Can nightclub lasers damage DSLR sensors?
Discussion
t loads to read here.
That green smoosh is a direct hit, there were a few that night. I was experimenting with bokeh. No damage though. I guess I'll avoid that in future!
@Mixxy -- While your photo shows a direct hit, note that the laser is way out of focus. The laser's light is spread out on the sensor. This lowers the irradiance (power per area) and thus reduces the chance that the laser light could heat up the sensor enough to cause damage.
A direct laser beam into a camera or camcorder lens can damage the sensor. CCD and CMOS sensors are in general, more sensitive than the human eye. So a laser "hit" that would not cause a retinal lesion or burn could irreparably damage a sensor.
Also note that the human eye can heal from small retinal lesions in one of two ways. 1) Actual healing, similar to when you get a small cut or burn on your skin and after a few days it is no longer visible, and 2) Brain-filling-in, where the brain essentially ignores small spots on the retina and "fills in" the image. In the latter case, retinal spots are noticed only under special circumstances such as looking at a clear blue sky or a blank white wall. CCD and CMOS sensors can neither heal, nor "fill in" the image (although Photoshop can be used to fill in spots).
Damage to a sensor may be localized, such as a dark spot wherever the laser beam directly hit. Or a single hit may take out an entire row or column of sensors (e.g., data can no longer be transferred along the row or column) so that there is a horizontal or vertical damage line.
The International Laser Display Association says that its members are responsible for not causing eye damage at laser shows, but due to the many variables of sensors sensitivity and how cameras are used, they can not be responsible for causing damage to audience members' cameras or camcorders.
The short answer is to not let the direct beam from a laser go into your camera lens. This means the beam coming straight from the projector into your camera, or bouncing off a mirror and again going directly into your camera.
It is OK to photograph laser beams that are overhead, or graphic patterns and images on a surface. (If you are photographing a laser "dot" on a surface, it is possible for the reflected light to be so bright it could possibly cause damage. So use common sense -- if it seems like a really bright light to you, don't photograph it!)
More info from ILDA is at http://www.laserist.org/camera-sensor-damage.htm
A direct laser beam into a camera or camcorder lens can damage the sensor. CCD and CMOS sensors are in general, more sensitive than the human eye. So a laser "hit" that would not cause a retinal lesion or burn could irreparably damage a sensor.
Also note that the human eye can heal from small retinal lesions in one of two ways. 1) Actual healing, similar to when you get a small cut or burn on your skin and after a few days it is no longer visible, and 2) Brain-filling-in, where the brain essentially ignores small spots on the retina and "fills in" the image. In the latter case, retinal spots are noticed only under special circumstances such as looking at a clear blue sky or a blank white wall. CCD and CMOS sensors can neither heal, nor "fill in" the image (although Photoshop can be used to fill in spots).
Damage to a sensor may be localized, such as a dark spot wherever the laser beam directly hit. Or a single hit may take out an entire row or column of sensors (e.g., data can no longer be transferred along the row or column) so that there is a horizontal or vertical damage line.
The International Laser Display Association says that its members are responsible for not causing eye damage at laser shows, but due to the many variables of sensors sensitivity and how cameras are used, they can not be responsible for causing damage to audience members' cameras or camcorders.
The short answer is to not let the direct beam from a laser go into your camera lens. This means the beam coming straight from the projector into your camera, or bouncing off a mirror and again going directly into your camera.
It is OK to photograph laser beams that are overhead, or graphic patterns and images on a surface. (If you are photographing a laser "dot" on a surface, it is possible for the reflected light to be so bright it could possibly cause damage. So use common sense -- if it seems like a really bright light to you, don't photograph it!)
More info from ILDA is at http://www.laserist.org/camera-sensor-damage.htm
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