Total solar eclipse - What to take?

[joaquimsrs]

Hi Guys,

I'll be travelling to China in 2 weeks, and will be there during the eclipse. Not sure what kind of filters to use though. I know that during the totality no filters are needed, but before? What do you suggest?

Thanks

[Bill Boehme]

You can get a white light solar filter for under $100 which is very good, but it will not show flares, coronal mass ejections, and prominences. A hydrogen alpha filter will show those things, but are extremely expensive costing between $500 and $1500. These are all telescope filters -- I do not know what is available specifically for camera lenses.

Can you clarify whether you will be using a long lens and taking pictures of just the sun or if the pictures will be more like landscape shots.

[Celestron]

Check this out :

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

[joaquimsrs]

Thank you for the link Celestron. It was exactly what I was looking for.

Cheers.

[hollis_f]

I made my own filter using a piece of Baader Astrofilm sandwiched between two UV filters. Make sure the film goes right to the edge of the filter so that no sunlight can creep in. Don't worry if the film is wrinkled a bit - it'll still work perfectly OK.

Another possibility is to make a cardboard tube that can slide over the front of your lens and tape the film over one end. I preferred the screw-in option as it's much harder for it to come off accidentaly.

One cautionary note - be prepared to be disappointed in your photos. All of the images I took in 2006 (some here (http://imageevent.com/frankhollis/eclipse)) were, in my opinion, rubbish. But that's because every photo ever taken of a total eclipse is rubbish - in comparison to the actual event.

One thing I wish I'd done it to take a small video camera and set it up nearby to record the people watching the eclipse. I think that might bring back some better memories of the experience than the photos (although the soundtrack would probably have needed some censoring).

[competent123]

A Great trick hollis, and i partially agree with you, that all the photos ever taken of eclipses are rubbish, maybe technically they are rubbish, still they make money.
and whatever makes money, is not rubbish. my opinion though