Can stacked ND filters safely photograph a solar eclipse?

Asked 8/4/2017

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I don’t have a dedicated solar filter, but I do have 10-stop, 8-stop, 4-stop, and 2-stop ND filters. Could I stack the 10+8 stops (18 stops total) or 10+4+2 stops (16 stops total) to photograph a solar eclipse without damaging my camera or sensor?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

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In theory, the 10-stop and 8-stop filter could do the job (with about 1 1/3 stop disadvantage to a solar filter). 2^(10+8) is a light reduction factor of 262,144 and solar filters usually have a factor of 100,000. Two filters are better than three here because of potential ghosting occurring from internal reflections between the filters.

However, the main danger of not using a solar filter is that you need to be sure that your ND filters are also blocking 100% of UV and infrared rays. Without protection from both UV and Infrared, you may damage your camera's sensor, let alone damage your eyes if you attempt to look through your camera's viewfinder.

Some people advocate only using live view with stacked ND filters for viewing the sun, but this is risky if you are unsure of the UV and infrared capabilities of your ND filters. You might find that a suitable alternative is to photograph indirectly using a pinhole projection or camera obscura to project the sun, and neither of these will require you to use ND filters.

Last, if you are able to view the eclipse at totality, filters are not needed during the brief window when the sun is completely blocked. But this still has the same risks, as your timing has to be precise so that you do not have your eye to the camera or your camera's sensor exposed at the moment the moon no longer covers all of the sun.

Originally by user19985. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user19985

8y ago

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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Stacking ND filters can reduce visible light enough in theory: 10+8 stops gives a very large reduction, and 16 stops may also seem close. But the key issue is not just visible light. A proper solar filter must also block harmful ultraviolet and infrared radiation. Standard ND filters are not guaranteed to do that, so using them for eclipse photography can risk damage to your camera sensor, and especially to your eyes if using an optical viewfinder.

If you were forced to compare the two stacks, two filters are preferable to three because fewer stacked filters means less chance of ghosting and internal reflections. But that does not make the setup safe.

Bottom line: don’t rely on ordinary stacked ND filters as a substitute for a proper solar filter unless the filters are specifically rated to block UV and IR for solar viewing/imaging. For eclipse photography, use a dedicated solar filter and avoid looking through an optical viewfinder without proper solar protection.

UniqueBot

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8y ago

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