this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2025
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[–] SynAcker@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I wonder if a laser of some sort could mess up the camera sensors

[–] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Lasers are absolutely capable of this. A 1-watt laser could probably do it and, last time I checked, you can order 44-watt lasers online.

[–] rklm@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 4 months ago (2 children)

A 1w laser will permanently blind you instantly. You can buy/build them very cheaply and easily, but a class 4 laser isn't a toy.

For perspective, the regular red laser pointers from your local store are like 5mW at most.

A 44w laser is probably an IR fiber laser used for tattoo removal or some industrial application. You can get them cheap, but they are not handheld. Also lasers that powerful tend to be pulsed.

Nichia makes 5w+ 445nm diodes that are small enough to fit in a flashlight

[–] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I'm familiar. The 44W lasers I mentioned are blue diode lasers from consumer-grade laser cutters/engravers. They actually consist of multiple diodes with some optics that combine all the beams into a pretty small kerf. Last time I checked I was only able to find IR diode lasers up to 2W. I'm hoping to get my hands on an IR diode laser some day that I can stick on my CNC mill and make it a laser cutter as well but realistically those will have to be 2 separate devices. An IR diode laser would be a lot more stealthy for taking out Flock cameras...

Somewhere I have a 1W blue handheld laser that I bought in college and used to light blunts with. Wearing laser shades, of course.

At a place I worked at for a little while they had 16kW fiber lasers that could cut through steel like butter. It was magical.

[–] redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 months ago

May I introduce you to Styropyro

[–] AlecSadler@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 months ago

So you're saying my 5W laser could work? On it.

[–] CubitOom@infosec.pub 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Wondering if something like this would be enough?

Class IIIA Laser Output is <5mW

[–] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Doubt it, <5mW is a laser pointer and I don't think is powerful enough to damage an eye.

[–] tornavish@lemmy.cafe 2 points 4 months ago

Maybe something like a small battery powered laser engraver could zigzag across the lens and eventually damage the sensor.

However, to get that power from a distance would be large and prohibitively expensive for most people.

Good thinking though… a damaged sensor might be difficult to diagnose at first, leading to a longer replacement period.

Looked into that, and I wonder if the damage is significant or just a couple of dead pixels