Using smartphones has become second nature for many of us. So lethal is the addiction that people sometimes put themselves in harm’s way while using their phones. Many have died while taking a selfie and many have lost their lives while texting and driving. With the US expected to see the rare ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse on Saturday, it might be tempting to capture the event on your phone or view it through your phone. But for the sake of your phone’s camera and your own well-being, it’s best not to do so.
Staring directly at the eclipse is the most dangerous thing you can do during an eclipse
As most of you probably already know, you should not look directly at the sun during a solar eclipse as doing so may permanently damage your eyes. If you want to view a solar eclipse, you need expert-approved solar eclipse glasses. Even the darkest pair of sunglasses do not provide sufficient protection from UV rays.
But what about your phone? Can you just point it at the sun and take a photo? Not if you don’t want to fry your phone’s camera lenses, as BGR reminds us.
Your phone’s camera lenses cannot filter out extreme solar rays and using it to photograph the sun can cause the lenses to melt. That’s because the lens will concentrate the sunlight and damage the camera.
The professional photographers who take photos of the eclipse use special filters to shield their cameras and eyes from the harmful rays of the sun.
If you really want to take photos of the eclipse using your phone, you’ll have to buy special solar filters. But it might not be worth it, because pictures of the solar eclipse taken from an average smartphone might not look that good as the sun will be too bright for the camera and you might only get an overexposed picture.
And, as mentioned before, solar glasses are non-negotiable. Stay safe!
