Laser safety for cameras - International Laser Display Association

Laser effects on cameras and camcorders

Lasers emit concentrated beams of light, which can heat up sensitive surfaces (like the eye's retina) and cause damage. Camera sensors are susceptible to damage, similar to the human eye.

For large scale shows, such as on a televised concert, laser show producers work with clients to avoid TV camera locations and video projectors (ILDA Members, see this page for details). However, it is not possible for laser show producers to be responsible for all cameras and camcorders which might be at a show.

Therefore, if you attend a show as an audience member, you should take reasonable precautions not to let a laser beam directly enter your camera lens.

You can photograph the beams in midair, or doing graphics on a screen. If you can't see the laser source (projector or bounce mirror) in your viewfinder, this means you're not getting the full beam power into your lens. Indirect viewing like this should not cause damage.
Avoid beams which are coming straight into your lens (or bounced off a mirror or other reflective surface). The damage potential is much greater when the entire beam power enters the camera lens.

Eye safety is first

The primary safety concern for laserists is that the show is eye-safe. A good working definition of "eye-safe" is that everyone leaves the show with the same vision they entered -- there is no detrimental change to a person's vision. International safety standards such as IEC 60825 and ANSI Z136 set "Maximum Permissible Exposure" levels for laser light. Shows done at or below the MPE should cause no problem for human eyes. Even shows which exceed the MPE have remarkably safe records (very few claimed eye injuries).

However, there are no MPEs for sensors such as CMOS or CCD chips. This means a show may be perfectly safe for eyes, but could possibly damage a camera sensor. One reason is that camera lenses may gather more laser light, and concentrate it to a finer point. Another reason is that a CMOS or CCD sensor may be more easily damaged than the eye.

Due to the many varying factors involved with lenses and sensors, laser show producers cannot be responsible for audience-member damage to cameras or camcorders.

Type of damage

The degree of damage can vary widely.

We have seen cases of minor damage, such as small areas of a few pixels which no longer work. The pixels are not noticeable unless in an area of uniform color such as a blue sky.
In more extreme cases, there may be larger or more extensive dead-pixel areas. Or there may be "burn in" of a laser image. The damage is readily noticeable in most photos or videos. In this case, the camera is ruined for quality use.
The image at right shows numerous laser-caused spots on an HP Photosmart 945, a 5-megapixel camera. Click on the image to see a full-size (100%) crop from the original photograph. (Photo courtesy Alja� Ogrin.)

Search YouTube and other internet sources for videos and pictures of laser-caused damage. See for example Laser light kills Canon 5D Mark II, or Lasers killed my CMOS. Note that not all claims of laser damage are valid. In March 2009, we reviewed a case where it was claimed that a Fuji F60fd 12-megapixel point-and-shoot camera was severely damaged by a laser. ILDA analyzed video from the camera, and determined the probable cause to be a very bright white light.

More information for Members

ILDA Members can get more specific information on avoiding camera and video projector damage, on this page (password required). There is a discussion as well, on the ILDA Forums beginning at http://www.laserist.org/forums/showthread.php?t=156 (or search for the three words DLP, projector and damage).

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