ATEX Digital Camera | ARMADEX Ex-M OZC 3

The ARMADEX Ex-M OZC 3 is the only explosion proof camera boasting a 4x optical zoom. Designed for ATEX Zone 2 (Gas) environments, this camera merges compact durability with high functionality. It withstands drops up to 2.1m, operates down to -10 degrees Celsius, and resists dust intrusion.

The OZC 3 is a modified version of the TG-7, in collaboration with OM System.

This camera excels in hazardous areas, offering specialized shooting modes for low light and dusty environments (construction mode), alongside a mode tailored for clear capturing labels. Ideal for maintenance and inspection tasks, it’s engineered for precision and safety.

Note: ATEX Regulations necessitate the xenon flash tube’s deactivation, but the LED flash remains operational, ensuring visibility and functionality.

Get a Quote

The OZC 3 is equipped with features and modes tailored for hazardous environments:

• Data and Timestamp: Simplifies record-keeping with easy logging.
• Construction Mode (Hazardous Area Mode):
  • Removing dust particles from images.
  • Automatically adjusting brightness in dark areas for clarity.
  • Adapting to outdoor lighting, such as minimizing shadows in direct sunlight.
• Slow Shutter: Allows long exposure times to capture detailed images in low-light settings.
• Document Mode (Label Capture): Ensures legible captures of labels, facilitating digital reporting and analysis.
• Macro Mode: Provides extreme close-up detail from just 1 cm away, ideal for examining cracks and damage.
• Environmental Logging: Records location, ambient temperature, and pressure readings with a manometer.
• OI.Share: Enables seamless connection to a hazardous area smartphone for immediate image viewing and transfer.

One of the key benefits that distinguishes the OZC 3 instrinsically safe camera from alternatives is the excellent zoom functionality.

The optical zoom lens captures images and video at a 4x zoom level without losing any quality at all. Even during filming.

The 4x zoom functionality allows users to:

• Capture dangerous machinery from a safe distance
• Inspect zone 1 safely from within zone 2
• Capture extreme details, especially useful when inspecting machinery or microchips
• Take images and videos in tight spaces
• Discover microscopic damages and unevenness in Microscope Mode (1 cm Close-ups)

The OZC 3 employs advanced Sensor Shift Image Stabilization software to stabilize videos and images.

This feature proves invaluable during video inspections, allowing users to move around the site and capture all equipment, machinery, and surroundings without worrying about distorted or shaky footage.

This results in clearer, more professional material that surpasses what the latest generation of smartphones can offer.

The ARMADEX Ex-M OZC 3, with its lightweight build, weighs merely 249 grams, including the battery.

This compact, explosion-proof camera is designed to endure drops from up to 2.1 meters, operates in temperatures ranging from -10°C to +40°C, and is both waterproof to depths of 15 meters and dustproof.

The use of a camera’s flash poses an ignition risk, making it non-compliant with ATEX regulations. This presents a challenge in potentially explosive environments where a consistent light source may not always be available, such as confined spaces within factories or machinery rooms, or outdoor hazardous areas dependent on natural daylight for illumination.

The Ex-M OZC 3 stands out as the sole intrinsically safe camera designed to overcome this obstacle. It achieves exceptional sensitivity through its advanced image processing engine, meaning the camera utilizes software enhancements to produce high-quality, bright images combined with the LED flash.

The camera offers 4K recording at 30 fps, ensuring the finest image quality with 12 megapixels. Alternatively, recording at 60 fps in HD is available for those seeking smoother video playback, albeit with a modest compromise in per-image quality.

Equipped with a high-resolution CMOS sensor and a superior image processing engine, it captures low-noise, exceptionally sharp images.

• USB-C (3.0) connectivity ensuring rapid and safe file transfer.
• Long battery life, good for taking 340 still images
• Worksite Ready: rugged chassis, tight grip, solid buttons
• Wide angle lens – capture more in a single image
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity
• Easy and practical interface – ready for use out of the box

Hazardous area cameras are often referred to as ‘intrinsically safe cameras’. It is important to realize that this term can have a double meaning.

First off, there’s a difference between intrinsically safe (IS) and non-incendive (NI) equipment. Both IS and NI equipment will not form a source of ignition. However, the difference lies in that non-incendive equipment is certified assuming there are no faults or malfunctions in the equipment. Intrinsically safe means that even in the case of a fault or malfunction, for example, a cracked screen, the equipment will still not be able to form a source of ignition. This essentially differentiates between zones 1 and 2.

The other side of the argument gets even more technical. In our hazardous area design, we have used the protection method Ex i, which stands for intrinsic safety. Ex ic applies to zone 2 only. Because we use this protection method, we refer to our OZC 3 as an intrinsically safe camera or intrinsic safety camera.