Great American Eclipse: How to photograph it safely with smartphone or DSLR
See tips to photographing the upcoming total solar eclipse safely with smartphone or DSLR. The day of the Great American Eclipse is set to occur on April 8, with many wondering how to safely photograph it with a smartphone or DSLR. The SafeShot, a device designed locally by Grafix, can be purchased at Walmart and comes with two separate windows for eyes and one for the user. To protect the lens/sensor from intense UV rays that create heat and can damage the sensor, use a special lens or lens filter. Once the eclipse is in totality, remove the device and photograph the total eclipse, but put it back on as soon as it ends. If you have a telephoto lens, use some kind of solar film to avoid causing serious damage to the sensor or lens.
Published : a month ago by David Petkiewicz, David Petkiewicz | [email protected], dpetkiew in Tech
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- April 8, the day of the “Great American Eclipse” is almost upon us, and I’m sure many of you are wondering: “How do I take a good photo of the solar eclipse with my smartphone or DSLR?”
Since most people will be using a smartphone, let’s start there. Then I’ll give some DSLR tips further down.
Just like a DSLR, your smartphone’s camera relies on a lens or lenses to get photos. The lens projects the image onto a camera sensor where the image is captured.
Since that’s how it works, you should really use something to protect the lens/sensor from the intense UV rays that create heat and can thus damage the sensor. Recently I had the opportunity to test out a nice little gadget called the SafeShot, made locally by a company called Grafix in Maple Heights. The SafeShot can be purchased at Walmart.
What is the SafeShot?
The body of the SafeShot is a cardboard rectangle that’s about 9 inches long and 5 inches wide. It has cut-out handles on either side and two separate windows covered with film, one for your eyes, and one for your smartphone.
To use the SafeShot, a person would attach their smartphone camera-side down on top of the first window using a fabric fastener - “fabric fastener” being a generic name for the product most people would call Velcro.
That holds the phone in place with the solar film on top of the camera’s lens.
There’s then a second window that’s meant for people to look through.
Ideally, someone would hold the SafeShot half-an-arm’s length in front of their face. That would let them see the phone’s screen, see the eclipse through the second window and protect their eyes all at the same time.
The two windows have slightly different films. The viewing window will be completely black during totality, which is where the moon will completely block the sun. But the smartphone window is made to let some light through, letting the user snap a photo of totality.
You will then use the SafeShot to photograph the sun while it is NOT in totality. Once the eclipse is in totality, about 3:15 p.m. in Cleveland, you can remove the device and take photos of the total eclipse, but make sure to put it back on as totality ends, which will only be about 3 minutes long locally.
NASA has put out guidance on the issue that essentially says it might damage your phone. But trying to take a photo without some kind of solar film will result in a bad photo.
What should I use for my DSLR?
If you have a DSLR, and particularly if you have and are planning to use a telephoto lens, you absolutely must use some kind of solar film to avoid doing serious damage to the sensor and/or the lens on your camera. I actually recommend it regardless of what lens you are using.
Back in 2017 I traveled to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to view and photograph the eclipse. It was my first time photographing an eclipse, so I made sure to do a lot of research on how to safely do so without damaging my very expensive equipment.
The best, and a very inexpensive way to do so, is to buy sheets of solar film and cut and glue them to the front of a lens filter. I bought a couple of very inexpensive camera lens filters and then removed the glass from them. I then coated the front edge of the lens with a little glue and set it down on the dark side of the film - so that the reflective mirror side would be facing the sun. After that I just trimmed off the excess film with a razor knife and I was set.
Then, the entire time you are photographing the eclipse as it approaches totality you leave the solar filter on the front of your lens. Once totality occurs, at about 3:15 p.m. in Cleveland, you can remove the filter and photograph the eclipse without a filter. But remember to put it back on as soon as totality begins to end, which will be only about 3 minutes after it starts.
As for exposure, during the run up to totality I was shooting at 1/500 at f8 and ISO 2500 with a Canon 6D using a EF 100-400mm lens with a 1.4x teleconverter. Once totality came, I removed the filter, and my exposure was the same 1/500 second at f8 at ISO 2500. Your exact exposure will vary a bit depending on the clarity of the sky and your lens. You can see what I got below.
So, my advice is to invest a few dollars into some kind of lens/sensor protection in order to get the best results.