Direct Sun on CCDs

[Michael Brown]

I apologize as this may be an old topic but ... I am about to be booted if I don't ask something. So, those beautiful shots of the sun with my Z1U or HDCAM 750 - am I destroying the CCDs?

[John Pytlak RIP]

I apologize as this may be an old topic but ... I am about to be booted if I don't ask something. So, those beautiful shots of the sun with my Z1U or HDCAM 750 - am I destroying the CCDs?

 

Did you ever try to start a fire by focusing the sun with a magnifying glass? Now picture the camera's lens as a magnifying glass, and the CCD as a piece of paper. ;)

 

My personal rule of thumb is that if the sun is bright enough to hurt your eyes, don't shoot directly into it for any length of time. Panning across the noon-day sun is likely okay, but don't hold a shot until the sun is really low on the horizon.

 

Remember with film, the "sensor" is there for only about 1/50 second at 24fps. With a digital camera, the sensor just sits there indefinitely, so the heat can build.

[Matthew Buick]

Did you ever try to start a fire by focusing the sun with a magnifying glass? Now picture the camera's lens as a magnifying glass, and the CCD as a piece of paper. ;)

 

 

OUCH!!!!!

[Evan Winter]

back when i was an ac i was on a mv shoot and during a new lighting set up the camera (arri 435) was left for about 5 minutes while facing in the general direction of a diffused 5K. by the time we came back to the camera the ccds on the videotap were completely fried.

 

evan