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Took pictures of the sun with iPhone

A

Aditya_S

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 25, 2016
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I was just taking pictures outside with my iPhone 6s and I decided to take a few of the sun. Later I learned that any camera is susceptible to damage to the sensor from this. How do I know if my camera was damaged by the sun?
[doublepost=1478610514][/doublepost]These are all the pictures I took.
 

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If you don't see artifacts in other images from burning the camera sensor, you've not yet damaged it.

Operative word: yet

I wouldn't worry about occasionally capturing the sun in the edge of a shot, but I also wouldn't make a habit of taking pictures of the sun.
 
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deeddawg said:
If you don't see artifacts in other images from burning the camera sensor, you've not yet damaged it.

Operative word: yet

I wouldn't worry about occasionally capturing the sun in the edge of a shot, but I also wouldn't make a habit of taking pictures of the sun.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by artifacts? What do they look like?
 
Aditya_S said:
I was just taking pictures outside with my iPhone 6s and I decided to take a few of the sun. Later I learned that any camera is susceptible to damage to the sensor from this. How do I know if my camera was damaged by the sun?
[doublepost=1478610514][/doublepost]These are all the pictures I took.
Click to expand...
If you take other pictures and something doesn't look right and they are different than before then you potentially might have something that is wrong. Otherwise everything is fine.
 
Aditya_S said:
Nice joke (not sarcasm), but I was looking for serious answers.
Click to expand...


Anything that shouldn't be in the frame. You don't even need to take a shot to see an artifact. It will be on the screen as you open the camera app.

Best way is to point the camera at a white wall. If you see something on screen that's not actually on the wall, it's an artifact.

Also google camera artifact and pointing camera directly at the sun.
 
Your photos seem to be exhibiting normal lens flaring. It looks fine, but I wouldn't suggest spending minutes at a time focusing the camera sensor at direct sunlight.
 
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Aditya_S said:
I was just taking pictures outside with my iPhone 6s and I decided to take a few of the sun. Later I learned that any camera is susceptible to damage to the sensor from this. How do I know if my camera was damaged by the sun?
[doublepost=1478610514][/doublepost]These are all the pictures I took.
Click to expand...
The artifacts are called lens flare, watch anything by Michael Bay and you'll get an eyeful of lens flare. It's normal.
The damage to the sensor will be visible ( as mentioned ) when pointing at a solid white sheet of paper ( 96 brightness copy paper, for example ) in normal lighting.

Your phone should be fine, it's the long duration, tracking shots that will most likely damage the phone, not the normal photo process.

If you are going to make it a habit of taking sun pictures, get a filter.
http://www.ericteske.com/2014/10/take-iphone-solar-eclipse-photo-with.html
 
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C DM said:
If you take other pictures and something doesn't look right and they are different than before then you potentially might have something that is wrong. Otherwise everything is fine.
Click to expand...

itsmemuffins said:
Anything that shouldn't be in the frame. You don't even need to take a shot to see an artifact. It will be on the screen as you open the camera app.

Best way is to point the camera at a white wall. If you see something on screen that's not actually on the wall, it's an artifact.

Also google camera artifact and pointing camera directly at the sun.
Click to expand...

960design said:
The artifacts are called lens flare, watch anything by Michael Bay and you'll get an eyeful of lens flare. It's normal.
The damage to the sensor will be visible ( as mentioned ) when pointing at a solid white sheet of paper ( 96 brightness copy paper, for example ) in normal lighting.

Your phone should be fine, it's the long duration, tracking shots that will most likely damage the phone, not the normal photo process.

If you are going to make it a habit of taking sun pictures, get a filter.
http://www.ericteske.com/2014/10/take-iphone-solar-eclipse-photo-with.html
Click to expand...
I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions, but I just need confirmation. If the sun did damage my camera, it wouldn't cause a decrease in quality of the camera like more noise , just some artifacts that shouldn't be there, right?
 
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If you want to take pictures of the sun, find some glass they use for welder's helmets and place this dark glass over the iPhone lens. Graingers may sell this glass. I used a piece of broken glass from an old welder's helmet during a daylight earth/moon eclipse. Pretty cool; something to do.
 
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Aditya_S said:
I was just taking pictures outside with my iPhone 6s and I decided to take a few of the sun. Later I learned that any camera is susceptible to damage to the sensor from this. How do I know if my camera was damaged by the sun?
[doublepost=1478610514][/doublepost]These are all the pictures I took.
Click to expand...

deeddawg said:
If you don't see artifacts in other images from burning the camera sensor, you've not yet damaged it.

Operative word: yet

I wouldn't worry about occasionally capturing the sun in the edge of a shot, but I also wouldn't make a habit of taking pictures of the sun.
Click to expand...

You can't damage it. The phone doesn't have a physical shutter, so light is always hitting the imaging chip, whether you're taking a photo or not.

There will be plenty of times direct sunlight is hitting the sensor without you even realising it.
 
OriginalAppleGuy said:
Here's a case where someone damaged their camera by too much sun exposure. Note how they say they have a pink spot where the sun was. That's an artifact. If you don't see anything out of the ordinary, you're probably fine.

http://photo.stackexchange.com/ques...an-image-sensor-damaged-by-long-sun-exposures
Click to expand...

Also notice he doesn't say what sort of camera it is other then it being "about 10 years old".

Older cameras could be damaged - tube cameras especially and older CCD IT sensors. Using a long lens can also cause damage, but it's heat rather than light damage.

iPhones use CMOS sensors. You could point it at the sun all day long and it'd be fine.
 
Mildredop said:
Also notice he doesn't say what sort of camera it is other then it being "about 10 years old".

Older cameras could be damaged - tube cameras especially and older CCD IT sensors. Using a long lens can also cause damage, but it's heat rather than light damage.

iPhones use CMOS sensors. You could point it at the sun all day long and it'd be fine.
Click to expand...

wrong. the sun can damage cmos sensors, usually it does not happen, but it can. and don't let me get started on lasers either.
 
lakaiordie said:
wrong. the sun can damage cmos sensors. and don't let me get started on lasers either.
Click to expand...

The sun can damage a CMOS sensor under pretty extreme circumstances, but it's the heat that'll do the damage.

The sensor in an iPhone cannot be damaged by the sun.
 
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