We found that a CCD compared favorably with the film currently used to record gated XUV camera images from plasma physics experiments. The CCD was 20 times as sensitive as the film, indicating that the CCD has an effective ISO of 40 000. The camera was successfully shielded from electromagnetic pulses with electric field strengths of 0.7–1 kV/m and pulse widths of 30–65 ns. The CCD also survived the γ-ray pulse, and no degradation in performance was seen after an accumulated dose of 10–20 rad. We also successfully acquired optical light images of a Z pinch using a commercial camcorder.