Late afternoon sun damage image sensor?

Hello,

I have a Canon EOS 20D. The other day I shot some of our sunflowers about 45 minutes before sunset to get good back light behind the petals. In one shot I wanted to get some sun streaks in the frame. The attached picture shows it. With the sun still fairly bright in the late afternoon and the camera lens pointed in the sun's direction will the image sensor in the Canon 20D get damaged? Subsequent shots look fine so I guess the sun did not damage the sensor. So, is it OK to shoot with the sun this low in the late afternoon? I don't shoot into the sun in the late afternoon very often, but wonder if it could cause cumulative damage over time to the image sensor?

-Andrew

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To me it looks like a simple flair.

It shouldn't damage it. I wouldn't suggest pointing the camera at the sun taking a 30 second exposure though.

I asked this same question after taking a few evening shots, and here's what I learned.

1. In live view, yes, you can damage the sensor because light is falling on the sensor all the time live view is on. The manual says to NOT point the camera at the sun while in live view mode.

2. If live view is off, then pointing the camera at the sun does nothing to the sensor, because light is not striking the sensor. It's striking the mirror and the viewfinder (and then your eye). If you're using a zoom, then you can burn your eye, so be careful.

But when you are not in live view, and push the button, light only hits the sensor for as long as you chose (1/125 of a second, etc.).

Come to think of it, the 20D doesn't even have live view, so you're safe. You would have to open the shutter for a long time, and the image would come out bright white.

The pictures you took didn't hurt the sensor a bit.

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #8448932
I asked this same question after taking a few evening shots, and here's what I learned.

1. In live view, yes, you can damage the sensor because light is falling on the sensor all the time live view is on. The manual says to NOT point the camera at the sun while in live view mode.

2. If live view is off, then pointing the camera at the sun does nothing to the sensor, because light is not striking the sensor. It's striking the mirror and the viewfinder (and then your eye). If you're using a zoom, then you can burn your eye, so be careful.

But when you are not in live view, and push the button, light only hits the sensor for as long as you chose (1/125 of a second, etc.).

Come to think of it, the 20D doesn't even have live view, so you're safe. You would have to open the shutter for a long time, and the image would come out bright white.

The pictures you took didn't hurt the sensor a bit.

It's actually striking the mirror, the focusing screen, and the autofocus sensor, which is a pretty sensitive chip, but I doubt it'll really damage the AF sensor unless it's exposed for a long time.

Considering that a lens concentrates the light onto a small area, prolonged exposure could heat up the innrds and there is enough plastic in there that could start to get "soft" snd deform.

With that said, I shoot backlit flowers all the time and sunsets.

I shoot the evening sun straight on all the time with a 400mm + lens. Don't worry about it unless you are shooting long exposures.

Yup, your camera is likely destroyed now. Why don't you ship it to me and I'll properly dispose of it for you. I'm such a nice guy I'll even pay shipping.

what causes the prism in center of the sunflower?

That's lens flare. Like everyone said, unless you are taking very long exposures directly into the sun and I mean very long, I doubt there is any effect on the sensor.

I wouldn't worry and just keep shooting. Heck, most of my shooting is in low setting sun since that's the golden hour.

I have a photo somewhere of someone who left their DSLR focused to infinity and pointing at the sun when the sun came up (he was doing a sequence of shots through the day I think) - burned the surface right off the shutter curtains and warped them with the heat. But assuming you dont leave it in one place for too long I cant see it being a massive problem.

But see attached for more reasons to be careful. But if shooting the sun in general were a problem I think there would be a lot of people complaining about their camera going down.

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