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Comment by arriu | Hacker News Reader

Is there any research material to support these claims? I can't imagine the energy and optics involved would have been sufficient to do this. Seems like coincidence to me. The sun has far more energy than what we're talking about here.

I'm happy to be proven wrong though as I wouldn't want something unsafe on the streets as much as anyone else.

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> In an email to Ars Technica, AEye CEO Luis Dussan confirmed that AEye's lidars can cause damage to camera sensors—though he stressed that they pose no danger to human eyes.

So, yes.

Taking a picture of the sun will destroy most cameras. So, I don’t think that supports your argument.

Even with really quick exposures? I've taken pictures of the sun before (before, during, and after last year's eclipse) with my cell phone camera and it seemed fine.

Edit: added link [0] to lensrentals.com story about gear damaged during solar eclipse of 2017.

Your cell phone camera has a wide angle lens. it's at the longer focal lengths where one might expect sensor damage, or even melt the curtains of shooting directly into the sun when high above horizon.

[0] https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/09/rental-camera-gear-...

Your cellphone camera lens likely doesn’t have the requisite light-gathering capacity to burn out the CMOS image sensor in your phone. CCDs (commonly used in DSLR/M43 cameras) are far more sensitive, as I understand it.

I don't believe DSLRs or M43 cameras have used CCDs since last decade.

The Pentax 645D, introduced in 2010, is a DSLR with a CCD sensor. But yes, it is extremely rare.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_645D

Why do modern cameras use CMOS if CCD is more sensitive?

I guess the answer will be "because it's cheaper to manufacture", but is there any other reason?

Most DSLRs these days use CMOS sensors.

Interesting free article: Laser-induced damage threshold of camera sensors and micro-optoelectromechanical systems https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/optical-engineer...

Cameras also get regularly damaged at concerts and light shows with visible lasers. Those lasers are class 2 lasers, though, and can output more light while not being blocked by the IR filter in cameras.

The sun is also much farther away

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