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About 2 months ago, I was playing around with taking some shots on a tripod using my Panasonic compact. I also had my scope set up and pointing at Alpha Centauri, with my 5mW laser on. In a exposure of 60 seconds, at 100ASA, I could clearly see this green light pointing from out of the frame and up to Alpha. So I would say that based on this, taking an image in the same direction as a "static" pointer could quite easily ruin an image....whether it does anything to the imager is another matter, but if it was me that had just spent a period setting up for a shot only to find that many of the frames are ruined by someones pointer, I would not be happy (Jan).
However, as for claims of damaging the imager....unless you point it directly at it, I doubt it would do anything...otherwise, I would expect a lot more damage from pointing it at the Moon!
The main problem with using lasers at a dark site is that it may very well upset peoples night adaption. This alone is enough that I only use my laser for initial setup and then turn it off and leave it off. If you were viewing from the 'burbs, I doubt your dark adaption would even be effected that much by turning on a mobile phone.
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