Can a (DSLR) flash cause permanent eye damage?

[Marsu42]

A friend of mine is an eye MD. I'll see if I could remember to ask him when I see him.

Please do, I'd really like to get a competent opinion on this - my personal guess is that apart from pre-damaged eyes it's hard to do *permanent* (not long-lasting) damage short of point blank flash or a nuclear explosion, but then again I could be mistaken.

 

[sandymandy]

Well lasers can cause permanent eye damage and they arent near the power of a nuke for sure

Im just curious not only when using a flash in the normal way but also in a "not normal" way for example. Just the theory behind it and possibility.

I also dont think staring in the sun can cause blindness. Scotoma yes (i got scotoma on both eyes btw) but its not like im not able to see anymore just some parts are missing (replaced by some flickering spots in my case)

 

[Jules]

Well, i'd say after more than 2 years it can be considered quite permanent (even if minor).
But once again, it was handheld, so regular use with camera body regulating it and not held so closely and not focusing on it in the night should be fine...

Answer is plain and easy : yes, it can ! And I know the effects firsthand :-(

Some would say it looks like one of these Wile.E Coyote cartoon ... but recipe is easy... wanting to experiment with Photography can be tempting....
Take somebody who is a bit light sensitive (years in Texas with probably poor grade sunglasses didn't help), have fun at night with photo friends for a "lighpainting session" (ie. taking picts with lights effects at night), and fire a 430EX external flash at your face from 30-40cm below, and don't close your eyes ....
=> result is really cool "ghost like picture" like in the books (ie. your camera set on long exposure takes picts with 3 times your face for example if you move and redo it, just the face that was under flash exposure, rest of the body is invisible and you see the background thru ...), but better if you close your eyes and/or look up instead of looking in front or worst, low at your flash (like the first tries to see where to position it best, etc ...)
=> side effect after multiple attempts in the evening is darker spot in your eyes, showing "paler" zones when looking at lights (and having focus shift left/right) as if you had a water spot on the eye diffracting light a bit, and showing "greyer" areas when looking at uniform white wall (or blue sky) with high luminosity ...

Seeing dark spots after being exposed to a bright light is common, but its not permanent damage to your eyes.