Comments on: radioactive camera lens (thorium 232)

By: germi1982

germi1982 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:49:45 +0000

Bekommst du die Kamera auch wieder zusammen so dass sie auch einwandfrei funktioniert?

By: bionerd23

bionerd23 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:20:11 +0000

hmmm, sounds plausible, yeah. . . maybe it’d be interesting to know if sw or lw UV is needed, or a very specific wavelength. would be interesting to have three equal lenses; leave one in a dark box, leave the other under blacklight (lw UV), put the other into sunlight, each at the same exposure per day. a fourth with sw UV would be even better.

By: bionerd23

bionerd23 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:42:06 +0000

but yeah, i’d need more than one lens for that though. . . and to be honest, as long as i only have one, it’d be kind of a shame to destroy the ‘work’ thorium did in decades.

By: bionerd23

bionerd23 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:40:07 +0000

yep, those are so called film dosimeters. . . little badges e. g. nuclear scientists or doctors working in nuclear medicine carry.
and you’re right, the film does get exposed by the thorium in the lens; but the amount of radiation is too small to cause any real fog or whatever in a short time. if you just took a few photos and then left the film in the camera for weeks before using it up, fogging of the film material happened frequently, though!

By: bionerd23

bionerd23 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:12:54 +0000

because that’s the only radioactive material that was used in camera lenses.

By: bionerd23

bionerd23 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:46:53 +0000

nee, eher nicht. . . mein temperament ist etwas mit mir durchgegangen als ich gemerkt habe, dass da eine thorium-linse drinsteckt. . . deswegen war das eher ein auseinanderreissen als ein auseinanderbauen.

By: polonium9

polonium9 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:21:21 +0000

i saw one of those lenses on a kodak at an antique store!! now i REALLY want one!! i will hopefully get it today! and if not, then sometime in the next week!!

By: bionerd23

bionerd23 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:02:37 +0000

jeez, i hope you do have a shed or something for all the stuff you’re collecting, especially your mineral collection is already larger than mine!

By: Ch3mG33k

Ch3mG33k — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:31:30 +0000

You’re so lucky that you found a thoriated lens. I’ve been looking for one for ages now!

By: legominifigure7

legominifigure7 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:09:15 +0000

awesome!