Beginner Solar Filter – Partial Solar Eclipse (10 Jun 2021)

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Vectorially

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Can anyone recommend a solar filter for my 52mm dia Fujifilm X-A5 camera, please, for captuting the annular partial solar eclipse in a couple weeks' time? Tx
 
Get a sheet of Baader film and make one. Cut two squares of card (a cereal packet does the job) larger than the lens. Cut a hole in both to cover the lens dia. Sandwich a piece of film between the two and staple the whole lot together. Cut another strip of card, roll it round the lens and tape it so you can slide it on and off. Make it long enough so you can cut down round one end and splay out the card into petals that you then tape or staple to the filter film holder. Do a dry run first as the film is a bit fiddly to work with and a bit delicate. If you crease it or puncture it, you can't use it. It was about £10 for an A4 sheet when I knocked up a series of filters several years ago, but cheap compared to a 'proper' filter. I'm not familiar with how mirrorless works but if there's any sort of direct viewfinder you absolutely cannot use it. Be very careful. The slightest tear or hole in the film could damage both your eye and the camera.
 
Jannyfox said:
Be very careful. The slightest tear or hole in the film could damage both your eye and the camera.
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Thank you Jannyfox for your comprehensive instructions. I think however the last bit has put me off as I'm not great with craft-y things/DIY and I don't fancy damaging my eyes.
 
@Jannyfox gives great advice.
Used with moderate care Mirrorless cameras mean your eyesight will be safe as the viewfinder/liveview have no direct visual route. If there is damage to the film but it's barely noticeable it will probably not harm your camera during the course of a few quick snaps (not a risk top take with your eyes!)
Last time I shot the sun I used shade 13 welding glass, much more rugged than solar film, but quite not as good optically & it does give a bit of a colour cast. It is at least very easy to use as it can simply be held in front of the lens as long as the lens used is less than 3" diameter.
Ordinary ND filters are NOT safe to use as they don't block infrared, while welding glass block UV & IR to a greater extent than the visual light. IIRC shade 13 works out about 18 stops. Using the welding glass I could make out sun spots which matched the ones Nasa's SOHO satellite later showed on-line for the same time & date. Admittedly their images were significantly sharper.
I now have a solar telescope so will just use the filter from that.

I see the long range forecast predicts scattered cloud here on the 10th - sod's law suggests it will hide the sun throughout the eclipse :(
 
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Baader film is easy to work with in my experience and it's easy to check it is okay before pointing it at the sun. You can make a filter then take it into a dark room, point your phone light at it and see if any bright light pops through holes.

I used to do a lot of solar astronomy and I started with baader film before moving on to different filters.

I just had a quick check as I thought I might still have a baader filter that I used on my William Optics finder scope but sadly no.

Grab a sheet of this and wrap the whole camera in it; you'll be fine and get great shots.
 
I have a solar telescope (Lunt) that I haven't used in a while, might pull it out just in case for tomorrow. Always wanted to get some photos with a camera attached to it but never got around to it, must give it a try...
 
Vectorially said:
Oh dear, next-day forecast is still overcast :(
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Our local forecast now gives 45% cloud for the time of the eclipse (building later on to 99% during the afternoon). At least there should be some wind so with luck the sun will be visible on & off throughout. It only reaches ~20% eclipsed for me, so won't be really dramatic.
 
I went to France some years ago to see the full eclipse. It was cloudy near Reims but as the eclipse began all the clouds went, apparently that is quite normal so you could be lucky.
 
Suvv said:
I went to France some years ago to see the full eclipse. It was cloudy near Reims but as the eclipse began all the clouds went, apparently that is quite normal so you could be lucky.
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That was exactly what happened for us in 1999, we were in Verdun so only about 50km from you, cloud cover during the run up (the camp site emptied as people dash for clear skies) then cleared just before the peak action. :)
My photos of that (Film camera & 500 mirror lens) were not impressive with the possible exception of one of 'Baily's beads' where camera shake made the 2 brightest part on opposite sides of the moon into a 99 (reminding me when it was taken).
The experience tomorrow can't hope to compete with totality.
 
lindsay56 said:
I have a solar telescope (Lunt) that I haven't used in a while, might pull it out just in case for tomorrow. Always wanted to get some photos with a camera attached to it but never got around to it, must give it a try...
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I know Andy Lunt and worked with him a bit on an astronomy project. Some of those scopes are stunning but I remember they were well outside my price range. He wasn't giving any away either though he did hand over a Herschel Wedge I think they were called. Don't think I still have it.

Do please give it a try, be great to see some photo's from it.
 
@moggi1964 it's going to be tricky as the sun passes across the front of our house during the morning, and I don't want to leave it set up out there while I'm working indoors, and I have a couple of meetings too, but I'll try to get it set up between 10:00 and about 11am when I believe the eclipse occurs. I may not be able to shoot using a dslr as I've not had time to practice, but I might try grab shots with my phone agains the eyepiece of the scope.
 
I wasn't impressed with the results I got linking a DSLR to my solar scope, but the filter from the scope works quite well in front of a telephoto lens :)
A phone to the eyepiece will probably give much better results than I got with my DSLR - IIRC infinity focus was an issue with the DSLR just as it is with my other newtonian scopes.
 
Oh well, one tiny brief break in the cloud and I saw the sun through my solar viewing specs and I *think* I saw partial cover but TBH I can't be sure. British weather at its best :)
 
May have been a bit darker here during the eclipse but it could just have been thicker cloud going over.
 
Vectorially said:
Oh well, one tiny brief break in the cloud and I saw the sun through my solar viewing specs and I *think* I saw partial cover but TBH I can't be sure. British weather at its best :)
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At least I was a bit luckier, the sun was visible for most of the build up, with thick cloud moving over the sun just after 11am (10 minutes before local maximum, this mostly cleared around the time of maximum coverage. After deleting the very worst efforts I have about 100 shots to go through, mainly taken between 1000mm f/11 & 2000mm f/16 I did take a few zoomed in more, & a handfull with a AF 400mm. I don't think I had a single shot without cloud visible or any that showed sun spots (quite a few showing sensor muck though).
From 11.30 cloud cover here has been total.
Even with the ISO bumped up to 8000, I was often getting shutter speeds below 1/25s - it was tempting to just take the solar filter off.
 
Nod said:
May have been a bit darker here during the eclipse but it could just have been thicker cloud going over.
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I will have been the cloud. Even in NW Scotland - which got the most coverage, the maximum was only ~40% of the diameter of the sun, somewhere around 30% of it's area. With a relatively gradual change there's no way a human could detect such a minor darkening. Even light cloud has a greater effect.
 
I was blessed with a gap in the clouds and got a bit reckless

squinted and looked through a Lee 10 stop

pretty obvious that the moon was there obscuring the top section of the currant bun

Dave
 
Petrochemist said:
At least I was a bit luckier, the sun was visible for most of the build up, with thick cloud moving over the sun just after 11am (10 minutes before local maximum, this mostly cleared around the time of maximum coverage. After deleting the very worst efforts I have about 100 shots to go through, mainly taken between 1000mm f/11 & 2000mm f/16 I did take a few zoomed in more, & a handfull with a AF 400mm. I don't think I had a single shot without cloud visible or any that showed sun spots (quite a few showing sensor muck though).
From 11.30 cloud cover here has been total.
Even with the ISO bumped up to 8000, I was often getting shutter speeds below 1/25s - it was tempting to just take the solar filter off.
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Hopefully some good shots!
 
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