How do I photograph the sun?

craigfrag

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Any advice gratefully received

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I think there are filters made specifically for that.
 
I used shade 10 welding glass to photograph the transit of Venus.
 
I used shade 10 welding glass to photograph the transit of Venus.
Not good. NASA recommends #14 welding glass only. Apparently it has a thin metal coating on the glass that is recommended for all sun viewing.
 
I used shade 10 welding glass to photograph the transit of Venus.
Not good. NASA recommends #14 welding glass only. Apparently it has a thin metal coating on the glass that is recommended for all sun viewing.

It may have been a shade 14 now that I think about it. It was a while ago, I don't remember haha.
 
Might want to check. I would hate to see anyone end up with eye damage or blindness.
 
Might want to check. I would hate to see anyone end up with eye damage or blindness.

Yup, it was shade 14. Good thing I had a video when that picture was presented on our local news channel. I guess I was smart enough then. Lol
 
Baader makes a nice solar film

But you have to understand what for initially ==> Differences in AstroSolar® Solar Films - AstroSolar.com

then, dependent upon your location,
search for someone that makes either the film for a film holder like Cokin
or a screw in filter, or a generic assembly.
 
Any advice gratefully received
There are different types of solar filters.
What features, if any, on the Sun do you want to photograph?
Or do you just want a white circle that has no detail?
For the Sun to have much in the way of scale in the frame you'll need quite a bit of magnification.

The least expensive filters will let you see/photograph sun spots.
You can make a DIY filter for your camera lens using a small sheet of solar filter material like the Baader film or like this:
4"x4" Solar Filter Sheet for Telescopes, Binoculars and Cameras
Or you can use a small telescope with a solar filter on it if you want the sun to have more scale in the image frame.

If you want to see/photograph solar granulation and/or prominences you'll need to use a hydrogen alpha filter.
At the low end small 40 mm, f/10 solar telescopes with an internal non-removable 1.0 angstrom hydrogen-alpha (Ha) bandpass filter start at about $630:
Meade Instruments Personal Solar Telescope

You can step up a bit to the same telescope with a 0.5 angstrom hydrogen-alpha (Ha) bandpass for $1200:
Meade Instruments 0.5PST Coronado H-Alpha Personal Solar Telescope (Black)

From there the cost of solar telescopes goes up pretty fast as the objective lens gets larger.
90 mm f/8 or so solar telescopes with 0.5 angstroms of bandpass are in the $5000 range.

To look at sunspots I use an 80 mm f/5 regular telescope. I put a
Orion 7785 4.00-Inch ID E-Series Safety Film Solar Filter on the telescope. With that filter I can't see prominences nor granulation detail.

102515_ST80w17mm.jpg
 
You might want one of these.........
Giant-Cameras.jpg


Yup, it is real camera. That is one serious piece of equipment for astro photography.
 

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