Shooting Solar Eclipse with DVX200?

E

EdRicker

Active member
Hi all,
With excitement building in my state about the upcoming solar eclipse on August 21, Ive decided to try to shoot it with the DVX200.
Unfortunately, my decision has come a bit late as most online retailers are sold out of 72mm solar filters.
So my question is...if I use the internal ND64 of the DVX200, stack an ND8, polarizer, and a UV filter (I assume UV filtration would be good along with the camera’s build in IR filter) and close the iris/ISO250/2000+ shutter, would I:
A. Prevent damage to my camera and
B. Get any sort of usable image?

The above filter setup alone achieves 10 stops of light reduction if I’m not mistaken, which is the minimum recommended by photographers for solar photography.

Should I use the above and also buy an ND400, or would that be too much? Any other benefits that a solar filter has that the above setup would not provide?

Thanks in advance guys!
 
Last edited:
I can't answer your question but.....

I've decided *not* to video the event. It's going to be recorded by millions of people and I know I won't do a better, or even as good a , job as many of them will. I plan to experience the event without having my brain wrapped around a camera.

Just my $.02. :-)
 
Will this solar eclipse be any different than the previous solar eclipse? Or the previous, previous solar eclipse before that? To me they all look the same and are not that exciting. And like Larry said, there will be millions of people shooting the event. And I would venture to say, most of the shots and footage will be identical. You also need to be concerned with protecting your eyes. Why take the time, and why risk any damage to your camera? Ed, you create great content, unless you have a special reason for shooting it, or are going to try something different, I am not sure why you would be doing it.
 
Well I will be experimenting with my settings in the days leading up to the event so that I don't have to be messing with my camera much during the event itself.
Regardless, just because other people are going to be doing it doesn't mean it's pointless to do it. How about you just stop shooting sunsets too? There are enough of those on YouTube right?

BTW the last total solar eclipse visible here was in 1979, so 38 years is the main difference between this one and the last one...
 
I'm in a similar boat; I'd kinda like to shoot the eclipse, but I didn't want to drop lots of $$$ on a filter that I'll only use once, and didn't realize that cheap polyester versions existed until everyone was sold out. Would it work to take the plastic film lens from a pair of eclipse glasses and put it behind the rear lens element (I'm using a Sony A6300 mirrorless camera) or would the concentration of light melt the plastic eclipse film?

I guess that EdRicker's question and my question is, do we need to block certain wavelengths of light or just attenuate the light to the equivalent of 16 stops or so of ND?
 
Imamacuser said:
I'm in a similar boat; I'd kinda like to shoot the eclipse, but I didn't want to drop lots of $$$ on a filter that I'll only use once, and didn't realize that cheap polyester versions existed until everyone was sold out. Would it work to take the plastic film lens from a pair of eclipse glasses and put it behind the rear lens element (I'm using a Sony A6300 mirrorless camera) or would the concentration of light melt the plastic eclipse film?

I guess that EdRicker's question and my question is, do we need to block certain wavelengths of light or just attenuate the light to the equivalent of 16 stops or so of ND?
Click to expand...


I was on eBay and found a few solar film variants, though they were all shipping from China and/or didn't look legit. However, I decided to search for 67mm versions for my AG-UX90 and found a Spectrum 67mm solar film filter (ND 5.0, ND100,000 equivalent).
I went for it, just hoping it arrives in time.

I feel better risking my UX90 over my DVX200. The 90 has 2x better optical zoom and a tighter frame anyway, so hoping to get a better shot. I'll report back how it works (and maybe a few test shots if I get it in time).
I'll probably still stack a 67mm UV filter just for added safety.
 
Last edited:
Shooting the eclipse might be a fun thing to do, but being such a rare and brief event, it seems the best thing to do is to ignore the camera for a moment and enjoy the experience. I see so many people at rare events staring at their phones shooting an event that thousands of others are shooting and then they miss the experience.
 
Last edited:
ND is no good. You'll fry your sensor. It's not just the visible light, it's the other radiation you also have to worry about. You need a solar photography filter. You also need to zoom in a lot...and be able to carefully track the sun as it moves across the sky. Also, unless you're somewhere near St. Louis, you'll only see a partial eclipse. Once the sun is eclipsed, albeit totally or partially, you won't need anything special in front of your lens to capture the results of the ultimate practical flag.

https://www.space.com/37223-how-to-photograph-solar-eclipse.html
 
Hi all,
My solar filter arrived! Check out this test I did:

It's a little wavy/soft, and I attribute that to my shoot location...hot pavement.
I'll try to shoot the actual eclipse over grass.

Also, as you'll notice, the sun moves rather quickly through the frame (not sped up). However, with a simple tilt adjustment every few seconds, I should be able to get a good shot of the eclipse AND get to enjoy the event with my family at the same time!

Here's my second test after reviewing my first test:
I was messing with gain a bit to see what looked best.

If anyone's interested, I had a wide open iris, 800 iso, no ND filter, and 1/120 shutter speed. Shooting 4k at 30fps, cropped into the image about 50%.

In 2nd retrospect, I should have a more closed iris. That way I'll have a deeper depth of field, and it will be easier to get perfect focus.
 
Last edited:
For me, the eclipse was somewhat ordinary and modestly interesting until it went total. Even at 90 percent, while the light was dim and the weather cooled, it was seemingly not much more interesting than seeing the moon in its different phases. Once it went total, I became awestruck as did everyone around me. With the sky a midnight blue, I could not take my eyes off the eclipse. It was spectacular. One of the best minutes of my life. A minute after the sun peeked out again, I was in my car headed home with a big grin on my face.
 
Paul F said:
For me, the eclipse was somewhat ordinary and modestly interesting until it went total. Even at 90 percent, while the light was dim and the weather cooled, it was seemingly not much more interesting than seeing the moon in its different phases. Once it went total, I became awestruck as did everyone around me. With the sky a midnight blue, I could not take my eyes off the eclipse. It was spectacular. One of the best minutes of my life. A minute after the sun peeked out again, I was in my car headed home with a big grin on my face.
Click to expand...

Very similar to my experience!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top