GalaxyCat Loc: Boston, MA

I have a question. Does looking directly at the sun hurt a film camera? Would it hurt a sensor of a digital camera?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Short answer: yes.
Details: Rental Camera Gear Destroyed by the Solar Eclipse of 2017

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

It depends on how long you expose the camera to the direct sunlight. Short and I mean very, very short exposure times are ok but anything over a split second can and will burn a hole in the shutter screen or could damage the aperture or burn the low pass filter or image sensor on a digital camera. It is always best to use a solar filter when photographing the sun, not only for the cameras sake but for your eye as well. Even a short exposure to direct sunlight while looking thru the camera viewfinder may and most likely will hurt your eye. A few seconds of exposure may cause permanent damage.
Solar filters should be plentiful and cheap since the 8/21 eclipse.
I personally photograph the sun fairly often so I know what I'm talking about. Don't point your camera at the sun without a solar filter on it.
Have you ever used a magnifying glass to burn something with the sun light? Your lens is a big magnifying glass.

danersmiff

yes, and yes, and--- if its viewfinder goes through the lens you might get a burnt retina .....

Bill_de Loc: US

Many owner's manuals answer that question in the safety warning. Those are the ones we all skip over.

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LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Like the warning: "Poison. Do not eat.".......

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

It can certainly fry the shutter blades of either!

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Also depends on how bright the sun is in the sky. For example a rising/setting sun vs. midday sun. There have been countless sunset photos produced that have not resulted in any real damage to the camera.

rdubreuil Loc: Dummer, NH USA

A resounding yes if exposed for too long, its one thing to have the sun in an image, its a completely different thing to focus on the sun. BTW, I see you recently joined the forum, welcome to the hog and happy shooting. Reminds me of the quote from A Christmas Story, "You'll shoot your eye out"...

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

YES!!!
The lenses focuses the light and can burn/melt internal parts.
Remember how you can start a fire with a magnifying glass?

Many years ago I put my 35 mm down on a blanket at a picnic with the lens pointing up. When the shade of the tree moved on and the camera was in the sunlight it burned a hole through the shutter curtain and the frame of film behind it. That one was easy and cheap. The guy at the camera store just removed the lens, locked up the mirror and put a dot of liquified rubber on the hole. (He said he got a lot of those, including a few guys who were slow learners and had more than one patch on their shutter curtain.)
Somehow I doubt it would be that easy or cheap with a digital camera. There were a lot of warnings just before the eclipse and stories of people who didn't read or follow the warnings after. Of course they were lucky compared to the fools here in California who reportedly tried watching the eclipse by putting sunblock on their eyes. (Is that story true? I don't know but I would not be surprised to learn it is!)

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

So you are going to focus using the viewfinder staring at the sun? think about it......it may not be just the camera that you screw up.

Ask a friend to let us know how you get on...unless you can touch-type..

GalaxyCat Loc: Boston, MA

I understand now. Your retina and camera are in danger if you take a picture of the sun.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Isn’t this a rerun of a bunch of discussions we had two months ago??

Do a search on “eclipse”

GalaxyCat Loc: Boston, MA

I'm a new user. I'll search eclipse. Thanks.