Raspberry Pi 2 is 'camera shy' Published duration 9 February 2015

image copyright Raspberry Pi image caption The sensitivity to flashes was picked up by owners of the new device.

The latest version of Raspberry Pi's credit-card-sized budget computer reboots itself when exposed to camera flashes, users have found.

The glitch is a result of the "photoelectric effect" phenomenon.

Albert Einstein won a Nobel Prize for his discovery that if a light hits a component, it generates a charge. In the Pi this charge causes a reboot.

Raspberry Pi creator Eben Upton told the BBC the glitch was an "unintentional educational bonus".

"It's an interesting demonstration of the photoelectric effect," he said.

Mr Upton admitted that he had not been aware that the Pi would be sensitive to camera flashes, but that he was not too upset about it.

"If I had to pick a bug in the Raspberry Pi, excessive sensitivity to paparazzi is the one I would pick," he added.

"If this was destroying devices I would be less cheerful about it."

The company has received 300,000 orders for the new device since its launch last week.

"I have discovered that my Pi 2 is camera-shy!" posted a user called Peter O on a forum for Raspberry Pi owners

Another poster suggested covering up the offending cells with Blu-Tack.

"That works," said Mr Upton.

"If you are intent on taking flash photos of your Pi, you can stick Blu-Tack on it."

"We have no real plans to fix it," he added.

"We might use a component with more optical screening in the future."