Sensor damage.

[bhammitt]

[bob_ledyard]

Iposted this note below on a different thread on this forum:

I've always liked sunrise and sunset photos and used to shoot many with my FILM slr!

Since moving over to digital, I've heard mixed stories on damaging the CCD with sunrise or sunset photos. But with so many posted on this site, I'm beginning to wonder !!!

I'm looking for advice, knowledge, recommendations, etc. on shooting sunrise, sunset, or sunlight thru the trees type photos AND possible ccd/cmos damage.


Unfortunately, you may have answered my question. Anybody else with experience or info on this.

ALSO, I used to have a 730UZ (before it was stolen!) and Olympus had a built-in routine to remap the pixels. You may want to try that - it may 'adjust' the sensor. Just a thought.



Bob

[post infinite]

thanks for the heads up, will a uv filter prevent this?

[bhammitt]

[peripatetic]

Hi Bob,

Are you sure that's damage from pointing at the sun?

It looks very much like the dust spots we get with the DSLRs - of course we change lenses - and you have a fixed lens, but I wonder whether it might be a dust spot even so. Most cameras can't be completely sealed against dust because the zooom action has to allow air in and out.

One way to check whether it's dust or sensor damage is to set up the camera on a tripod or rest and take some shots with the same exposure but different apertures. If the spot looks bigger & worse with a small aperture I think that says it's dust. If the spot is the same size at different apertures then it's probably the sensor.

If it is dust I'm not sure how that helps as you can't take the lens off to clean the sensor, but maybe a service centre could.

[bhammitt]