Camera towards the Sun

[Android Central Question]

I know that smartphone cameras should never be used to take a photo of the Sun,
as the brightness of the Sun might damage the sensor of the smartphone cameras.

However, does it mean we should also avoid pointing our smartphone cameras towards the Sun,
even when our phones are locked without opening the camera app or even turned off?

(Or the damage would only occur when the camera app is turned on?)

 

[belodion]

That’s a good question and I’ve often wondered that myself.
I’ll move the thread to General News & Discussion.

 

[kramer5150]

that is a good one... I never even thought about it. There are many times my phones are face down in direct sunlight.

 

[Morty2264]

Welcome to Android Central! Wow, what a good question! I've never thought about that before... Until now! I'd be very interested in knowing the answer to that, myself.

And, when you think about it, we are encouraged to keep our phones away from very cold/very hot environments; so pointing a camera or phone towards the sun does seem to be something about which one should be cautioned.

 

[belodion]

that is a good one... I never even thought about it. There are many times my phones are face down in direct sunlight.

Put them face up, and the front camera gets the sun. You can't win ...though I'm more careful of the rear camera whenever I do think of possible sun damage.

 

[Mooncatt]

I know with larger cameras and lenses like on DSLR's, you can damage the lens and sensor components without ever snapping a single photo. All of the glass elements in those lenses are designed to focus light on to one point, and just like using a magnifying glass to burn ants, things heat up. This blog from a rental company shows just how bad it can get, after people ignored the warnings of not shooting the recent solar eclipse without special filters.

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/09/rental-camera-gear-destroyed-by-the-solar-eclipse-of-2017/

I tried to look up some info about smartphones, but I couldn't find anything that wasn't also related to the eclipse. So here's my best guess...

I would think that pointing your phone at the sun will carry some risk of damage. If it's just a quick panning motion, that should be fine. The longer you point at the sun, the more heat can be generated. It's like how you can safely pass your hand through a candle flame without feeling it, but it'll burn you if you leave it.

On the flip side, very little light is passing through the lens relative to a DSLR lens simply due to its small size. They are also lower quality optics. Going back to the magnifying glass example, it would be like comparing a fine crafted high end laboratory magnifying glass to a toy one. Both magnify the subject, but the toy will not be good enough to focus a point of light. Any heat that is generated in the smartphone lens would likely take a lot longer to build up. Depending on the time of day, location relative to the sun, and ambient temps, this may even be a non-issue.

I still wouldn't suggest pointing at the sun, though. As is demonstrated in the article I linked above, heat damage can happen even without taking the shot. On top of that, the sensor is exposed at all times on a smartphone. The only difference between taking a photo and just carrying it around is whether the sensor is powered on or not. Even with the phone powered off, the risk is still present if you aren't careful.

 

[Morty2264]

I know with larger cameras and lenses like on DSLR's, you can damage the lens and sensor components without ever snapping a single photo. All of the glass elements in those lenses are designed to focus light on to one point, and just like using a magnifying glass to burn ants, things heat up. This blog from a rental company shows just how bad it can get, after people ignored the warnings of not shooting the recent solar eclipse without special filters.

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/09/rental-camera-gear-destroyed-by-the-solar-eclipse-of-2017/

I tried to look up some info about smartphones, but I couldn't find anything that wasn't also related to the eclipse. So here's my best guess...

I would think that pointing your phone at the sun will carry some risk of damage. If it's just a quick panning motion, that should be fine. The longer you point at the sun, the more heat can be generated. It's like how you can safely pass your hand through a candle flame without feeling it, but it'll burn you if you leave it.

On the flip side, very little light is passing through the lens relative to a DSLR lens simply due to its small size. They are also lower quality optics. Going back to the magnifying glass example, it would be like comparing a fine crafted high end laboratory magnifying glass to a toy one. Both magnify the subject, but the toy will not be good enough to focus a point of light. Any heat that is generated in the smartphone lens would likely take a lot longer to build up. Depending on the time of day, location relative to the sun, and ambient temps, this may even be a non-issue.

I still wouldn't suggest pointing at the sun, though. As is demonstrated in the article I linked above, heat damage can happen even without taking the shot. On top of that, the sensor is exposed at all times on a smartphone. The only difference between taking a photo and just carrying it around is whether the sensor is powered on or not. Even with the phone powered off, the risk is still present if you aren't careful.

This was so interesting - thank you for posting! What you wrote definitely makes a ton of sense!

 

[Mooncatt]

This was so interesting - thank you for posting! What you wrote definitely makes a ton of sense!

Thank you, but like I said, that it's just my best guess based on what info I could find. I still reserve the right to be completely off base here.

 

[belodion]

I remember once accidentally burning a sun hole in the rubberised-fabric focal plane shutter of a Zorki rangefinder camera, which had its standard lens fitted, but no cap. I had removed the cap in order to take photographs - not unreasonably, perhaps. Anyway, the smell of burning rubber told me what had happened.
How I laughed.

 

[Morty2264]

Thank you, but like I said, that it's just my best guess based on what info I could find. I still reserve the right to be completely off base here.

That's okay - you're closer to the base than I am. I'm all the way in left field.

 

[LeoRex]

I've always wondered this myself... And just thinking about it, my best guess is that it's a combination of the fact that phone cameras don't let in much light to begin with... And the lens arrays probably have built in filters to block some of the more harmful wavelengths.

Think about it... The aperature on your phone is always open. If sunlight could damage the sensor, just putting it down in a table outside during the day would destroy it... The wide field of view would almost assure that the sun is in view. And since there is a camera on both sides of the phone, there would be very clear warnings to never take your phone out in the sun.

There's probably just not enough energy to create temperatures hot enough to damage it.

 

[LuxuryTouringZone]

Due to the risk of potential damage, it's best to use a secondary camera you don't care a ton about. And obviously, wear sunglasses and avoid looking directly at the sun, lest you damage your biological sensors that cannot be bought and replaced from eBay, Amazon, Walmart, BH Photo and the like.

 

[Tsepz_GP]

Awesome question OP! never gave this much thought TBH.

I know with larger cameras and lenses like on DSLR's, you can damage the lens and sensor components without ever snapping a single photo. All of the glass elements in those lenses are designed to focus light on to one point, and just like using a magnifying glass to burn ants, things heat up. This blog from a rental company shows just how bad it can get, after people ignored the warnings of not shooting the recent solar eclipse without special filters.

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/09/rental-camera-gear-destroyed-by-the-solar-eclipse-of-2017/

I tried to look up some info about smartphones, but I couldn't find anything that wasn't also related to the eclipse. So here's my best guess...

I would think that pointing your phone at the sun will carry some risk of damage. If it's just a quick panning motion, that should be fine. The longer you point at the sun, the more heat can be generated. It's like how you can safely pass your hand through a candle flame without feeling it, but it'll burn you if you leave it.

On the flip side, very little light is passing through the lens relative to a DSLR lens simply due to its small size. They are also lower quality optics. Going back to the magnifying glass example, it would be like comparing a fine crafted high end laboratory magnifying glass to a toy one. Both magnify the subject, but the toy will not be good enough to focus a point of light. Any heat that is generated in the smartphone lens would likely take a lot longer to build up. Depending on the time of day, location relative to the sun, and ambient temps, this may even be a non-issue.

I still wouldn't suggest pointing at the sun, though. As is demonstrated in the article I linked above, heat damage can happen even without taking the shot. On top of that, the sensor is exposed at all times on a smartphone. The only difference between taking a photo and just carrying it around is whether the sensor is powered on or not. Even with the phone powered off, the risk is still present if you aren't careful.

Wow, this was incredibly insightful, whole lot of food for thought.
Thanks a lot!