Hydro47 Loc: NW Indiana

April 8th will bring a near total eclipse in my area . Everybody is getting eclipse glasses to view it. What are the safety rules for shooting the eclipse?

Busbum Loc: 85367

Here is a link to Fred Espanek's Mr Eclipse, whom I met at the 2017 Eclipse in Casper, WY;

https://www.mreclipse.com/SEphoto/SEphoto.html

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

It's all about protecting your eyes first and your camera second.

* Never look directly at the eclipse without protective glasses.
* Always use a high value ND filter on the camera, designed for eclipse shooting. (typically an 18-20 stop ND filter - EXPENSIVE $$$.)
* Keep the lens cap on the camera when not shooting - will prevent internal burns during long exposure to the sun.
* Use live view on the DSLR - don't look through an OVF at the eclipse!
* On a mirrorless, of course you can look through the EVF or use the screen.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

To answer your title question, YES, if you wear the proper protection. Didn't your mother tell you that.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

If you have a telephoto and a DSLR without a proper filter, and try viewing the sun, your eye will be either severely damaged or blind in that eye. Only during totality, the 3 or 4 minutes the moon covers the sun's disk, will no filter be needed. And unless you get a proper filter that stops both light and UV rays for your DSLR camera, you cannot use the DSLR for viewing the sun before totality. With a mirrorless camera, you will still need a filter to protect the camera. But since you are only viewing a screen with a mirrorless camera, there are no UV rays to damage or blind your eye. If you do not get a proper filter to block the sunlight for your camera and a proper filter to block the sunlight and UV rays for your eyes, damage and/or blindness will occur. Those are the rules.