Can camera sensors be damaged by light?
Can camera sensors be damaged by light?


Absolutely. Sun + magnifying glass, and you will have a very melty sensor.

However, a single LED is far less energy. Even if all the power going into the LED was converted to light (hint: it isn't) and all of that light was focused onto a very small spot, let's say a 4 mm circle, on the image sensor (hint: it isn't), you'd have an energy flux of 5250 W/m^2, which sounds like a lot, but really isn't (sunlight on the Earth's surface, unfocused, is 1000 W/m^2). And, remember, because of efficiency/field of view, it's a lot less, likely no more than a tenth of that. So 500 W/m^2, which, on a very small area, is entirely inconsequential.

It's hard to find definitive numbers on the energy flux limit for image sensors (I've tried), but from personal experience I can tell you that CMOS sensors seem to be just fine staring directly at the sun for days on end, if used with sufficiently small lenses. The airy pattern formed by the sun on the sensor can be restricted to a small enough amount of power by judicious lens choice. Of course, this does not hold true with larger cameras (the larger lens collects more light, and the result is a burnt spot on your sensor). Regardless, that is all anecdotal, and not completely relevant. Your camera will be fine.