solar eclipse

[MichaelLichtman]

going to be directly in the path of the total solar eclipse in Aug.  shooting with a 500f4 lens.  will Baader film taped to the hood, be strong enough to shoot partial> full eclipse without harming the lens?

[kvbarkley]

I don't know what Baader film is, but I had good luck with these:

http://thousandoaksoptical.com/solar.html

If you are lucky, you might not need a filter:

[MichaelLichtman]

did you tape this on?

[kvbarkley]

The thousand oaks filter comes with a metal ring that I slipped over the lens hood of my 150-600 and secured with tape.

[ebiggs1]

For $3 or $4 bucks you can buy welding glass.  You need to shoot RAW because the welding glass has a green tint which must be corrected in post.  Easy to do.

You will probably need to tract the Sun, too.

[kvbarkley]

If you need to track, you have too much filter. Both my filtered and unfiltered exposures were reasonable. You do need a tripod, though.

[Waddizzle]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

If you need to track, you have too much filter. Both my filtered and unfiltered exposures were reasonable. You do need a tripod, though.

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My favorite NYC online superstore has a small selection of "solar eclipse" [5.0 ND] filters, including "clear" filters. 

[RobertTheFat]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

If you need to track, you have too much filter. Both my filtered and unfiltered exposures were reasonable. You do need a tripod, though.

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And you probably wouldn't want to track. You're not photographing some distant galaxy. Eclipses happen fast, and a tracked image would be blurry and confusing. Maybe OK as a work of art, but not as an accurate record of a once in a lifetime astronomical event.

I hope you'll be luckier than I was. I was literally at the best possible location to view the total solar eclipse of 1964. The American Astronomical Society was there too - invited by my uncle, who was head of the Astronomy Department at the University of Maine. Clouds obliterated the entire event.

[MichaelLichtman]

thank you for that great info

[Waddizzle]

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@MichaelLichtman wrote:

going to be directly in the path of the total solar eclipse in Aug.  shooting with a 500f4 lens.  will Baader film taped to the hood, be strong enough to shoot partial> full eclipse without harming the lens?

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Do a web search for "solar photography filters".  They sell threaded filters that screw on your lenses in many standard sizes.  An 5.0 ND filter is what I have found.