Solar Eclipse - looking at the sun and moon (blind)

[Guest]

Anyone understand the science of looking at a solar eclipse? 

 

Is it basically the same as staring as the sun and it blinds you if you do it too long. Is there some type of reflection or something that makes it worse on the eyes during the eclipse?  

 

Anyone know of a good place to find information on this? Anyone seen any good articles about this? 

[Anghammarad]

The sun rays during a eclipse bend around the moon, it's like a lens altering the light. So looking directly at the eclipse is more harmful then glimpsing into the direct sun... which you shouldn't also do for long...

 

 

[Seamonster420]

If it's a 100% total eclipse, you can look at it with the naked eye no problem but you have to be careful to look away or put on your eclipse glasses before the sun pokes out from around the moon or your retinas will get fried. If it's anything less than 100%, even if it's 99%, you need to wear the glasses the whole time because the bit of the sun that's poking out is not bright enough to cause you to instinctively look away but it is certainly bright enough to cause retinal damage. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, we'll be having 99.4% coverage here and I've already got my eclipse glasses. Btw, if you don't already have a pair then good luck finding any.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

What if I look at it through a DSLR? Surely it won't destroy my lens. Though I doubt I'll be able to get a good shot without having to turn the exposure down to over -3.

[Seamonster420]

54 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

What if I look at it through a DSLR? Surely it won't destroy my lens. Though I doubt I'll be able to get a good shot without having to turn the exposure down to over -3.

I doubt it'd harm your lens, but it might burn your shutter. I also wouldn't look through the viewfinder as that would definitely cause some damage to your eyes, especially since Vancouver isn't in the path of totality.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

48 minutes ago, Seamonster420 said:

I doubt it'd harm your lens, but it might burn your shutter. I also wouldn't look through the viewfinder as that would definitely cause some damage to your eyes, especially since Vancouver isn't in the path of totality.

Is this filter I have right now going to make any difference then? I have the HOYA HD Filter CIR-PL.

[aisle9]

1 hour ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

What if I look at it through a DSLR? Surely it won't destroy my lens. Though I doubt I'll be able to get a good shot without having to turn the exposure down to over -3.

Don't do that. Seriously, unless you have the right filters, don't point an expensive DSLR at the sun, even during an eclipse (outside of totality). It will damage your sensor.

 

For comparison, I have a 10-stop ND filter with a 6-stop ND filter stacked on top, and even then I'm using short exposures and an f-stop of 22 until totality, at which point I've given myself five seconds to switch the settings into night mode with longer exposures, lower ISO and an f-stop somewhere near 4. The filters come off at that point as well--although, really, even the filters I have are risky. I just couldn't justify spending $100+ on a solar filter that I'll use twice in the next seven years then possibly never again.

 

If you have the proper filter(s), the viewscreen--not the viewfinder--is a safe way to view the eclipse without eclipse glasses.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

4 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Don't do that. Seriously, unless you have the right filters, don't point an expensive DSLR at the sun, even during an eclipse (outside of totality). It will damage your sensor.

 

For comparison, I have a 10-stop ND filter with a 6-stop ND filter stacked on top, and even then I'm using short exposures and an f-stop of 22 until totality, at which point I've given myself five seconds to switch the settings into night mode with longer exposures, lower ISO and an f-stop somewhere near 4. The filters come off at that point as well--although, really, even the filters I have are risky. I just couldn't justify spending $100+ on a solar filter that I'll use twice in the next seven years then possibly never again.

 

If you have the proper filter(s), the viewscreen--not the viewfinder--is a safe way to view the eclipse without eclipse glasses.

Sounds good. I just looked into my filter more in depth and the one I have could be fake... I have no clue. 

[Orangeator]

So if pointing an expensive dslr at the sun can damage the sensor. Would Microsoft's lighting room that Linus did a video on damage it as well? Food for thought. 

 

For those of you who don't know what video I am talking about, It's the one where he goes into that room where its completely silent, one sec... Let me find the video haha.

 

Edit: It's at 3:45-3:50'ish

 

[Seamonster420]

40 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Sounds good. I just looked into my filter more in depth and the one I have could be fake... I have no clue. 

I believe the filter you mentioned in a circular polarizer and no unfortunately that won't be sufficient for safely viewing the sun.

[aisle9]

33 minutes ago, Orangeator said:

So if pointing an expensive dslr at the sun can damage the sensor. Would Microsoft's lighting room that Linus did a video on damage it as well? Food for thought. 

It's not the light that damages the sensor. To quote Mr. Scott: "It's the radiation."

 

And now all you Star Trek fans who remember that line can go cry.

 

Two things happen when you point your camera at the sun. One, the sun's rays are focused and magnified right down the lens, heating up your camera's sensor. When you take a picture, voltage is pumped through that sensor, and, as any good LTT member knows, voltage = heat. Between the thermal energy gained from pointing the camera straight into the sun for however long it took to line up the shot and the added heat from pushing through the voltage needed to take the picture, it's possible that you could do pretty serious damage to your camera after only a few shots.

 

Now think about how many idiots are going to be standing out there with entry-level DSLRs and a crappy 6-stop ND filter from AliExpress, then putting their camera on a tripod pointed directly at the sun and leaving it pointed straight at the belly of the beast for three hours.

 

...let's just say there will be a lot of expensive cameras on eBay next week. All in like-new condition aside from the molten blob where the sensor used to be.

[ElZamo92]

Too bad I'm living in Australia now. I would have loved to see to see the solar eclipse... 

[Tech_Dreamer]

15 minutes ago, ElZamo92 said:

Too bad I'm living in Australia now. I would have loved to see to see the solar eclipse... 

don't worry, it'll be a media material , pretty sure it'll be broadcasted live from it's faintest start. they've got a company to run they'll milk it to the extreme & do reruns to peak the ratings.

[Urishima]

Scott Manley to the rescue:

 

 

 

[Misinthe]

7 hours ago, aisle9 said:

-snip-

So if high end DSLR cameras can get ruined by it, what would happen to cell phone cameras? 

[aisle9]

1 hour ago, Miguel552 said:

So if high end DSLR cameras can get ruined by it, what would happen to cell phone cameras? 

It can ruin them as well. If you have eclipse glasses, hold them over the camera lens and you can safely take pictures.

[dalekphalm]

16 hours ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

What if I look at it through a DSLR? Surely it won't destroy my lens. Though I doubt I'll be able to get a good shot without having to turn the exposure down to over -3.

Yeah as others have mentioned PLEASE DON'T DO THAT.

 

You need a proper solar lens, your polarized lens is not good enough and you can risk destroying your camera.

 

Also, as per why looking at an eclipse is bad/worse than looking at the sun?

 

1. It is bad to look at the sun. Even just a few seconds of looking straight at the sun during a regular day can cause permanent damage. A quick look that only lasts an instant won't cause any permanent harm.

2. Because part of the sun is dark, your eyes start to open up and your iris is dilated. If you purely look at the dark part, that's okay (And during totality during a full eclipse is safe to look at directly), but if your eyes stray to the bright portions (during the lead up, or if you only get a partial eclipse) or if you keep looking too long as Totality ends, your eyes are still dilated, and wide open, and thus you allow a magnitude more amount of light in from the sun, which slams the retina.

2. There's also the risk of radiation damage as well, because of UV-A and UV-B that the sun puts out. Both are bad for your eyes.