There is a Sun Up There

Yesterday the Sun decided to show its face for a while. What a difference that makes no matter what the temperature. Anyway that gave me the chance to take my first photos of it.

Taking a photo of the Sun needs to de done in such a way that ones eyes and the camera are not permanently damaged by even a very short exposure to the intense light.  Never look or point a camera directly at the Sun without the correct type of solar filter in place.

What is needed is a filter which is designed for the job. There are many to be found on the internet with a vast range of prices. The cheapest use a specially made thin film which cuts down the light something like 10000 times. One such is the Orion Safety Film Solar Filter sold on Amazon by Orion Telescopes.  I ordered one expecting it to take a couple of weeks to arrive from America and was pleasantly surprised when it arrived in a few days from a European base.



It is designed to fit a particular telescope but I had an idea it could be adapted to fit on the front of the 70D with 100-400mm zoom lens. The filter body is made of cardboard which helps to keep the price down. With it came a length of self adhesive foam which I stuck inside the frame - not a tight fit yet so I will find some foam draught excluder strip to put another layer in it. For safety the filter needs to be a tight fit so there is no chance of it being blown or knocked off while in use.

I fitted it temporarily to get a few trial hand held shots:

Canon  70D    400mm  1/250 sec   f5.6   ISO 800

I am quite happy with the result as seen in this cropped photo which shows up Sun spots nicely.  Not bad for a £25 filter! One reason I chose this filter was it displays the Sun in an orange - red colour. Some of the cheaper film filters give a b/w result. It depends on what wavelength of light the filter is designed to allow through.