danstanbury
Active member
Hi I'd like to record a sunset but obviously want to avoid risking damage to my dvx, does anyone have any advice / tips etc?
Thanks
Dan
Thanks
Dan
How do you shooting the sun setting
- Thread starter danstanbury
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danstanbury
Active member
Hi Kevin thanks for looking out for us newbies again.
So as long as I use the internal ND filters, its ok to point at the sun?
Should I also use a UV or polarising filter at the same time? Cheers Dan
So as long as I use the internal ND filters, its ok to point at the sun?
Should I also use a UV or polarising filter at the same time? Cheers Dan
khmuse
Tech Guru
The amount of atmosphere that the sun must pass through at sunset accomplishes a large amount of attenuation, however, you still have to be concerned with over heating the imagers. As long as you limit the exposure duration and use ND, you will be fine.
A UV filter will only attenuate the UV part of the spectrum, where ND is broadband in its effect. A polarizer will provide attenuation and may have a desirable effect as well. By the time you get an acceptable exposure, the total energy "seen" by the camera will be within safe limits.
I would recommend putting a lens cap on when you are not composing or shooting to reduce the duration of exposure.
Have fun and post some grabs of what you get.:thumbsup:
A UV filter will only attenuate the UV part of the spectrum, where ND is broadband in its effect. A polarizer will provide attenuation and may have a desirable effect as well. By the time you get an acceptable exposure, the total energy "seen" by the camera will be within safe limits.
I would recommend putting a lens cap on when you are not composing or shooting to reduce the duration of exposure.
Have fun and post some grabs of what you get.:thumbsup:
danstanbury
Active member
Thanks. I was planning to shoot the whole sequence at normal speed and then take out frames to speed it up but now it sounds safer to use the single shot function and block the lens in between frames. As for posting grabs I'll see how they turn out first, won't be until the new year as I'm waiting to get to Thailand before trying this, not much sun here at this time of year! Cheers Dan
Lensmith
Well-known member
You can use the extra filters if you like but the camera can handle sunsets just fine as is with the highest grade internal ND filter in place. The camera, if properly exposed, will not be damaged by shooting the sun as it sets.
I've even used my sun glasses in front of the lens to cut down on light and give the image a little more contrast above and beyond any external or internal filters involved. Of course I was zoomed in a bit through my sun glasses to do this and I was shooting a solar eclipse at the time...but it all looked darn good when I was done. And my camera was just fine too.
Two things to worry about with the sun. You don't ever want to leave your camera pointed constantly at the sun for more than a few minutes unless you have some heavier than normal filters on it. It's just not good for the camera. Also, in my part of the world, people have damaged their eyepiece viewfinders not realizing that the sun was shining into it while it was flipped skyward. They damaged the small monitor with magnified rays/heat of the sun passing through the eyepiece, which are then naturally magnified, then hit inside. This damages only the eyepiece viewfinder and it's electronics from high heat and not the internal electronics of the camera itself.
It's a simple problem to avoid but sometimes people just forget to not have that eyepiece viewfinder pointed up at the sky. Especially on low angle shots where they are setting up a shot and taking too much time. The damage from direct sunlight passing through to the eyepiece can happen if the camera is powered on or off.
In todays world you can do a lot of color adjustment in post but...if you're limited...you can white balance the camera on something very light blue, like faded blue jeans, and you get a lot more red, without it being too obnoxiious, in the final sunset shot. Try it sometime and you'll see what I mean.
Just my thoughts...
I've even used my sun glasses in front of the lens to cut down on light and give the image a little more contrast above and beyond any external or internal filters involved. Of course I was zoomed in a bit through my sun glasses to do this and I was shooting a solar eclipse at the time...but it all looked darn good when I was done. And my camera was just fine too.
Two things to worry about with the sun. You don't ever want to leave your camera pointed constantly at the sun for more than a few minutes unless you have some heavier than normal filters on it. It's just not good for the camera. Also, in my part of the world, people have damaged their eyepiece viewfinders not realizing that the sun was shining into it while it was flipped skyward. They damaged the small monitor with magnified rays/heat of the sun passing through the eyepiece, which are then naturally magnified, then hit inside. This damages only the eyepiece viewfinder and it's electronics from high heat and not the internal electronics of the camera itself.
It's a simple problem to avoid but sometimes people just forget to not have that eyepiece viewfinder pointed up at the sky. Especially on low angle shots where they are setting up a shot and taking too much time. The damage from direct sunlight passing through to the eyepiece can happen if the camera is powered on or off.
In todays world you can do a lot of color adjustment in post but...if you're limited...you can white balance the camera on something very light blue, like faded blue jeans, and you get a lot more red, without it being too obnoxiious, in the final sunset shot. Try it sometime and you'll see what I mean.
Just my thoughts...
danstanbury
Active member
Thanks John. I like the idea of white balancing on light blue will definitely try that. I was hoping to condens the last hour of or half hour of the sun setting into about 30 seconds. I suppose this would be way too long to keep the camera pointed at the sun without getting a heavy duty external ND filter? Cheers Dan
Sunset shooting is not harmfull for your cam if a few things are taken into account:
- never set the exposure above the vertical streaking level (for CCD only)
- never lower the exposure level by setting an higher shutterspeed (and open the iris) below field refresh time (1/60 for NTSC). Even at 1/10000 the sun "burns" on your CCD all the time. There is no mechanical shutter. So use ND if needed
Before a CCD structure (=silicon backed at very high temperatures) gets burned, the glued on filters (IR, mozaik for single CCD cams) get destructed. This is also what happens with the polars in viewfinder LCD's when they get burned by direct sunlight. Closing the lens is only needed during (long) standby periods. When yr cam is off, the iris closes and protects your CCD
- never set the exposure above the vertical streaking level (for CCD only)
- never lower the exposure level by setting an higher shutterspeed (and open the iris) below field refresh time (1/60 for NTSC). Even at 1/10000 the sun "burns" on your CCD all the time. There is no mechanical shutter. So use ND if needed
Before a CCD structure (=silicon backed at very high temperatures) gets burned, the glued on filters (IR, mozaik for single CCD cams) get destructed. This is also what happens with the polars in viewfinder LCD's when they get burned by direct sunlight. Closing the lens is only needed during (long) standby periods. When yr cam is off, the iris closes and protects your CCD