Len filter for Solar Eclipse

[Rottie]

I live in Southern California and I looked at the map where Solar Eclipse will pass but it will not be in Southern California so I wonder if I should order Len filter or not? I don't want to waste my money you know what I mean?

Thank you

 

[tdawg]

Are you planning at pointing your camera at the sun to try to capture the eclipse at all, even if you're not in the direct path? If so, you should probably get a solar filter. Otherwise, there's no reason to get one if you're not going to try to take pictures directly of the sun.

 

[IronWing]

I bought one of these.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...filters_ulf90_90mm_universal_lens_filter.html
They consist of filter material in a fold up paper frame that slips over the lens. They come in different sizes. For a camera, you'd probably have to tape it on so you could handle the focus ring. Came with a five pack of solar filter glasses as well.

I tried it yesterday with a spotting scope and it works. There was some thin cloud cover so I couldn't see anything but the disk of the sun. I'll try again on a clear day.

I didn't see a point in spending too much on a filter I knew I wasn't going to use much.


During the last partial solar eclipse, we had more fun photographing shadows than looking at the sun.

 

[Ken g6]

The other thing you can do, without a filter, is to take pictures of shadows of the eclipse, like these: http://tinywild.deviantart.com/journal/Eclipse-and-Shadows-520968860

Edit: Beaten by IronWing. Also, a few of the pictures at the link were taken with the aid of a telescope or binoculars. This can be dangerous, and you should never look at the sun through a magnifying lens without a filter.

 

[Rottie]

Alright many thanks all of you so I don't have to buy a filter then.

 

[VorpalBunny]

If you want to shoot up and you value your sensor, you will get a solar filter for it. A polarizer or ND filter will NOT do. That's especially true if you are planning to use a DSLR and plan to use the viewfinder. The filter is not required for the three minutes or so of TOTAL eclipse (assuming you're geographically located).

For me, I've decided to do what Ken suggested and point down and towards the crowds gawking at the event.

Here's an article for more info...
http://www.mreclipse.com/SEphoto/SEphoto.html

Unfortunately, it looks like some shops are noting high demand on their website. It may be too late to order.

 

[Rubycon]

A neutral density filter around 18 stops will do nicely.
And there's lot of other things you can do besides solar photography with them.
A good 77mm one will cost around $200 USD...

 

[IronWing]

Here's a pic with the filter I linked above.

The image through the scope is sharper; the camera was having trouble focusing on the image so the pic is a bit fuzzy. I'll have to remember how to manually focus this camera. The dark spot is real and tracked with the sun. The halo around the black dot was also visible to the eye. I don't know if it is real or an artifact of the filter/scope given the extreme light contrast or maybe an atmospheric effect. The bleeding brightness moving away from the sun suggests that the halo is an artifact or atmospheric. There was another smaller black dot above and to the left of the large dot that the camera didn't capture. My guess is that these there are sun spots.

 

[Ratman6161]

This could be helpful: https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/los-angeles

 

[CuriousMike]

@IronWing - interesting you shot at 1/100 at ISO 400.
Depending on how stable you have your camera, I wonder if you couldn't halve both for a slightly cleaner image.
Yes, your focus is off a bit - but that's still a pretty sweet image.

 

[luv2liv]

any possibility of taking the eclipse and still seeing yourself clearly?
im guessing not because these filters are super dark right?

 

[IronWing]

You could pose yourself as a shadow in front of the sun but otherwise, the filters are way too dark.