Absolutely not! You need to do more research. If you use an unacceptable filter, you will damage or lose your eye or damage your shutter and/or sensor. You must go to proper sources and have proper equipment. Start with NASA's eclipse web site and the Thousand Oaks web site. B&H Photo and Adorama should have proper information also.

Most photographic camera filters for eclipses will cut the light level but not the UV. That concentrated UV will burn your eye if you are using a DSLR. There are materials made by manufacturers that will cut out both high light levels and stop the UV rays. And then there are other materials that just cut the light level and not the UV. You have to use the absolutely correct materials with your camera or your eyes unless you want to chance eye damage or blindness. Welders glass will also attenuate both light level and stop UV rays. Welding produces both high intensity light and UV similar to the sun. I have used an ND 18 welders glass, along with Thousand Oaks eye shades, in the film days for both shooting and naked eye viewing. But when I was much younger, I came within a half a second of being blind in one eye because of incorrect filter usage. You must be very careful with your filter usage when it comes to viewing the sun. If done properly, it is exciting and fun. But it is a dangerous risk if not done properly.

Again, go to both the NASA web site and Thousand Oaks web site for the best information.

Look at the MindShift Gear BackLight 18L Backpack (Woodland Green) or MindShift Gear BackLight 26L Backpack (Woodland Green). It can be swung around from the backpack position to in front of you and has a support cord to keep the equipment from falling as one changes equipment. The backpack works well even if you take it off your back a put it on the ground since the backpack's padding never touches the ground (faces up when on the ground for equipment access). There are some LowePro and Manfrotto backpack that are good, but the MindShift have been the most lmpressive as for true access to one's equipment.

If you are within about three miles of the launch, you should be OK. Otherwise, I would recommend a teleconverter with the 300. If it is a nighttime shot, you will have about 5 seconds to shoot the launch such that you can distinguish the rocket as it leaves the pad. Otherwise, you will need a wide angle lens to capture the exhaust trail as it lifts off and then starts to roll over to an angle to make it to orbit. Daytime shots don't have the same problem, but they do take off just as fast off the launch pad. Since they are in daylight, they can be shot longer until they are really to small to see. Have fun.

"not up to par" is a relative term. Depth of field is not the same as larger format cameras. ISO is not the same as larger format cameras. One cannot take 120 frames per second without using a larger format camera. Although smartphones will maybe get it in the future, there are no phones that I know of that do pre-capture.

Now if one does not need or use things like that, then the smartphones and regular cameras become much more alike. And I like my smartphone camera too. I just like my OM camera better.

The lenses I have can only use one teleconverter at a time. But the lenses that allow the teleconverter's usage were originally designed for the usage of the teleconverter. Therefore, the image from the lens with the teleconverter is very sharp even in the corners. Yes, there will always be some image loss. But the image difference from a longer lens at that focal length compared to the lens plus teleconverter will be very minimal.

One other source is welder's glass. One can get photographic frames with lens thread adapter inserts for mounting the squares of glass (welder's glass of 17, 18, or 19 should be enough). In my opinion, the best way for one's lens and body is a proper filter so the filter is optically flat. But the welder's glass is safe for optical viewing of the sun. It will cut off all UV rays from your eyes. But be aware that not all lens filters are designed and made to cut out UV rays. Unless they specifically quote the proper specification stating so, they may not block UV rays. Viewing the sun with a lens filter, that is not designed to cut off UV rays, can and probably will lead to eye damage or blindness.

Thousand Oaks Optical is another good site.
https://thousandoaksoptical.com/

Welcome to eclipse hunter's dilemma! The answer is - there is no truly 100% correct answer!!! No matter how well one plans, that cloud that drifts in for the time of totality cannot actually be planned for. I know because I have been there. Out of three total eclipses I have gone to, the longest one for my lifetime was clouded out. And some times it is a random decision that will "kill" it for you.

The only thing you can do is plan the best you can and hope for the best. Decide on how much money you want to spend on this adventure as a start. And realize that although the weather is predicted to be better in Texas, the key word is "predicted". Global warming has caused the jet streams to go further north (~80°F Anchorage, AK warmer than freezing Denver, CO on the same day) and south (a 65°F high while cruising just below Cuba and Haiti; the pool was nearly empty) and very unpredictable. These weather predictions are based off of history, not April 8, 2024. And that history is now less accurate due to the more wobbly jet stream.

The best way to plan for all this is to either stay in one place (Indiana) and drive to a nearby possible clear spot or go to a mid point outside of the totality path between Indiana and Texas and drive to a clear spot after seeing how the weather patterns develop on the news stations. And there will still be no garenttees that the whole totality path will not be covered with clouds.

But remember, if you don't try to see it, you will never see it. It is always worth the try, even if you are clouded out.

Personally, I would put the camera in "P" (Program mode). This way the two control knobs near the shutter button will control the shutter speed (try to stay around 1/60) and exposure compensation. "A" (Auto mode) will basically make almost all the exposure decisions for you with little input from you. "M" (Manual mode) requires that you control just about everything without the camera trying to make any corrections. "M" is the hardest mode for a beginner without a teacher or instructor.

If I were you, I would invest in either a photography course or photography book (or both). You may find that it will let you "see" life and the world very differently.

And "meter" means light meter which tells one how much light the camera is "seeing".

"This is from the Japanese BCN association for camera sales for 2023.

1.Sony ZV-E10
2.Sony A6400
3.Canon R50
4.Canon R10
5.Canon M2
6.Olympus E-P7
7.Nikon ZFc
8.Olympus E-PL10
9.Olympus E-M10IV
10.Sony A7IV"

I have no doubt looking at the professionals and professional cameras that Sony will be at top. And even with all the camera sales in Japan for 2023, Sony has the top spot even if they are not the professional end of Sony. I think it is impressive that the professional oriented A7 mkIV did make 10th on the list. This camera had to compete with all the cameras bought by people wanting something better than their phones and still not have to sell their first born to get it. Sony, when they entered the camera market, said they wanted to be number one. And as far as I can see, they are definitely number one to the chagrin of Canon and Nikon. But based off the BCN, not everyone is willing to go as high as the professional level. And this would be as expected considering what I would expect the ratio of general public to professional photographers.

As far as what I would expect at concerts and sporting events, covered by professional photographers, it will most likely be seriously dominated by Sony.

gwilliams6, I have no reason to doubt your information. Yes, the 8 stops can be found in both the A7 mkIV and A9 mkIII (8 and 8.5 are basically the same in my opinion). And as many manufactures as can, they tie in their lens's IS to their body's IS. I personally think it has been one of the best technical advances for cameras.

Although most of the optical design came from Sigma, the "tweaks" were from OMDS. The Sigma lens has 4 stops IS while the OM lens has 7 stops IS (with 7 stops ILIS, Panasonic 4/3rds can also use the lens). The Sigma lens is listed as "dust and splash-resistant structure" with no rating. The OM lens is rated as IP53 and truly weatherproof. How much did these design changes and quality upgrades cost (they were not free). The OM 150-600 may or may not be "way overpriced". But I am not surprised by some of the sharing of one company's product. Sigma makes more profit on a design and sale of parts and OMDS only needs to modify the design to meet OMDS's upper end non-professional lens requirements. This becomes a win-win for both companies.

Part of the problem is that the chips have changed in the OM-1 mkII plus the firmware software has changed. The buffer in the mkII is twice the size of the original OM-1. And the operational chips have changed basically the same amount. This means that stuff that one would normally hope to upgrade in the original will not upgrade because it would require more space than is available in the original OM-1. The push by OMDS to put more computational software in their cameras is amazing and very useful. How many full frame cameras have a density filter system, a variable density system, and three choices for the line sharpness? And how many of the other features can be found in a full frame camera at the $2400 price. "None" comes to my mind. I can spend $2400 and get more than spending $6500. Plus the system is still smaller, lighter, and less costly in many other aspects. It is innovations like these that will push OMDS and 4/3rds into the future. Yes, the eventual 25mp or 30mp sensor will help. But having all the "computer" and what were post-processing features to use live while shooting is more important to me.

Canisdirus is just jealous that we have now what his camera will only have sometime in the future. Both OMDS and Panasonic will push the technology that the other brands will eventually copy.