Beginner Baader ND 5.0 solar filter paper

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Phil N

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Hi there.

I made a filter using the Baader solar film, to take shots of the solar eclipse tomorrow.

I tried taking some test shots of the sun but they are all completely blank.

I'm using a 5D mk3, 70-200 f4 is and a 2x convertor.

The first settings I tried were iso 100, f8 and 1/4000th but got a blank shot. Reduced the shutter speed down to 1/400th but still getting nothing.

I've looked at the sun through the filter on it's own and can see the sun so it doesn't seem to be the Baader filter.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
If you can see the sun through the viewfinder but not on your image then it is your settings.
You just need to reduce shutter speed or bump up the ISO.
400 at f/8 and 100 ISO is ambitious.
 
Fred Espenak is NASA's eclipse expert. His page on photographing solar eclipses pre-dates digital cameras, but that doesn't make it any less valid, and it's packed with useful information. Here: [click].

With ND5.0 solar film, and ISO 100, he suggests f/8 and a shutter speed of 1/500th. So you second set of settings look fairly good. But of course that's for bright sunshine. If the sky is hazy, or there is thin cloud between you and the sun, then that will require a longer exposure. But I'd be surprised if you couldn't see anything at all, even if you were a few stops under-exposed for the conditions.

Why don't you just keep increasing the exposure by one stop until you can see the sun? It costs nothing.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I posted my question from my phone and somehow managed to post it in the beginners section and put iso 100 instead of iso 800! I guess it'll be a case of trying various settings tomorrow and upping the iso higher than 800.

StewartR thanks for the link. Hopefully that will give me a few different options.
 
Depending on what time of day you were trying, cloud cover etc the apparent brightness of the sun can drop off dramatically. I tried my 'test shots' when I got home from work today about 5.45. The sun was low and it was misty. I could just see it through the viewfinder and with my Tamron 70-300 I was at iso 6400 (the highest I get on my 550D), wide open (f5.6) at about 1/30 sec.
 
Jannyfox said:
Depending on what time of day you were trying, cloud cover etc the apparent brightness of the sun can drop off dramatically. I tried my 'test shots' when I got home from work today about 5.45. The sun was low and it was misty. I could just see it through the viewfinder and with my Tamron 70-300 I was at iso 6400 (the highest I get on my 550D), wide open (f5.6) at about 1/30 sec.
Click to expand...


You can get your 550D up to ISO 12800 if your turn on extended ISO in your "my menu settings", to noisy to use though :(
 
if you have a tungsten light bulb in the house have a practice run with that. You should be able to see the filament albeit faintly
 
Again thanks for the replies.

Daz B, I tried your tip and was able to see light bulbs through the filter so it is my settings that have to be adjusted.

Luckily the eclipse is relatively slow so I should be able to try a variety of settings.

Just have to hope for clearish skies tomorrow :-)
 
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