# Anyone Shoot the Sun ?



## K-amps (May 18, 2012)

Never having shot the nearest star... I would like to know if using a ND100 to ND1000 infront of a 100-400L would be enough to shield the optics/sensor from thermal runaway. 

For those that have done it before, what settings are recommended? I would like to capture some sunspots if it is possible. How long an exposure would I need?


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## Drizzt321 (May 18, 2012)

Yea, but it didn't do any good. Took that asteroid right in and made it disappear with nary a splash 

On the other hand, I haven't tried my dream 50mm f/14 yet.







Being slightly more serious, if you are using anything but a solar filter rated for Visual usage, *DO NOT USE THE VIEW FINDER*, use the LiveView setting. >=ND3.8 should be fine for photography, although I wouldn't leave it in LiveView mode, and I'd cover it up to keep the shutter from overheating. You need something like the BAADER AstroSolar visual film at ND5 or the Thousand Oaks Visual solar filter if you want to use the View Finder. Even if you stack ND filters to ND5+, unless it's a specially rated ND filter/filter film you'll still get too much IR/UV and it *WILL* damage your eyes.


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## lol (May 18, 2012)

I'd echo that. Baader do a ND5 solar viewing film that's designed to be safe for direct viewing. They also do a weaker ND3.8 version for imaging. I have previously used the ND5 version with the 100-400L, with Sigma 2x teleconverter to help fill the frame some more. Ball park exposure was ISO800 1/1000s f/11. I think I could have got away with a shorter exposure and thus lower ISO too. It will show sunpots but otherwise you get a rather featureless image.





Baader Solar Film (ND5), 600D, 100-400L + Sigma 2x for 800mm, f/11 1/1000s ISO800. 

For something a bit more interesting, if higher budget, look at H-alpha imaging. Simple filters are not good enough here, and the budget option is getting the Coronado Personal Solar Scope. However I had a bit of trouble initially getting a DSLR mounted to that, and in the end had to use eyepiece projection as opposed to prime focus. The Baader Hyperion eyepieces have an optional ring which lets you connect it to via a T-mount adapter to a DSLR. Note the H-alpha emissions are in a region of a standard DSLR where it isn't very sensitive. You can get more sensitivity with something like a 60Da or otherwise a regular one modified to alter the IR block response or remove it totally. Also note only the red sensors are significantly sensitive so don't expect high resolution without some serious processing tricks I haven't tried yet.





Canon 450D full spectrum modified. ISO100 1/50s. Coronado Personal Solar Scope (400mm f/10). Baader Hyperion 17mm eyepiece with T-adapter + 7.5mm extension to T-mount.

I know I need to work on my processing!

A further option is to look at Calcium K-line emissions. Again Baader do a filter kit, consisting of an eyepiece filter and a pack of their ND3.8 film. You need to add that to a regular scope though, and I think a cheap one would be ok. Maybe there's a way to bodge it to a lens. I'm currently debating going this route myself. This is way over the opposite end of the spectrum to above, where it is bordering between blue and near UV.


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## Wild (May 19, 2012)

Great shots lol!


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## K-amps (May 19, 2012)

Thanks guys!

lol that orange shot is what I am aiming for.... however it seems a simple ND/5D3 will not get me there. I tried it and all I got was a white/ grey blob.


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## atozeghers (Jul 11, 2017)

This image with the H-alpha imaging filter looks fantastic! Does anyone know if there's a reason I'd need to buy the telescope to do this or if I could just use a very long lens - lets say 500mm or 600mm - with the H-alpha imaging filter attached to that??

Any advice would be great. I'm hoping to take series of photos locked off and combine them together as video for a doc I'm working on about Solar Homes.

best,

-Aaron


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 18, 2017)

atozeghers said:


> This image with the H-alpha imaging filter looks fantastic! Does anyone know if there's a reason I'd need to buy the telescope to do this or if I could just use a very long lens - lets say 500mm or 600mm - with the H-alpha imaging filter attached to that??
> 
> Any advice would be great. I'm hoping to take series of photos locked off and combine them together as video for a doc I'm working on about Solar Homes.
> 
> ...


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## josephandrews222 (Dec 27, 2022)

The title of this thread (from over ten years ago):
Anyone Shoot the Sun?​YES!!!

*And After Examining This One Carefully--(Tiny) Christmas Surprises?!*

...just shy of 1pm today here in the snowy midwest United States...it was, I guess, what you'd call a dull gray but oddly bright snow sky.

But it wasn't snowing...and I was shoveling a path to the car and the mailbox.

On my way back inside, it took me a second or two to recognize that the bright circle above our roof was where the sun should be...for that time of day.

And at times it wasn't bright at all.

=====

5DMk3 + EF 100-400 (detailed data should be available with download; stepped down 1.33 stops; ISO 400; f/20; handheld)


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## Click (Dec 27, 2022)

Interesting shot. Nicely done, Josephandrews222.


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## SteveC (Jan 3, 2023)

I have, through solar eclipse filters, managed to photograph the sun, but (after 100% cropping) it ends up looking like a big orange ball with barely distinguishable sunspots. (I should try again now that I have better cameras than a rebel T3!) I was photographing the last Venus transit and we won't have another one of those until 2117 if memory serves,


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## stevelee (Jan 7, 2023)

SteveC said:


> I have, through solar eclipse filters, managed to photograph the sun, but (after 100% cropping) it ends up looking like a big orange ball with barely distinguishable sunspots. (I should try again now that I have better cameras than a rebel T3!) I was photographing the last Venus transit and we won't have another one of those until 2117 if memory serves,


I was still shooting my T3i in 2017 at the time of the solar eclipse. My only long lens was a fairly crappy 75–300 mm zoom that I had got for $100 as part of deal when I bought my first Rebel. I put the solar filter on the lens and practiced shooting the sun so I wouldn’t be experimenting during the eclipse. Once I got that down, I looked at info on line and found that the lens was least bad at f/11. The pictures turned out rather well, considering. The local pictures were shot with the G7X II, I guess, and the sun pictures with the T3i. Tonight if I have a clear shot at the moon, I’m going to try shooting it with my EF 100–400 mm L lens with adaptor on the Fujifilm GFX 100s. I don’t know that I can find all the controls in the dark. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll try again next full moon.

Here is the link: http://www.stevelee.name/eclipse/index.html


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## scyrene (Yesterday at 12:57 PM)

I shot the sun years ago with a very high density ND filter, extenders on the 500LII stopped way down, but just recently I grabbed some sunset pics on the winter solstice and it occurred to me that the usual warning of "don't look through the viewfinder" no longer applies if you use a mirrorless camera. To be clear - you still shouldn't point a long lens at the sun under normal circumstances as you might well fry your sensor, but as the EVF is just a screen displaying a live view feed, it no longer poses any risk of eye damage.

As it turned out, given the narrow aperture and thickness of the atmosphere at sunset, no filters were needed to get a shot like this. I tried it with the 1.4x extender but distortion was so great there was no extra detail to be gained. Maybe a bit beside the point of this thread but just thought I'd point it out.

(R6 + RF 800 f/11)


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## Click (Yesterday at 1:25 PM)

I really like the atmosphere in your picture, scyrene. Especially with those clouds. Lovely colours.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Yesterday at 5:52 PM)

Lenses get ruined from being pointed at the sun. Damaged or burned out apertures are common when this happens.


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## scyrene (Yesterday at 10:15 PM)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Lenses get ruined from being pointed at the sun. Damaged or burned out apertures are common when this happens.


Good point! But of course the RF 800mm f/11 doesn't have aperture blades


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## scyrene (Yesterday at 10:15 PM)

Click said:


> I really like the atmosphere in your picture, scyrene. Especially with those clouds. Lovely colours.


Thanks! Always a matter of luck how a sunset will turn out


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