There will be a Total Solar Eclipse (over Mexico, the USA, and Canada) on April 8th, 2024. Will you be ready? Perhaps you still need to get an ND Filter?
Pointing your camera at the sun can be incredibly dangerous for your camera. The bright pointed light from the sun focused through your camera lens can burn a hole straight through your shutter blades. So what do you do if you want to document something like the upcoming solar eclipse? Is there a way to do it without sacrificing your camera? The answer is YES! By using a high-strength ND filter, you can safely photograph the sun without damaging your camera.
The sun is about 15 stops brighter than everything else, so you will need at least a 15-stop ND filter for solar imaging. But be careful—many ND filters don’t cover the infrared spectrum, so your camera might not be fully protected. Without a filter, pointing your lens directly at the sun can burn your shutter in 30 seconds or less.
Note: DO NOT look through the optical viewfinder when pointing your camera at the sun, even when using an ND filter, and DO NOT look directly at the sun through an ND filter. These filters are not rated for your eyes so you may burn your eyes! However, it is perfectly safe to use live view.
