[HouseFinch]

I love to photograph sunrises and sunsets, but am unsure of how direct sunlight affects the camera itself. If I photograph the sun when it is in the sky, and therefore not below the horizon, could this damage my camera in any way? I would kick myself if I did something inadvertently to prematurely age my beloved Lumix.

[eddwillis]

worry not about the camera but be very careful about your eyes. NEVER look at the sun through a lens.

[Barred Wobbler]

Depends on the circumstances I suppose. When you look at the sun through a camera it's not the same as looking at it directly through a scope or bins, you are looking at an image on a focal screen. The effect on the camera's internal bits may be different, I don't know.

I and my trusty 35mm survived these shots.

[Mickymouse]

Don't know how relevant this is but a couple of weeks ago I was trying to photograph a Marsh Harrier in flight and as I followed it I managed to point the camera right at the sun and some sort of protection device shut the camera down so it wasn't harmed, it corrupted the memory card though.

Mick

[Duke Leto]

I'll give you a good tip, when your DSLR is connected to a 6" Newtonian telescope and your trying to photograph sun spots, do not under any circumstances let your home made solar filter (Mylar film) fall from the front of the telescope because you only used one rubber band to hold it in place, if you do the resultant problem is an instantaneous temperature increase inside the camera body which caused my shutter to warp!! It only happend for less than a second but midday sun in focus through a scope is pretty damaging, the Nikon D70s was repaired and its never missed a beat since although I haven't been brave enough to try again.....

[HouseFinch]

I do have a spotting scope, but I've never attempted to take photos through it. Generally, the 12x zoom of my Lumix is enough.

I did take a couple sun shots awhile back, and those can be seen on my Flickr account; The Nature Shutterbug. Just in case though, I'll be cautious, and not do it very often. And, I never look directly at the sun, so that's not an issue. My eyes are bad enough already, so I know I want to keep what vision I do have. At least I can see the beauty of a bird's feathers! However, I mostly take still-life shots, as flowers and such don't move, unlike birds which can be hard to photograph!