Is My Camera Sensor Burned?

Okay, so after I dropped my Nikon D3100, I was checking my sensor to see if I could notice anything wrong with it. I took off the lens, set it to full manual/bulb mode, and flipped up the mirror to look at the sensor.

The thing is, I had the sensor facing a relatively bright ceiling light. I had the sensor exposed to the light for about 10 seconds. (Maybe less.)

Is my sensor burned? I took some test shots, but I can't tell if it's the sensor burn or just high ISO grain.

No but the camera is probably ruined. Haven't you heard of neck straps?

Take a shot in broad daylight to really check the whole camera.

No, that should not harm the sensor at all. It's routinely exposed to bright working light for much longer periods of time during routine maintenance after all.

I do wonder why you took a visual check of the sensor though… Did test photos that you took after dropping the camera give you any reason to assume that there would be something wrong with it, even damage that can be visually assessed?

Just take some test shots, preferably in bright daylight and post them here. Or post those that you already took, and also give the information which ISO value was used.

I don't think a ceiling light will burn the sensor, at least for the time period you are mentioning.

A 1 watt laser will surely damage it though, so it can be damaged with the right kind of light. Just don't be taking photos of laser light shows at concerts.