Can lens flare damage my Nikon D40?

Question

I know pointing a camera directly into sunlight can damage the shutter and things inside, but what about lens flare? Thanks!

Answer 1

No, it's just annoying.

A lens hood virtually eliminates it, though.

Answer 2

No! Lens flare wont hurt either the lens or the camera. I put the sun in my landscape images quite often, so I'm shooting directly into it! That being said, I don't leave the camera set up on a tripod like that for hours, or take 30 second exposures into the sun, but don't be afraid of the sun hitting your lens...

Typically when shooting directly into the sun you are using as small an aperature as possible, so you are minimizing the light hitting the sensor anyway.