ralfstinson Loc: SF Bay Area

Going cheap can damage your eyes and camera. Don't do it. Welding glass shade 14 or a certified solar filter. Forget the ND filters. Yes, maybe for you, a one time event. Your camera can be replaced. Your eyes can not. Remember when kids would take a magnifier glass and burn ants. Don't do it to your eyes. If you are in position to have total eclipse, during totality, you don't need solar protection, and you can see and photograph the corona. Don't ruin the enjoyment of your first eclipse with trying to get a picture. You can practice solar photography without an eclipse. I use a 400mm lens with solar filter to photograph sun spots.

ralfstinson Loc: SF Bay Area

Going cheap can damage your eyes and camera. Don't do it. Welding glass shade 14 or a certified solar filter. Forget the ND filters. Yes, maybe for you, a one time event. Your camera can be replaced. Your eyes can not. Remember when kids would take a magnifier glass and burn ants. Don't do it to your eyes. If you are in position to have total eclipse, during totality, you don't need solar protection, and you can see and photograph the corona. Don't ruin the enjoyment of your first eclipse with trying to get a picture. You can practice solar photography without an eclipse. I use a 400mm lens with solar filter to photograph sun spots.

birdseyeview Loc: Indiana

Things to consider before pointing you camera at the sun!

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/09/rental-camera-gear-destroyed-by-the-solar-eclipse-of-2017/

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Have you no idea how optics work ??!?!?

So much UHH Traditional rumor mongering.

And yes Ive seen the pix of damaged gear displayed by those who dont actually know what makes that happen. Thaz always fun.

Soon well be talking about burned holes in Leica cloth shutters. Thaz always fun.

OldCADuser Loc: Irvine, CA

For the most recent solar eclipse, the October 2023 annular eclipse I used an ND100000 filter and it worked great (we were in Hobbs, New Mexico). I intend to use the same filters (I have two, a 55mm for my Sony 18-135mm lens and a 67mm for my 400mm telephoto lens). Back in August 2017, when we went to see the total eclipse (in York, Nebraska), I was using a couple of homemade filters where I cutout some Mylar material and stuck it on a couple of UV filters.

Now the Mylar filters resulted in an orange color to the Sun while the ND100000 filters produced a white image.

Personally, I prefer the ND results while many people insist on the Mylar approach. Either will work, but make sure that you've got some good filters (and glasses for actually looking at the eclipse) to protect your camera.

BTW, I covered all this in a thread I started back in September of last year, as I was preparing for the October event. Here's the link to that thread: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-785225-1.html

CliffMcKenzie Loc: Lake Athens Texas

Wow, I do not believe I have seen so much bad advice from so many responders, though I do believe with good hearts.

Currently speaking on “The Great Texas Eclipse – One in a Lifetime Experience”, private message me and I will send you access to the slide production.

OldDADuser is on target with ND1000000, this equals about 16.5 stops. 16 might be too light. Do not use any form of variable neutral density (ND) but “fixed” only. If you go this route (see earlier concerns), look for 5 and not 4.

Can you stack filters? NO – for the most obvious of reasons. When the last 1% of sun disappears (totality), you have to remove the filter(s) without moving the camera and hopefully not change the focus. Then when the first 1% shows, it is filter time. I was asked this question yesterday in Plano and I also added, there could be concern regarding the impact of heat trapped between filters.

Various responses of make your own – don’t do it. You own a Porsche, putting ethanol regular will not end well for you.

Glasses - $15 will get you what you need. Remember you are taking them on and off, so paper or even worse welder’s glass equals misery.

Not mentioned – practice now. Get your filter and practice with the sun now. Do not wait until game day.

Not mentioned – bracketing. Understand how to set up (speed only) bracketing in your camera. Is 5, 7 or 9 the best brackets? Practice now and see the results.

Not mentioned – how are you going to remove the filter and then reseat it. I like a magnetic ring with a glass filter. You can save a few dollars and get cardboard with a mylar filter. Light concern regarding mylar filters. In reference to one response, you only need one camera shooting the eclipse. Yes, I will have two, but only one shooting the partial eclipse with filter.

Hope this helps

jcboy3

ND 1000000 (ND 6 or one million) is 20 stops. ND 100000 (ND 5) is 16.5 stops.

The non-filter advice, while partially correct, is not applicable to a quesiton about filters.

OldCADuser Loc: Irvine, CA

Note that I covered all of this in the thread I started this past September and to which I provide a link in my previous post.

jcboy3

I certainly do. And there are pictures of damaged apertures on the web if you care to look.

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Im sure I mentioned those.

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It would never occur to you that you cannot damage an aperture. FWIW, on a zoom, you cannot damage any of the FLs either.

jcboy3

That's because you CAN damage an aperture.

I don't know what you mean about damaging an FL.