PSP camera doesn't like sunlight, garlic

by Andrew Yoon { Apr 8th 2007 at 9:00AM }

Long-time PSP Fanboy reader Joel used the PSP camera to take pictures from his trip to Paris. He seems pleased by the camera's performance, especially considering its budget price. Take a look for yourself in his Flickr photostream. A close-up look at the pictures reveals tons of artifacting and other visual glitches, meaning the camera won't replace a dedicated digital camera.

One of the more crucial problems with the camera appears to be how it reacts to sunlight. "I wanted to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower with the sunset. And guess what happened: for one little second, the sun was SO bright my eyes hurt and I had to close them, and the camera went completely black. The sun killed the lens for some time. I watching and taking pictures, all black, until I turned off the PSP completely, and rebooted it, and it was working again. My hypothesis is that the Sun might kill the lenses for a little time if it's too bright."
It doesn't come as too surprising that such a cheap camera won't handle the sun's powerful rays. Hopefully, if Sony ever decides to officially release the peripheral in the States, the camera will be able to handle a bit more.

Tags: camera, joel, paris, psp, sunlight

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Joel @ Apr 8th 2007 9:29AM

I have to say, that after that incident I tried taking pictures directly to the sun (I didn't really car much if the camera died forever, 40€ won't kill my budget) and it hasn't happened again, but I'm glad it isn't permanent, just a few seconds. I'll try again when the sun is as bright as in Paris.

Alien @ Apr 8th 2007 10:39AM

What do you want , the camera will be used mostly for the Eye-Toy functionality , so its not a big problem :)

Juan @ Apr 8th 2007 11:32AM

Years ago I took some clases, I learned how to use professional cameras and one of the first things we were told when handed cameras is: DO NOT POINT IT AT THE SUN!!!!! Why, It just screws up the camera...

So dont think this happend because you bought a cheap camera (ok maybe a fine camera could stand it more)... But direct sun light screws CCDs and other sensors (unlike SuperMan who actually get stronger!)

Ryan @ Apr 8th 2007 11:48AM

I'd suspect that much like the PS2 eyetoy camera, the PSP camera adjusts its aperture artificially. This means it makes sure your photographs aren't too bright or too dark using software instead of a mechanical method that most standalone cameras use (which physically limit the amount of light that hits the sensor/film.)

Therefore, because the sun was so bright on the CCD sensor of the PSP camera, the software tried to adjust for the amount of light hitting it but instead just hit a wall where anything less bright than that would appear completely black. Possibly a small software glitch. Which would be why resetting the PSP solved your problems.