Photographing a solar eclipse?

[ianpwilliams]

Ok thanks, will do.

[Ags]

My photo club is organizing a get-together to photograph the eclipse. The club's advice is to use  +10 ND filter.

1. Is this safe (with Camera viewfinder blocked)?

2. Is there a risk of damaging the camera? Especially as focusing would have to be via liveview.

[kev]

Would recommend getting some astrosolar mylar film for this rather than a filter. You need to filter before the lens / objective not after it

If there are a number of you together suggest u purchase a roll to cover all of your needs - cheaper that way

Also to address a point earlier in the thread. The exposure will be the same throughout the eclipse as your are exposing the uncovered part of the sun at all times

Fwiw. At f/10 with nd5 astrosolar film, and a continuum filter my exposures are usually around 1/250. How blue the sky is, is a good gude as to what the offset from that will be. Deep blue sunny clear sky need a bit less. White mucky skies more

Sent from my iPhone so excuse the typos!

[Ags]

I dont understand... the ND filter will of course be before the objective, as the first thing in the optical train.

[ianpwilliams]

Would recommend getting some astrosolar mylar film for this rather than a filter. You need to filter before the lens / objective not after it

If there are a number of you together suggest u purchase a roll to cover all of your needs - cheaper that way

Also to address a point earlier in the thread. The exposure will be the same throughout the eclipse as your are exposing the uncovered part of the sun at all times

Fwiw. At f/10 with nd5 astrosolar film, and a continuum filter my exposures are usually around 1/250. How blue the sky is, is a good gude as to what the offset from that will be. Deep blue sunny clear sky need a bit less. White mucky skies more

Sent from my iPhone so excuse the typos!

Did you mean 1/250 or 1/2500 for the exposure? Because the solar tutorial suggested around 1/2500 to 1/4000.

[nightfisher]

As others have pointed out, you need an OBJECTIVE filter of some kind (solar film cheap and very good solution) to image a solar eclipse. EP filters are out of the question (and Herschel wedges are out of the question on reflectors). Only during totality can the filter come off. You can then get this:

During the eclipse, the sun will not typically change much in white light (except its slow, stately rotation)

Good post Michael, i wondered about removing the baader filter at the darkest point,  REMEMBERING to fit it back as the sun becomes visible again