Re: Can photographing the sun with a digital camera damage the camera?

First, let me give the standard disclaimer: please do NOT look at the Sun with your naked eye, and do NOT look at the Sun through any camera, lens, binocular, or telescope unless it has a special protective filter in place over the front aperture.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, on to your question.

If you use the digital display on a digital camera to look at the digitized 
image of the sun, I'm betting there is little chance of damage to your eye ....

Correct! No danger to your eye, but ...

is there specific risk to the camera? 

Yes. You could very easily damage the CCD chip inside your camera so that it either doesn't respond properly to light for several minutes, or is permanently damaged. I wouldn't point any camera of my own at the Sun.

So, what can you do if you want pictures of the Sun? I see three main options.

1. Purchase a filter made specifically for viewing the Sun. These are often called "solar filters." You can find them in any number of telescope catalogues. NASA made a list of sources for such filters back in 1998, and some of the manufacturers may still be in business. Look at http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/eclipse/980226/text/filter-sources.html These can cost many tens of dollars, but will give by far the best results.

2. Most of the commerical solar filters are made by depositing thin layers of some metallic vapor onto glass or transparent plastic. You can find a very cheap variety in your supermarket: Pop-Tarts! The wrappers in which these treats are packaged are (or were, several years ago) plastic with a thin aluminum coating. You could try placing a layer or two of this material over your camera's lens and pointing it at the Sun; it might work, or it might destroy your camera. No guarantees.

3. Now for the fun and imaginative option: do it yourself. Look around your house and yard for reflective surfaces. The windows in my house have two panes of glass. If I look at the Sun through these windows, I see two faint images of the Sun, one to either side, about ten degrees to the left and right of the real Sun. I think they are caused by multiple reflections between the two panes of glass in the window. The reflections are certainly faint enough to be safe for a camera. You could try the light which bounces backwards from an ordinary window -- it will also be much fainter than the direct Sun. What happens if you fill a shallow pan with water and look at the reflection of the Sun in the water?