Extremely long timelapse sensor damage concern

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Cosmin Hodiș-Mîndraș

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Extremely long timelapse sensor damage concern

PostThu Oct 21, 2021 9:25 am

Hi, I have to shoot an extremely long (12h) timelapse, basically a full sunrise/sunset cycle. Since the sensor is fully exposed during this time to more or less direct sunlight, is there any risk of damaging the sensor? Is there anything I could do to prevent such damage? Thanks.
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Sean van Berlo

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Re: Extremely long timelapse sensor damage concern

PostThu Oct 21, 2021 10:20 am

There’s no way this would damage the sensor in any way.
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Cosmin Hodiș-Mîndraș

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Re: Extremely long timelapse sensor damage concern

PostThu Oct 21, 2021 10:35 am

Thank you for your reply. I'm sorry I wasn't very clear, the sun will be in the frame most of the time (so it will probably overheat the sensor?).
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Sean van Berlo

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Re: Extremely long timelapse sensor damage concern

PostThu Oct 21, 2021 12:41 pm

Are you pointing it straight into the sun? Otherwise you really won't have to worry. The heat will be dissipated by the fan.
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Cosmin Hodiș-Mîndraș

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Re: Extremely long timelapse sensor damage concern

PostThu Oct 21, 2021 3:26 pm

The idea is to capture a dusk-to-dawn sequence, and the sun will eventually enter the frame. As timelapse function seems to be implemented - the sensor is continuously exposed to light, regardless of the recorded frame frequency, which is 1 frame/min in my case. I finally decided to use a photo camera for this particular shot.
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carlomacchiavello

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Re: Extremely long timelapse sensor damage concern

PostFri Oct 22, 2021 1:03 pm

Cosmin Hodiș-Mîndraș wrote:The idea is to capture a dusk-to-dawn sequence, and the sun will eventually enter the frame. As timelapse function seems to be implemented - the sensor is continuously exposed to light, regardless of the recorded frame frequency, which is 1 frame/min in my case. I finally decided to use a photo camera for this particular shot.
Why do you think that a photo sensor should not be damaged against video sensors ?
Also photo sensor is not thought to be exposed to strong light for long time.


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John Brawley

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Re: Extremely long timelapse sensor damage concern

PostSat Oct 23, 2021 8:07 pm

Cosmin Hodiș-Mîndraș wrote:Hi, I have to shoot an extremely long (12h) timelapse, basically a full sunrise/sunset cycle. Since the sensor is fully exposed during this time to more or less direct sunlight, is there any risk of damaging the sensor? Is there anything I could do to prevent such damage? Thanks.



The camera won't overheat operating that long.

It COULD be possible to do actual sensor damage (not overheating) but it's very very very unlikely in normal use. It's only high energy focussed light like from a laser that can do that kind of damage and the damage happens in an instant.

Typically the sun is ALWAYS moving across the sensor so it's not in the one place for long enough and usually isn't bright enough for normal use.

JB
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Fabio D

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Re: Extremely long timelapse sensor damage concern

PostFri Jun 10, 2022 6:58 pm

Kim Janson wrote:Pointing long zoom wide open to the sun, sure you could damage the sensor.

with wide lens less likely so especially if you use ND filter as you probably should anyway.

If the amount of light you let into the sensor is such that it does not over expose the sensor, I do not see how there would be any problems.

A wider lens will cast a smaller image of the sun on the sensor; a smaller area means a higher concentration of light. Also, the sun image will move more slowly, exposing the pixels in its path to a higher amount of irradiation over time.
Besides that, whether or not the overall exposure is correct is pointless, considering that the sun image will be several orders of magnitude brighter than everything else in the frame.
All things considered, whether the concern is legit or not I don't know and I really would like to hear from the sensor manufacturers what the damage threshold is.
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Howard Roll

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Re: Extremely long timelapse sensor damage concern

PostTue Jun 14, 2022 9:50 pm

Focal length is irrelevant, the sun presents the same intensity at 20mm as 200mm if both lenses are F2.8. The stop of the lens determines the amount of light transmitted, the focal length changes the size of the represented object not it's intensity.

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Frank Engel

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Re: Extremely long timelapse sensor damage concern

PostWed Jun 15, 2022 12:49 am

carlomacchiavello wrote:Why do you think that a photo sensor should not be damaged against video sensors?


If it is a genuine SLR camera (with a mirror and shutter) then the mirror/shutter mechanism would presumably cover the sensor when it is not actively capturing the image.

Some such cameras may have dedicated autofocus sensors that are still exposed in this configuration, however, so it is not clear to me that they would be similarly "safer" than the video camera sensor would be.

If it is a mirrorless camera, or set up to continuously lock up the mirror, then I agree it would make little difference, except that the still image camera might be cheaper and easier to replace in the event that it actually were damaged during the shoot?

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