Back when I was a crappy(er) photographer shooting a Mamiya 645 camera, I borrowed a friend of mine's 645 body for a big road trip, so I could shoot color in one, b&w in the other. (How very antiquated!) At one point I was shooting in the dunes at Monument Valley, and while using my camera, I left the other camera on the tripod, mirror locked up, lens stopped down, facing the sun. Burned a hole right through the cloth shutter curtain of my friend's camera. And here's the kicker: I had no way of knowing about the damage, and continued on shooting for days across the Southwest, only to discover the problem when I got my film back. That was actually the least of my film problems on that trip, but I'll leave that story for another day.
Posted by Chris Rice on September 11, 2009 at 11:36 AM
There's no way this can happen -- if you consider that the hot point of the magnifying glass sun is the concentrated light (like burning ants, remember?), this isn't what the sensor is exposed to - the image is 'crossed' over and inverted and hits the sensor, and in no way hot enough to 'burn' the sensor which has a glass coating on it. Just my two cents....>> ...Sounds like Todd's issue was just that - the cloth being at the concentrated light point of the lens - in front of the film plane.
Posted by Jesse Speer on September 11, 2009 at 11:55 AM
I think you have be shooting lots of flare style imagery to have this happen. I've heard of it before. This guy obviously does a fair amount of direct sun imaging. I doubt it's something we have to worry about - occasional flare shots, mostly in wider angle scenics.
I certainly wouldn't do any direct sun shots using Live View though - unless you work really, really fast.
Posted by Jack Garrett on September 11, 2009 at 1:21 PM
In most cases, we are talking about vsry short periods of time the shutter is actually open.... .5/sec to maybe 3 sec. or so. Can it really do that much damage in such a short period of time?
Posted by Pam Colander on September 11, 2009 at 1:23 PM
Todd, glad you're proud but....Ugh!
Posted by Jesse Speer on September 11, 2009 at 1:39 PM
Oh wow, I forgot to click on Todd's link ... until now. Walk away, just walk away.
Discussion
7 replieshttp://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/811997
PS - are you proud of me Todd
Back when I was a crappy(er) photographer shooting a Mamiya 645 camera, I borrowed a friend of mine's 645 body for a big road trip, so I could shoot color in one, b&w in the other. (How very antiquated!) At one point I was shooting in the dunes at Monument Valley, and while using my camera, I left the other camera on the tripod, mirror locked up, lens stopped down, facing the sun. Burned a hole right through the cloth shutter curtain of my friend's camera. And here's the kicker: I had no way of knowing about the damage, and continued on shooting for days across the Southwest, only to discover the problem when I got my film back. That was actually the least of my film problems on that trip, but I'll leave that story for another day.
I certainly wouldn't do any direct sun shots using Live View though - unless you work really, really fast.