I fly with the mini window open quite a bit. The scoop needs to be "retracted" prior to flying, it's for catching ground vent air only.
And I use it all the time for shooting photos. The quality without the crappy optical quality windows is much better. I've never had anything sucked out of there, and heard a story about one guy who dropped his iphone (but that was his fumbling more than the suction). And "Find my iPhone" didn't help in that case hah.
You can actually order replacement side/door windows with a variety of different size/shape port-holes/removable windows/vents. It involves a 337 I think. I discussed this with one of the window manufacturers at airventure last summer. My plan is to order *both* the pilot and passenger/door window replacements (mine are old) and to get larger vent windows, specifically to better enable photo taking and to allow a little more air flow. Cross flow would be nice,and a passenger photo port would be a real benefit.
I agree leaving the door open works pretty well, but in my experience the vent window with the scoop works better on the ground, and prevent parents of the Young Eagles participants I fly every summer from freaking out and chasing the plane down the taxiway when the door is propped open (I've made it part of my standard ground briefing for parents and participants now).
The scoop doesn't usually cause cracking, until the pilot leans into it too hard and puts too much lateral pressure on the window through the scoop. Mine did that.