the film so quickly.
I was expecting it might destory the film in a day or so.
I guess different film stock is dammaged at different speeds.
Thanks, BN.
TheCynicalAtheist 2 years ago
yeah, exactly. i dont think you'd notice anything within a day... but maybe within a week or so, i'm not sure. as you'd expose the film with visible light again and thus 'override' the illumination by thorium, i think the pre-illumination of the film would have to be very advanced before it becomes visible as fog on a photo.
hmmm, maybe i'll try this one day. =)
bionerd23 2 years ago
Sounds like a plan.
TheCynicalAtheist 2 years ago
Very nice, the discoloration became more obvious in the last shots.
JFischer91 2 years ago
where did you get the grieger counter, and how much did it cost?
zimvaider 2 years ago
conrad, 350 euros. it's a gamma scout.
bionerd23 2 years ago