tjmoore Loc: NewJersry

What kind of fliter do I need?

usnret Loc: Woodhull Il

Google it.

rcorne001 Loc: Cary, NC

I was just on a Nikon broadcast where that came up. There is a special type for solar images. Neutral Density are not good to use and could result in ruining your camera.

jim quist Loc: Missouri

Buy a piece of welders glass at Home Depot or Lowe’s etc. you can hold it over the lens during the exposure

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Look through this post and you will get the correct answer.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-800366-1.html

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

Not a good solution. Welder's glass is not optical glass and crappy quality. Just get a Baader Film solar filter.

bwa

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

welding filters are laminated glass and are not optical quality!!!

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Go to the NASA eclipse web site and the Thousand Oaks web site. These sites will educate you. Thousand Oaks Optical will sell you film that can stop both intense sunlight and UV rays. If you are not using a DSLR and only a mirrorless, they can sell you film that cuts the intense sunlight. Do not make the mistake of getting the wrong type filter for your camera. Blindness is a possibility if you use a DSLR with the wrong filter. UV "sunburned" eyes rarely see again. Both B&H Photo and Adorama will sell you filters too. Most will not stop UV rays unless the paperwork with the filters cite the correct spec for UV cutoff. Welders glass will also work because it will cut both the intense light and UV of welding. ND18 or ND19 welders glass will do fine. You should be able to use a piece to watch the sun if you do not buy Thousand Oaks sun shades.

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

I used an 8 stop ND filter along with a 2x converter and achieved great results with the 2017 eclipse. Without the converter you could have problems.

fantom Loc: Colorado

Real helpful answer to the poster's question. I'm sure he is pleased with it.

You must have a stellar career in education, in addition to low self-esteem and an overriding need to justify your meagre existence.

Tote1940 Loc: Dallas

Get a Solar filter I bought Thousand Oaks.
Now a question is it worthwhile saving as RAW or JPEG enough ?
Very limited color range, at least with my filter, could be monochrome

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

I see that you are in NJ. Are you planning to travel to see the total eclipse or stay in NJ and go for the partial eclipse. If staying in NJ, then the articles reference in this posting for previous posting on the solar eclipse will do. If you have a telephoto lens and are interested in taking pictures hand-held and get good images, respond to this and I can give your some starting points to do this. The best part is that you can practice doing this before the eclipse to make sure you are ready.

tjmoore Loc: NewJersry

Going to Geneva,NY. I would welcome starting points using a telephoto lens.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

I'm adding the link below so that you can watch a video of the path of the eclipse as it passes through Mexico, US and Canada. View it on full screen on your laptop if you can. It shows the path and the cities in or near to the path. It also shows the time the eclipse will occur in your area. I checked on Geneva NY and it looks like the length of totality will be on the order of a 60-90 seconds. You're probably going to someone's house to watch it so moving closer to the center line may not be practical. All I can tell you is that the reason it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience is not only because it's rare but because it's truly a spiritual experience (not religious). I've never been moved that way by any other experience. When my wife and I watched the last eclipse in 2017, the first thing my wife said to me after it was over was "that wasn't long enough" and it lasted for us at that time 2 min 30 sec. If you could move north to the shores of Lake Ontario (~30 miles) the length might be as long as 3 minutes.

https://greatamericaneclipse.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=75e7507a1e7a51bda8ee7cfcb&id=e0cdd22748&e=258e66cb39

As far as solar filters go, Mylar film filters are excellent for pre and post totality images. You can find them on Amazon by searching for Mylar film solar filters. They offer a number of options. I bought a 6"x6" piece of film ($16) and cut it down to 5"x5". I use black electrical tape to attach one side of the film to the side of my lens (make sure the tape doesn't extend onto the lens itself) and then a 2nd piece of tape to hold down the other side. When totality occurs, I just untape one side and let the film hang off the end of the telephoto lens while making images during totality. Afterward, if you are going to keep taking pictures, just retape it. I used a cardboard CD holder to store the Mylar film in. I covered on side of the holder with Duct tape first, then put several pieces of short electrical tape on top of the Duct tape to be used to attach the filter to the lens. That slips neatly into my camara bag and hardly takes any space at all. I can take pictures of sunspots any time I want. Will still be using the same filter I used in 2017 for next month.

I'm going to send you a PM with how I set up for both pre totality and totality itself. The reason is that it will probably run a little long for posting now and may take me a day or two to get to it.

But one final piece of advice that I've passed on before. You can control all aspects of the actual picture taking but you can't control the weather. So practice, practice, practice the camera stuff and sacrifice a chicken to the weather gods for clear skies. Good Luck.

tjmoore Loc: NewJersry

Thank You so much for all yhe advice!