I used to shoot a lot against the sun, when it was high off the horizon with MF. It is great and very beautiful if you expose properly. Flare can be very good looking too. I haven´t tried the bare 2 pm sun into my 1Ds yet. I would like to know what others think about this issue.

G'day

Is shooting into the sun harmful to the camera? I've seen countless landscape photos which show the sun in it's round glory, or semi round... But these are during sunsets or sunrises, when viewing the sun is barely bearable. I like the effect of the Sun and it's rays placed against the backdrop of a dark blue sky and fluffy white clouds.
My fear is flaring. and a number of other things...
I would like to hear from others who have had experience with photographing skiiers or snowboarders etc. cos they always seem to shoot into the Sun and it turns out alright...I've probably just answered my own question...??