FS7: Mercury Sun Transit

egproductions

egproductions

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Mercury will be passing between the sun and earth tomorrow. Filming the sun, good idea? Bad idea? Thoughts?

I was thinking to turn my internal NDs on, close down my aperture, shutter angle, etc. I would use my sigma 150-600 in 2k crop mode. Dont want to burn a hole through my sensor.
 
I'm thinking what you are proposing will destroy your sensor, and maybe even your iris and internal ND filter. Suggest cover your lens with solar safety film which you can buy from an astronomy supply store.
 
Staff at the astronomy store might be able to put you in touch with amateur astronomers planning on viewing the transit with special solar scopes. They might even let you hook up your camera to the scope.
 
Thanks for the responses. I've read that it might be ok if you put enough ND in front of your sensor but I stil very hesitant to risk it unless someone has experience doing this with the FS7
 
If you had a 10 stop exterior ND filter, you might look through it with your eyes and see if you’re in the right ballpark. Obviously, protect your eyes. Yes, Iris and internal ND will help a little.
I wouldn’t change your shutter angle, because that might give you a false positive: it looks good in your monitor, but it’s still frying your sensor.
 
I shot the sun today using some Baader Astrosolar film (ND 5.0) in front of the lens. Worked really well, I shot in 1080p, centre crop. Just wish i had a lens longer than 300mm.
 
The built in ND and the fastest shutter speed is still 6 stops overexposed. Tried a brief test 2 weeks ago with the 150-600mm Sigma. Could make out a major sunspot, but exposure washed everything else out.
 
I gave it a shot today since I was already filming a baseball game. I used a few additional ND gels but it was too hazy in central park so it was a moot point. Guess I'll wait another 10 years.
 
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