Solar eclipse filters and suitable lens options

ozhome — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 16:19:52 GMT

I want to photograph the solar eclipse in November on my Alpha 65V - as this is my first DSLR I'm unsure which filters I would need to protect the lens? I'm using the standard 18-55mm lens at present but intend to get either a 200 or 300mm soom lens for nature photography later and wonder if this would be suitable for the eclipse? Does anyone have experience of photgraphing a solar eclipse with a Alpha 65v?

Re: Solar eclipse filters and suitable lens options

Mick2011 — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 03:02:10 GMT

Hi ozhome, welcome to the Sony Forums

You should definitely do some reading before you get kitted up. I don't have any hands-on experience of solar photography but I can give you a quick run down of the minimum equipment required.

Most important is the filtration. You should take extreme care not only to avoid looking at the sun through your viewfinder without a suitable filter, but also be absolutely sure the filter is securely mounted while you're using it. You can use welding glass, although it's not always perfect optically; I've heard of people using fully-exposed & developed, large-format black & white film and claiming better results. Best is probably to buy a Mylar filter from a camera or astronomical supplier. Mylar film is also widely available as it's used for food packaging, and you can go the cheaper DIY route with it, for similar results.

Next most important is probably a very sturdy tripod. Don't be fooled by super-fast shutter speeds: with a very long lens you need a rock-steady support to avoid shutter vibrations.

Finally optics. You can invest two ways here: either buy a cheap telescopic lens or get a decent 300mm lens (minimum) and a couple of 2x teleconverters. If you're only interested in viewing the images on a PC monitor, as little as 600mm may be enough to let you see good detail at 100% monitor resolution. Otherwise I'd aim for 1600mm – or at least get as long a focal length as possible.

Personally I'd go the teleconverter route. You lose heaps of light but that's not a problem... a cheap 1200mm lens may well cost you less but image quality won't be as good. The deal-breaker is is your interest in wildlife photography, which won't be much fun with cheap optics.

The peripheral kit you need for all this makes the type of camera body the least relevant factor. Suffice to say the a65 will do a very good job of it

Cheers

Mick

topic Solar eclipse filters and suitable lens options in Alpha & NEX interchangeable lens cameras

Solar eclipse filters and suitable lens options

Re: Solar eclipse filters and suitable lens options