# Pointed my 7D towards the sun and made a shot, could my camera be damaged?



## dundyable (Apr 19, 2013)

Hi guys, 

I am just starting in photography and was really stupid to make a test shot against the sun (the shot was  made at 4:53 PM, the trees were covering the sun a bit but its ray is  still strongly visible on the shot). What's even worse the camera shot  at a slow shutter speed (1/13). The details of the shot: f/16, 1/13, ISO  125, 18mm, Canon EOS 7D, EF-S18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS. Could my camera and  eyes be seriously damaged? Just wanted to know the expert's opinion as I have no one beside me to ask.

the link to the test shot on Flickr is here:
IMGL0597 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Thank you for your help


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## JBrown (Apr 19, 2013)

Lol. You and the camera are both fine. The only thing I would suggest is not pointing the camera directly towards the sun at high noon with a 30 second shutter speed. At that point you may have a issue.


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## o hey tyler (Apr 19, 2013)

You're fine. So is your camera. 


/thread


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## Josh66 (Apr 19, 2013)

This actually could be dangerous with some cameras.  But not while the shutter is open.

With the shutter closed, it is possible to burn a hole in some shutter curtains by pointing it at the Sun.  It is unlikely that this would be an issue with your 7D though.


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## im2c0ol (Apr 19, 2013)

What about the old 5D Mark II?


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## dundyable (Apr 19, 2013)

Thank you for the prompt replies guys! Feeling relieved now,  just the idea of breaking a 2,5 K camera because of being stupid made me terrified lol


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## Josh66 (Apr 19, 2013)

im2c0ol said:


> What about the old 5D Mark II?



Also unlikely to be an issue.  The cameras you would need to worry about are those with fabric shutters.  Most modern cameras probably use titanium or something like that for the shutter curtains.


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## Derrel (Apr 20, 2013)

O|||||||O said:


> This actually could be dangerous with some cameras.  But not while the shutter is open.
> 
> With the shutter closed, it is possible to burn a hole in some shutter curtains by pointing it at the Sun.  It is unlikely that this would be an issue with your 7D though.



This *burning a hole in the shutter* concept goes wayyy back to rubberized cloth or rubberized silk focal plane shutters in viewfinder- or rangefinder-style cameras, which did not have a reflex mirror...so...that issue is, as far as I can think, one of those long ago and far away kinda' problems. Now...if ya' had an old rangefinder camera with a cloth focal plane shutter...you might have a slight cause to worry...but modern cameras for the most part use metal shutters, which will not burn.

Remember those weird kids who tried to burn things with a magnifying glass?????

You're okay to point your camera at the sun and shoot those kind of sunset pics. Seriously...you're A-okay. No worries.


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## Josh66 (Apr 20, 2013)

Haha - yeah, the mirror.  I knew I was forgetting something...lol.  I use rangefinders more often than an SLR.

On an SLR I think it would be pretty much impossible to do any damage.  The mirror would have to be up while the shutter was closed.  I think it would still be possible to burn through a metal shutter though, but obviously not as easily as a silk shutter.


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## KirkS (Apr 25, 2013)

A couple of months ago, I was at the beach, playing around with my new (to me) 50D, and 500mm lens (not sure if it was the mirror lens or the conventional), and took the shot below (and a couple of other similar shots. I noticed that when I aimed at the sun, before I took the shot (or pressed anything), the camera made a noise internally, almost like a shade went int to place. Not really sure if that's what it was, but it never caused a problem with the camera or sensor. Anyone else ever hear that noise, or shoot directly at the sun?


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## Josh66 (Apr 25, 2013)

KirkS said:


> the camera made a noise internally, almost like a shade went int to place.



That was either a coincidence, or you imagined it.


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## EIngerson (Apr 25, 2013)

You run a very serious risk of over exposing images that way.


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## KirkS (Apr 25, 2013)

O|||||||O said:


> KirkS said:
> 
> 
> > the camera made a noise internally, almost like a shade went int to place.
> ...



I know I didn't imagine it, because after the first time, I did it a few more times just to see if it was a) my imagination b) if it only did it when pointed at the sun (it only did it then) and c) if I could figure out what it was. 

I know it wasn't the lens doing it, as it's (they) a fully manual lens with no communication. 

If I think of it, and have time tomorrow, I'll replicate it again, just to be sure it wasn't my imagination.


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## Trever1t (Apr 25, 2013)

it takes 12 hours for the effect to be felt.....let us know in the morning!


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## Josh66 (Apr 25, 2013)

Does your camera have a pop-up flash?  Sometimes when you move the camera around, the brackets or whatever for the flash flop around and make barely audible noises.  I say it's from something in the flash because I've never heard it from cameras that don't have a flash, and it seems to come from that area.


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## KirkS (Apr 25, 2013)

If it was the flash, I would hear it more frequently, and I never heard it before or after. The camera was on a tripod when it made the noise, and it was a two-stage noise. It sort of sounded like when you press and release the DOF preview on a film camera. I'll fiddle around with it tomorrow, and see if I can come up with anything.


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## Josh66 (Apr 25, 2013)

KirkS said:


> It sort of sounded like when you press and release the DOF preview on a film camera.



Digital cameras have that too...  Could you have accidentally hit it?

All I know is, there is no shade inside the camera that pops out when there is strong light.  If you heard something, it was something other than that.

edit
If the lens you were using is in fact a mirror lens, it probably has a fixed aperture, so the DOF preview button wouldn't do anything anyway in that case...


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