Stupidest Question Contest

SRHEdD · Mar 5, 2011

(I'm trying to disguise my question as a contest.)

I was sitting here posting this morning, bright sun pouring through the windows onto my desk. My E-PL2 with its new VF-2 is gleaming in the sun. An old rule from my Leica M days came to mind...

Is there a possibility that the sun could damage the sensor since there is no lens cap on and obviously no mirror to reflect the light away?

BBW · Mar 5, 2011

SRHEdD, you are not alone in wondering about this! See this thread: https://www.mu-43.com/f43/staring-into-sun-978/.

Opinions and opinions...but apparently the Olympus E-P1 manual addressed it, according to this post:

squeegee said: ↑

here's some quotes from the olympus e-p1 manual

"Do not point the lens attached to the camera toward the sun. This may cause the camera to malfunction or even ignite due to the magnifying effect of sunlight focusing through the lens."

"Do not look at the sun or strong lights with the camera."

"Do not leave the camera pointed directly at the sun. This may cause lens or shutter curtain damage, color failure, ghosting on the image pickup device, or may possibly cause fires."

Part of me really wants to see a video of a camera catching fire due to the "magnification effect of sunlight". I'm not volunteering mine though, maybe one of you guys who have more than one camera can donate to this worthy cause.
Click to expand...

Have you checked your E-PL2's manual?

SRHEdD · Mar 5, 2011

Manual?

ummmm...

(rustling noises...)

Yeah! Got it right here.

BBW · Mar 5, 2011

I hear you - in more ways than one.

Spuff · Mar 5, 2011

I certainly wouldn't let the camera look at daytime sun.
But I figure if the sun is comfortable to look at with the eyes (like low setting sun) then using the kit lens on it for a few shots won't do any harm.
I don't have solid facts to go on though.

<IMG height=200 src="http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/3605/xmasseajpg.jpg[/img]260>

SRHEdD · Mar 5, 2011

Yeah, this was more a, "it is potentially damaging to let it sit on a desk without a cap in a sunny room?" kinda thing. I endlessly lose caps, but leave the camera out to grab shots of my sons.

Spuff · Mar 5, 2011

I see.
I presumed the manual is talking about taking photos of the sun, rather than just pointing the lens at the sun without opening the shutter, but perhaps not.
However, I wouldn't let any electronic thing bask in hot sun through a window.

pdh · Mar 5, 2011

Spuff said: ↑

without opening the shutter
Click to expand...

the shutter is always open on a mirrorless camera (otherwise it would be hard to use the LCD or viewfinder)
:smile:

SRHEdD · Mar 16, 2011

I just noticed that my D-LUX 5 closes the iris completely on shutdown.

deirdre · Mar 16, 2011

SRHEdD said: ↑

Manual?

ummmm...

(rustling noises...)

Yeah! Got it right here.
Click to expand...

I solved that problem by downloading a PDF of my manuals and putting them on my iPad. I'm unlikely to misplace that.

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