NASA needs your smartphone during April's solar eclipse
NASA needs your smartphone during April's solar eclipse
The free SunSketcher app will use your phone’s camera to record the event and help study the sun’s ‘oblateness.’
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Is there any risk of damaging your phone/camera by pointing it directly at the sun? Or is it dim enough during the eclipse to not matter? The article doesn't say how long you would need to point it at the sun, maybe a few minutes to an hour.
A camera isn't your eyes, you could point it at the sun all day.
Nearly every photographer that comments on this issue says it is OK if you do it very briefly such as when you are taking a scenery photo and the sun is in the picture. The argument for it not being safe is that some of the more recent smartphones use larger and faster lenses (f/1.7 to f/2.0) to get better resolution, and that can be a problem. Most digital cameras have an Auto mode in which they will automatically reduce the exposure speed and increase the f/stop to take the photo, and this will not harm the camera
Source: NASA(PDF warning)