Theoretically how far away could you hit the camera with a laser?
July '26 Chat -- Food, Family, Fireworks and Fun!
- Thread starter TheBac
- Start date
Depending on the laser, it's going to depend on how good your aiming is. A mile should still be pretty tight unless you have a bad focus on the lense
Wattage of said laser?
Saw video of a dude cutting trees down at 100 yards with a modified lenses on one of those rust stripping units a while back. Not quite pocket size, but I'd say a mile with one of those.. lol
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AI will help you calculate those values..
The Mechanics of Damage
Key Risk Factors
The amount of damage your camera suffers depends on four main things:
Do you need help repairing a camera that already has laser damage, or are you trying to protect your camera from lasers during an upcoming event?
The Mechanics of Damage
- Highly Concentrated Energy: Unlike natural light (which spreads out), a laser is a tight, focused beam. When a laser pointer hits your camera lens, the glass elements actually magnify and focus this beam even further, concentrating a massive amount of heat onto a tiny spot on the sensor. [1, 2, 3]
- The "Pixel Burn": The sensor is made of millions of tiny light receptors (pixels). The extreme heat of the laser burns out these micro-circuits. Once they are burned, they can no longer register color or light. [1, 2]
- Sensor Type: Color CCD sensors are generally more fragile than CMOS sensors, with damage starting to occur at much lower energy thresholds. [1]
Key Risk Factors
The amount of damage your camera suffers depends on four main things:
- Laser Power: While a standard 5mW presentation laser at a normal distance is unlikely to cause immediate harm, high-powered, illegal pointers (or industrial lasers) can cause instantaneous damage. [1, 2]
- Time of Exposure: A stray, split-second hit may only cause temporary blinding (overexposure). However, a sustained beam held on the sensor for several seconds will cause permanent physical burning. [1, 2]
- Camera Settings: If your camera is in "Live View" mode or actively recording video, the sensor is constantly energized and highly vulnerable. [1]
- Lens Zoom: Using an optical zoom lens effectively acts like a magnifying glass, concentrating the incoming laser light and making sensor damage much more severe. [1, 2, 3]
Do you need help repairing a camera that already has laser damage, or are you trying to protect your camera from lasers during an upcoming event?
Well seam Canada can't control their wildfire and the smoke is traveling pretty far
^^ For some reason, that was the first movie I thought of, but Adam beat me to it.
The bridge by our house has been getting rebuilt this summer. Makes for a long detour to get anywhere, but will be worth it in the end. They are adding a 10ft walkway next to the two vehicle lanes. The walkway will then connect to a new walkpath along our road that leads to a park about 1/2 mile from us. Ive been trying to get the Road Commission to reduce the speed limit along our road for safety's sake, but hitting ignorance roadblocks.
Source: https://youtu.be/Tof9mOcvARw
The bridge by our house has been getting rebuilt this summer. Makes for a long detour to get anywhere, but will be worth it in the end. They are adding a 10ft walkway next to the two vehicle lanes. The walkway will then connect to a new walkpath along our road that leads to a park about 1/2 mile from us. Ive been trying to get the Road Commission to reduce the speed limit along our road for safety's sake, but hitting ignorance roadblocks.
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Saw this..
If that was being built in California, it would cost 10x more than the $3.7 million budget and take over a year, then the four months it says. Beautiful area Tom.
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There's a company out there who will hook ya up with some special cameras to help convince them.. Safety is even in the name...
Do like that bridge work. Either of those big stick operators a Buckeye? Have a high school buddy who swings a big red one like that all around the Midwest.
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We have a problem here in Michigan that when they do a speed study, the State Police and MDOT are required to set the new limit to whatever 85% of traffic is driving. They do not take into account any extraneous factors like neighborhoods, pedestrians, general layout of the area, nothing.
So...if you have a stretch of road where most of the drivers do 10+ over, their study will show that, and that speed limit will go UP, not down.
Happened thru a small town I used to deliver to, the main road jumped to 55 from 45. Its completely unsafe, but SP and MDOT claim their hands are tied.
Same happened right in front of our house 30 years ago. Limit used to be 35. Jumped to 40.
I was warned that if I were to demand a speed study to start a limit reduction case, it could backfire and our limit could go even higher.....through a RESIDENTIAL area!
I think I may start politicking for making the intersection where the walkpath crosses the road into a four-way stop instead.
As for the cranes, I have no idea who operates them. If he has worked with ET Mackenzie Construction in Grand Ledge, MI...then he probably was there.
So...if you have a stretch of road where most of the drivers do 10+ over, their study will show that, and that speed limit will go UP, not down.
Happened thru a small town I used to deliver to, the main road jumped to 55 from 45. Its completely unsafe, but SP and MDOT claim their hands are tied.
Same happened right in front of our house 30 years ago. Limit used to be 35. Jumped to 40.
I was warned that if I were to demand a speed study to start a limit reduction case, it could backfire and our limit could go even higher.....through a RESIDENTIAL area!
I think I may start politicking for making the intersection where the walkpath crosses the road into a four-way stop instead.
As for the cranes, I have no idea who operates them. If he has worked with ET Mackenzie Construction in Grand Ledge, MI...then he probably was there.
A 4 way stop does sounds like the most reasonable solution for location.
Watched SW Florida go on a roundabout install streak a few years back. Goal was cut the speed on US41 thru town. Made for some good videos over the next year.
I actually enjoyed dragging 50' boat trailer around them taking up both lanes. Sometimes I'd do an extra lap or two just to annoy people in a rush.
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Watched SW Florida go on a roundabout install streak a few years back. Goal was cut the speed on US41 thru town. Made for some good videos over the next year.
I actually enjoyed dragging 50' boat trailer around them taking up both lanes. Sometimes I'd do an extra lap or two just to annoy people in a rush.
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I have a similar street in front of my house, residential area. Posted speed is 30mph. Many will do 40 with some upwards of 50 from the looks of it. I complained to City council in person at one of the meetings. Nothing changed even though they said they would look into it. Once I found out the average speed is how they calculate the posted speed limit, I backed off it would only make things worse. A backwards system. Because if they increase the limit to 40, people will drive 55, then the average goes up and hence the limit gets increased. This happens until accidents start to stack up. Then it might get some notice. Maybe a sign or flashing light. This will go on for 10 more years of accidents. Then maybe an adjustment of the stripping. Rinse and repeat