Going with the other Eclipse thread of why. How many tried and could not get a picture?

[benhasajeep]

I talked to several people today who drove to see the eclipse. Not a single one of them got a picture though their filters!

No one knew how to get their camera / cellphone to focus though the filter!!!! Everyone figured put filter on, take picture. So, not only did they spend the time to go and take pictures. And spend money on filters. But they failed as well, because they didn't take the time to read directions, or know their camera.

 

[DonaldC]

It is sad these photographers were not able to get such a momentous shot such as the solar eclipse, and I am not surprised that the people you spoke with were not able to get a focused shot of the eclipse. Disable auto focus and pre focus using manual focus without the filter using the hyperfocal distance, or set the the lens to infinity focus, then put the filter on, especially such a specialized dark filter.
I want to know how many photogs blew up their cameras by not having the correct filters mounted. Repairs usually spike after shooting solar eclipses.


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[yamaha pat]

I think the problem was they didn't practice, I spent three days at the same time of day of the eclipse and got quite proficient at getting a nice round orange disc.

 

[benhasajeep]

I want to know how many photogs blew up their cameras by not having the correct filters mounted. Repairs usually spike after shooting solar eclipses.


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Everyone I saw, I said the same thing. Don't ruin your phone camera by trying to take a pic of the sun. Where I was it was only about 85-90%. Some had those cheesy cardboard glasses and were holding them over their cellphone camera.

 

[benhasajeep]

I think the problem was they didn't practice, I spent three days at the same time of day of the eclipse and got quite proficient at getting a nice round orange disc.

I have my travel camera here, but no filter. So, didn't even try. I will probably pick up a filter off ebay, as I have a feeling there will be a bunch on there cheap. Next one in US will be going just about over my house up in Maine.

 

[deeky]

NOBODY here got a good shot of the eclipse. Parts of town got 6 inches of rain, of which the eclipse came right in the middle of. We weren't sure if it was getting dark due to the eclipse or just the rain clouds.

 

[astroNikon]

Yes, the camera has to be put to Manual Focus and then set the lens to infinity if you have the markings. Otherwise focus on some far distant object then turn off AF and put the filter on.

If one didn't know how to do that beforehand then they usually weren't able to get a good shot.

I've always wondered myself how the temperatures inside the lens/camera fluctuate being pointed directly to the sun. I always cover the lens when not taking a picture, even with the filters. Thus I was taking 2 pictures every 3 minutes, and in between I would turn the camera off and put my hat over the lens.

 

[petrochemist]

Cloud cover here completely blocked all views of the sun till about 40 hours after it was all over.
In the past I've shot the sun through filters & AF has worked perfectly well, as long as the AF point was set to the edge of the sun. I've not had the chance to test this during a partial eclipse, but it should make AF easier...
Aligning long lenses on the sun can be tricky, most of my zooms go wide enough that it's not too much of a pain. My solar telescope (350mm without eyepieces & much tighter when the EP is fitted) is a struggle, getting close can be done looking at it's shadow, but it still needs a lot of searching to find the sun - I've not yet managed it with the high power EP (roughly 3500mm).
Trying to use filters during totality would of course be doomed to failure - though I'm sure some people tried.

I hadn't done any real research for the 1999 eclipse in Belgium. My photographs where not particularly impressive, though I think the biggest problem was I'd left my tripod at home so had huge camera shake during totality.

 

[dunfly]

I travelled to Clarksville Tennessee to see the eclipse, take a few pictures and eat some BBQ. Manual focus was the only way to go. Camera could not find focus through the solar filter (a cheap Daystar filter from B&H). I got some decent shots, particularly at full eclipse when you didn't need the filter. I don't see how you could get anything without a tripod. That must have really been a challenge.

 

[Designer]

My primary goal was to get pictures of the grandchildren watching the eclipse. Got one or two that I'll keep.

Didn't buy a solar filter, didn't make elaborate plans, didn't plan to get any shots of the eclipse, and the cloud cover made sure I didn't.

 

[astroNikon]

I travelled to Clarksville Tennessee to see the eclipse, take a few pictures and eat some BBQ. Manual focus was the only way to go. Camera could not find focus through the solar filter (a cheap Daystar filter from B&H). I got some decent shots, particularly at full eclipse when you didn't need the filter. I don't see how you could get anything without a tripod. That must have really been a challenge.

I made 2 types of images throughout the entire time which were done at Shutters of 1/100 and 1/1250. these are times with the proper solar filter.
I guess I could have hand held those but mine was on a tripod with remote release and it was a hat rack when not taking pictures (to cover the lens to reduce heat buildup).

 

[VidThreeNorth]

I have been too busy to post much lately, which is a pity because I did find an important video on Youtube regarding photos of the sun:

"How to MELT your camera shooting the eclipse!",
posted by "Everything Photography", Aug 18, 2017
""

We'll have to wait and see if anyone reports a trashed camera or damaged eyesight. I can only hope that we do not see any of this.

On the brighter side, I am posting a link to a time-lapse that I made earlier this year. I made no specific calculations about safety regarding this camcorder, because I assumed that the calculations would not be needed. The camcorder is a Git2 with a 4.35mm F/2.8 rectilinear lens. Why did I assume it was safe? Because the Git2 series camcorders are intended as POV cameras aka "GoPro" types, and have very wide coverage. Mine is nominally a "90 degree" angle (really I think I calculated it as about 72 degrees horizontal in 1080p with no stabilization). With these camcorders it is assumed that it will be largely used without someone watching out for whether the sun is in the view, and with the wide coverage, the sun is going to be there a lot. As a "straw argument" let me estimate that in some sports, the sun might be on the sensor typically around 1/3rd of the time. If the lens / sensor combination cannot handle this then they would have had a damage problem that end users would have talked about by now.

But realistically, for most "one piece" point and shoot devices, including phones, I would expect them to be safe for this kind of use. They might not get the result you want, but they should be able to survive it.

My time lapses are usually recorded at either 1/2 hour recording for 1 minute of video or 1 hour recording for 1 minute of video. This clip took over 4 hours. The camcorder is fine. I have a new, slightly better lens that I intend to use on this camcorder, but I have not had time to install it yet.

"20170130 Toronto Sunrise Git2 4.35mm 2.8 Lens [4K] v2",
posted by "VidThreeNorth", Feb 2, 2017
""

 

[chuasam]

I'm pleased with this one too

 

[webestang64]

We had 4 cameras (one rental) with melted sensors come into the camera store on Tuesday.

I just downloaded some photos from NASA......better photos that I could have ever taken.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I did the pinhole projector thing, like I remember doing with kids during some partial eclipse whenever it was. Took a couple of photos of the shadow with my digital but haven't done more than look at them on the back of the camera.

I watched NASA tv.