degredation of sensor

oakfieldphotography.com · March 7, 2011

Hi everyone
Just mulling things around in my head and wondered can the sensors in our dslrs degrade over time. ie taking photographs in strong sunlight over a long period of time?:scratch

ziggy53 · March 7, 2011

I don't recommend taking direct photographs of the sun without the required accessories and some lasers can cause damage to the sensor.

Other than that,

CMOS and CCD sensors are really just transistor arrays and all semiconductors can degrade over time. Single pixels (a photosite) may either become permanently on, a hot pixel, or it may fail to come on, a dead pixel. While these types of pixels can generally be "mapped out" so they are less visible (indeed many brand new imagers have already been mapped) it does seem that temperature extremes and humidity extremes can accelerate the process of failure. Of course other circuits in the camera are also prone to failure if stressed.

It's best to not use the camera for copying the memory card contents just because that causes stress to the camera by turning it on and you can avoid that stress just by using an external card reader.

Don't store a camera in a hot and/or humid place, especially for extended periods. Don't subject a camera to physical stress like dropping it or allowing other object to strike it. Don't use Live View for extended periods unnecessarily as that heats the sensor. Keep the camera from static electricity, high voltage and away from extremely high magnetic fields. Avoid moisture, rain and any water under pressure. Avoid salt water/spray from getting to the camera and lens.

To get back to your original question, using a camera to photograph bright scenes but with "correct" exposure should actually be less stressful than photographing scenes in very poor light. The difference is how long the sensor is energized. In very long exposures the sensor can heat internally, potentially accelerating sensor decay.

The more you use the camera within its normal operating parameters the longer it can serve you.

oakfieldphotography.com · March 7, 2011

ziggy53 wrote: »

I don't recommend taking direct photographs of the sun without the required accessories and some lasers can cause damage to the sensor.

Other than that,

CMOS and CCD sensors are really just transistor arrays and all semiconductors can degrade over time. Single pixels (a photosite) may either become permanently on, a hot pixel, or it may fail to come on, a dead pixel. While these types of pixels can generally be "mapped out" so they are less visible (indeed many brand new imagers have already been mapped) it does seem that temperature extremes and humidity extremes can accelerate the process of failure. Of course other circuits in the camera are also prone to failure if stressed.

It's best to not use the camera for copying the memory card contents just because that causes stress to the camera by turning it on and you can avoid that stress just by using an external card reader.

Don't store a camera in a hot and/or humid place, especially for extended periods. Don't subject a camera to physical stress like dropping it or allowing other object to strike it. Don't use Live View for extended periods unnecessarily as that heats the sensor. Keep the camera from static electricity, high voltage and away from extremely high magnetic fields. Avoid moisture, rain and any water under pressure. Avoid salt water/spray from getting to the camera and lens.

To get back to your original question, using a camera to photograph bright scenes but with "correct" exposure should actually be less stressful than photographing scenes in very poor light. The difference is how long the sensor is energized. In very long exposures the sensor can heat internally, potentially accelerating sensor decay.

The more you use the camera within its normal operating parameters the longer it can serve you.

Thanks Ziggy53 for explaining all about the sensor. Like you said if the camera is on live view for extended periods of time it will heat the sensor. Im glad i did not buy the Canon5dmk2 for making videos. Sounds like anyone using this feature on their camera is progressively degrading their sensor.
Thanks again.:D

NeilL · March 7, 2011

oakfieldphotography.com wrote: »

Sounds like anyone using this feature on their camera is progressively degrading their sensor.
Thanks again.:D

Point!

Neil

endurodog · March 7, 2011

Is this a real problem or more of a hypothetical?

ziggy53 · March 7, 2011

endurodog wrote: »

Is this a real problem or more of a hypothetical?

There have been reports of both Live View and video dSLRs failing more rapidly used in ambient conditions of high heat. To that extent yes, it can be a problem. In most other situations it is not a practical issue. Most video dSLRs can only run short video segments anyway.

Recent video dSLRs do have much better heat sinks than some early cameras had, which should ameliorate the problems somewhat.

endurodog · March 7, 2011

Thanks Ziggy, always appreciate your insight in to the questions on here.

Brett1000 · March 8, 2011

oakfieldphotography.com wrote: »

Hi everyone
Just mulling things around in my head and wondered can the sensors in our dslrs degrade over time. ie taking photographs in strong sunlight over a long period of time?

I don't think you have to worry much about sunlight affecting the sensor (assuming you don't focus on the sun!)

newb · March 8, 2011

Temperature extremes were mentioned. What exactly would be considered extreme for a camera? 30*F on the low end and 90*F on the high? Or more extreme than that?

Matthew Saville · March 9, 2011

My D300 sensor bore the brunt of significant extended exposure testing, just off the top of my head I can count 6+ hours of exposures no less than 30 minutes each and as long as ~2 hours in some cases. I use live view conservatively, however.

So far, whenever I take the camera back out and shoot "normally" with it, the images still look fine. There are certainly a few dead or hot pixels here and there, but no more than would be expected for a camera that has reached 250,000 clicks...

newb wrote: »

Temperature extremes were mentioned. What exactly would be considered extreme for a camera? 30*F on the low end and 90*F on the high? Or more extreme than that?

In my experience, while heat is never good, I *PREFER* freezing temperatures for extended exposures because they help to minimize noise. While on camping trips that drop below freezing, I've made some of the cleanest images EVER even at ~60 minutes! In fact I do recall making a 64 minute exposure once that only consumed about 30-40% of my battery in ~20 degree weather. I tried the same ~60 minute exposure on a ~50 degree night, and the images were totally lost to noise (even at ISO 100) beyond ~15-30 mins...

As far as heat goes, I wouldn't worry about the camera at all shooting in 100 degree heat, heck I shot a wedding just last summer during a heat wave and the formals were shot in 90-100 degree heat; images looked fine. What I WOULD worry about however, is putting the camera down and letting it SIT in the sun, especially inside a car. Cars are ovens, and completely baking your camera is never good. The "damage" may not be permanent and you may only have an extra-noisy sensor until it cools off, but at least the grip rubber glue gets all gross! :-P

=Matt=

Dan7312 · March 9, 2011

Astronomical cameras, i.e. telescope cameras, sometimes have a cooling mechanism on the image sensor to reduce noise... as though it isn't cold enough already in an observatory at 2:00AM:D

Matthew Saville wrote: »

In my experience, while heat is never good, I *PREFER* freezing temperatures for extended exposures because they help to minimize noise. While on camping trips that drop below freezing, I've made some of the cleanest images EVER even at ~60 minutes!
=Matt=

ziggy53 · March 9, 2011

newb wrote: »

Temperature extremes were mentioned. What exactly would be considered extreme for a camera? 30*F on the low end and 90*F on the high? Or more extreme than that?

The specifications in the back of your user manual will generally indicate design operating temperatures. Many folks operate outside of those parameters without problems, but the camera is not "designed" to operate at those extremes and doing so may lead to earlier failure. Obviously, if you really need to photograph something you should assess the risks and take the appropriate action.

The Canon 7D, as an example, is designed and rated for:

0 - 40 degrees Celsius, 32 - 104 degrees Fahrenheit and a maximum of 85% humidity.

Photoskipper · March 9, 2011

ziggy53 wrote: »

The specifications in the back of your user manual will generally indicate design operating temperatures. Many folks operate outside of those parameters without problems, but the camera is not "designed" to operate at those extremes and doing so may lead to earlier failure. Obviously, if you really need to photograph something you should assess the risks and take the appropriate action.

The Canon 7D, as an example, is designed and rated for:

0 - 40 degrees Celsius, 32 - 104 degrees Fahrenheit and a maximum of 85% humidity.

Recently, I took my 5D MkII to North China and shot outdoor for more than an hour under -25 deg C (-20 deg F). The camera also used regularly in the tropical climate under the direct sun for couple hours (waiting for the birds), and the ambient temperature at noon was about 35 deg C, the temperature on the camera body may be even higher. It works well in both conditions.

NeilL · March 9, 2011

Photoskipper wrote: »

Recently, I took my 5D MkII to North China and shot outdoor for more than an hour under -25 deg C (-20 deg F). The camera also used regularly in the tropical climate under the direct sun for couple hours (waiting for the birds), and the ambient temperature at noon was about 35 deg C, the temperature on the camera body may be even higher. It works well in both conditions.

Amazing!

Neil

newb · March 9, 2011

Good to know. Thanks.

codrus · March 11, 2011

ziggy53 wrote: »

0 - 40 degrees Celsius, 32 - 104 degrees Fahrenheit and a maximum of 85% humidity.

Hm. I used to live in Maryland (20+ years ago), and IIRC it basically never dropped below 85% humidity in the summer.

--Ian

newb · March 11, 2011

So, I must have bumped the power switch puttin my camera away and when I got it back out I noticed it was on. Does leavin the camera on for a few hours, without using it, put any stress on the sensor?

ziggy53 · March 11, 2011

newb wrote: »

So, I must have bumped the power switch puttin my camera away and when I got it back out I noticed it was on. Does leavin the camera on for a few hours, without using it, put any stress on the sensor?

It depends upon the mode of operation the camera was set to.

If the camera was in live view or a video mode of operation, or if the camera was set to an indefinite time exposure, the sensor would have been active. An active sensor for a long period of time does stress the sensor and associated circuits.

If the camera was in a still capture mode and the mirror was down and the shutter closed, the imager was not active. The camera's power supply would be the primary active circuit but, without the camera actually doing much it's not drawing too much power and it would not have too much heat buildup.

I would not expect anything bad to have happened to the camera in the latter scenario.

newb · March 11, 2011

Good deal. I was hopin that would be the case.

degredation of sensor

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