Jump to content

shooting the sun full frame


cira felina bolla

Recommended Posts

  • Premium Member

I never done that but I know that people who observe stars through telescopes never point directly at the sun...

 

If you just point at the sun with a lens and put a sheet of paper at the focal point, it starts burning very quickly.

 

Imagine it's your eye instead of the sheet... And the eye itself doesn't feel pain...

 

It's true the iris and ground glass cut some light but I don't know if it's enough

 

I have observed the sun with a viewing glass before, no problem if you don't stay too long, but as to preperare a shot and shoot...

 

A monitor could be of a great help...

 

I guess you should ND 1.2 at least, plus the 85...

 

You can try metering it with a spotmeter (quickly !) and figure out... Never done that either...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
Which one exactly ? Thought I was actually trying to prevent to do anything dangerous and was pointing some questions out...

 

 

Hi Laurent,

 

Very strange, 2 posters who have never posted before. Both don't sign their posts and both from the same time zone!

 

Stephen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

The most important thing is to protect your eyesight. Many ND filters do NOT absorb infrared or UV portions of the spectrum, so you could still get dangerous levels of radiation on your retina if you view the sun directly, even through a filter.

 

Most advice for amateurs viewing the sun for sunspots or eclipse involves focusing the sun's image on a screen and viewing the REFLECTED image, e.g., using a "pinhole" viewing box.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
The most important thing is to protect your eyesight.  Many ND filters do NOT absorb infrared or UV portions of the spectrum, so you could still get dangerous levels of radiation on your retina if you view the sun directly, even through a filter.

 

Most advice for amateurs viewing the sun for sunspots or eclipse involves focusing the sun's image on a screen and viewing the REFLECTED image, e.g., using a "pinhole" viewing box.

 

I realize that it's during an eclipse only that I looked at the sun directly, though partly hidden by the moon, with a viewing glass, apart from looking at clouds around it, what we usually do when waiting for them to discover the sun on a set.

 

What do you recommend, John, then ? are high mountain sunglasses okay ? soldering ones ?

 

Also, I know astronomers use that trick. I made the experiment of putting a sheet of paper at the focal point of a telescope pointed at the sun it burnt instantanely, but I guess the Photometric Transfer Relation of a telescope is very much higher than the one of even a long focal length, explaining why telescopes have such a big front lens, what do you think ?

 

Thanks, Stephen but I reckon I might have been a bit too "light" on this subject, BTW...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have shot numerous sunrises,sunsets,full suns etc. My technique is to use a solar filter -

(astronomers put them on telescopes/ eyepieces when observing the sun) - to block/frame your shot. Avoid looking at the sun,as other posters have advised, as you can do long term damage to your retina and other parts of your eye.

 

After blocking with the solar filter, replace with a ND filter pack suited to your particular ISO rating,but don't look through the viewfinder unless the solar filter is in place!!

 

A while back i was shooting a time lapse sunset with a 300mm long lens and while checking for scratches near the gate inside the 35mm camera, my camera assistant accidently removed the lens cap.

Instantly an image of the sun burnt through the film emulsion/base in the gate leaving a 3mm circular hole!

 

be careful

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
Shooting the sun full frame in 16mm to open/ begin a transition shot.

Any recommendations for special filtration?

thank you.

 

 

All has to do with how much quantity of light u let pass thru your lens,

In Greece I ve done this many times, but I prefer sunrise or sunset when the sun is bigger and not so bright ,so you will need a smaller focal distance lens.

 

If you are going for screen then u need a big telephoto lens (2000mm), but if you are going for TV then u can zoom in in the post approximately 20%.

Just take an ambient light reading and underexpose 2 f stops.

Use your photometer to look at the suns direction and not your lens.

Also use a UV filter on,most common used are Skylight 1A,2A and UV 15,16, because telephoto lenses suffer image detoriation due to haze,heat waves etc.

,

The shooting thru a darken glass or black mirror will do also, but u need to be accurate on how u re positionning the lens opposing the reflected image.

I believe that 45% will do.

 

Don't worry about burnning anything and always point the sun with your iris close to your actuall f/stop.

 

Don't worry so much about nd filters just use a low ISO stock like 50 ASA or so.

If you use a telephoto u will probably start with an f/stop of 5.6 or bigger.

For 50 ASA I believe that 22 f/stop will do the job in the sunrise.

 

Do u want to have the surface of the Sun filmed?

Then we are talking for astronomers job, so better buy some footage.

 

ALWAYS USE BIG F/STOPS WHEN U POINT AT THE SUN.(or with the magazine removed.)

 

Dimitrios Koukas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...