Sun burned sensor

[hunk]

I shoot on boats in summer. Never used a cap in the last 20 years. Camera's have been in sunlight for thousands of hours. I guess the shutter protects the sensor well enough.

 

[Franz Kerschbaum]

The problem depends on the duration of the exposure. There is no problem with normal use especially on a shaky boat. But if somebody but a Camera on a tripod for an extendet time with the sun in the field you can get problems. Thats not exactky new. Even in good old DSLR times one had warnings for looking through the finder at the sun ...

 

[L Lenson]

With EF lens on R-camera, it tells me to put on lens cap when powered off. I refuse to do this. Has anyone experience what apertures is required to damage the sensor? I assume an f 2 may damage but what a about an f 4 lens?

Since nobody gave the answer I was after, I made a little test trying to burn a sensor a little.

Canon 550D, 85mm lens at f2.8. Focused on infinity, sun near corner of sensor. A ten minute exposure of afternoon sun did not cause any trouble. Sensor looks visually unaffected. No damage to image quality either. I assume the sensors of recent cameras are equally tough.

Zenith sun may be another story but who leaves their cameras pointing up.

So my conslusion is no caps is needed to prevent heat damage in normal situations. At least not for me. For others, please follow Canons advice and put caps on.

I guess a slow wide angle lens where the sun spot is very small on the sensor don't have the energy to do damage. A normal lens at infinity will, Im sure.

One idea is to focus at close distance before turning off camera, I just think it will be difficult to remember. Another idea is to have a polarizer on the lens when shooting on sunny places like the beach. A third idea is to never leave the camera lying around, but to use a small camera bag.

Your 550D is a DSLR not a mirrorless. I don’t think you understand the potential danger to a mirrorless camera. Over in the Nikon Z forum a few years ago someone noticed that the plastic frame behind the lens of a Z50 was melted. If the angle of the sun had been different it could have damaged the sensor. Didn’t you ever play with a magnifying glass as a child?

I understand there is a risk but I wanted to know what focal length and aperture the problems start. For instance, do I really need to bother with caps on a slow wideangle?

Using ND filter on fast lens could be a solution when shooting in bright places. Many cameras run out of shutter speed in these situations anyway.

What you didn't say about your DSLR test is whether you had the mirror locked up.

No MLU in idle mode, so shutter was not exposed to sun. I also think the shutter would be damaged if it was exposed this way because it does not lead heat away like a sensor.

Presumably the shutter was open so the mirror would have been up, but you didn't state that explicitly. In any case, the front shutter curtain is more vulnerable to a burning glass than the sensor, and most EOS R cameras have one with the default of having the shutter closed with the camera switched off.

The sensor of my R10 is always exposed. I guess that is a benefit in this case. However, the area around the sensor is plastic and more likely to melt.

I'm not sure you can lock the mirror up with the shutter closed and I'm not suggesting you try - I wouldn't try it myself. Personally I think that using a lens cap is less trouble than fitting an ND filter, but it doesn't get bright enough here to require an ND filter anyway

A magnetic filter holder perhaps, but the lens cap is free

 

[hunk]

The problem depends on the duration of the exposure. There is no problem with normal use especially on a shaky boat. But if somebody but a Camera on a tripod for an extendet time with the sun in the field you can get problems. Thats not exactky new. Even in good old DSLR times one had warnings for looking through the finder at the sun ...

It looks like my camera closes the diaphragm somewhat on shut down. My old DSLRs didn't do that as I recall. That should help a lot.

 

[L Lenson]

The problem depends on the duration of the exposure. There is no problem with normal use especially on a shaky boat. But if somebody but a Camera on a tripod for an extendet time with the sun in the field you can get problems. Thats not exactky new. Even in good old DSLR times one had warnings for looking through the finder at the sun ...

It looks like my camera closes the diaphragm somewhat on shut down. My old DSLRs didn't do that as I recall. That should help a lot.

R cameras can't do that with EF lenses they say. I guess the diaphragm needs power to stay closed. Not so with RF lenses.

If the camera monitored the sensor temperature when power was off, it could potentially close the diaphragm for an EF lens if sensor became very hot.