You can make an ND 5.0 filter using the following...
http://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/baader-astrosolar-safety-film-nd-50.html
Just to emphasise the point, this is what a laser of low enough power that it can be shone into a crowd can do to your camera's sensor...
If you planning to have a go, make sure you camera is protected.
Those figures for the sun at sunset are miles out a ten stop filter F8 @100 iso 1/80th = 160000 th(sixteen thousand) of a second at f22 iso 100 without the 10 stopper.LOL. The attached photo is taken at sunset NO big stopper is required at all and the settings were 1000th sec f5 ISO 100.Can't offer any tips for serious astro stuff. These were just curiosity shots but I hope they give you an appreciation of the sheer brightness of the sun.
Note - these are at sunset so by no means the brightest but even through a big stopper (ten stop filter) we're down to 1/80 @ ISO100 - f/8.0 - 400mm
Be careful - If you have live view (I don't) then that's the way.
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Those figures for the sun at sunset are miles out a ten stop filter F8 @100 iso 1/80th = 160000 th(sixteen thousand) of a second at f22 iso 100 without the 10 stopper.LOL. The attached photo is taken at sunset NO big stopper is required at all and the settings were 1000th sec f5 ISO 100.
It won't be with a big stopper. If the sun was just before it set you might have had to go as low as 80th/ ISO100/ f8 without a big stopper easy.I have noticed that when I do these sunsets that the light drops a real lot just before the sun disappears and if you have some thin cloud it knocks the light down, but I usually increase the ISO rather than drop as low as 80th specially with a 400mm on. I do quite a few sunsets with big telephoto lenses, attached is crop sensor with 300mm + 1.4 convertor = 420 ff or 630mm on the crop 1000th sec /f6.3 /ISO 100.I would never need any sort of ND filter.You've got me thinking now but they were a few years back so perhaps those were without the filter.
I just know that I've used B&W 10 stop for the sun and when I was looking for some sun shots I noticed that one was call big stopper test and when I looked at the exif it was....
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Exposure 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 400 mm
ISO Speed 100