Solar Eclipse 2017 preparations (1 Viewer)

[Citizen87645]

They don't need the list. The number of dispensaries is so silly, you just have to drive down a street to find several.

 

[Sam Posten]

https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/12/16138368/amazon-solar-eclipse-2017-glasses-refunds-safety

All mine got refunded. I will continue to use them.

 

[Citizen87645]

Smart of them, actually.

 

[Nelson Au]

Sam, those are nice shots of the sun! I've been procrastinating getting my camera gear together. I am not in an area where totality will pass. I'll see 75%.

I'm curious what solar filter you used and where to get it. I'm hoping it's not too late.

I did see a total eclipse and flew to Hawaii to see it in the 1990's, I shot it then with a Canon AE-1 film camera with a lens that wasn't long enough. So it's tiny. Now I have a Canon EOS DSLR and I just bought a 300mm zoom.

Thanks for any insights you might have about a filter.

 

[Sam Posten]

Nelson, link is in the OP but Amazon may not be selling them any more. Thanks for the kind words and encouragement

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Sam, I looked at that link. I have a feeling it's definitely too late to get a proper solar filter. Oh well. Good luck getting some shots of the eclipse!

 

[Citizen87645]

I got the filter Sam linked to, but the next size up. The company who sold them sent this message today:

ATTENTION AMAZON CUSTOMERS WHO PURCHASED ULF FILTERS THROUGH AMAZON:

Recently, Amazon has published a notice to clients who purchased ULF filters on AMAZON regarding safety of the product.
Any filter bought through ICSTARS on Amazon is SAFE.

Be advised that NASA and AAS American Astronomical Society website at https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters for Reputable Vendors of Solar Filters & Viewers specifically list Daystar Filters and ICSTARS products in both Solar Glasses and the Solar Filters for Telescopes, Binoculars & Camera Lenses section below.

All Daystar ULF Universal Lens Filter products use Thousand Oaks SolarLite film and are converted by American Paper Optics here in the United states.

Amazon did not request that our company send them documents.
Amazon has rejected attempts by Daystar or ICSTARS to submit documentation to them.

Because ISO-12312-2 applies specifically to Sunglasses and eyewear, Universal Lens Filters cannot legally be imprinted with the ISO-12312-2 certification.
We do have documentation for this fact. If you wish to see this documentation, please feel free to contact us at [e-mail address removed]
The ISO standard may also be referenced online at: https://www.iso.org/standard/59289.html.

Members of the AAS have been in contact with Amazon about this message in hopes that you may be reassured by this confusing information; which a senior AAS member has referred to as 'creating unnecessary panic'.
We are sorry that you may be confused by this information.

We hope you will visit the above websites for reassurances of our product quality by the very sources cited in the message Amazon sent you.

Again: Daystar brand ULF Solar Filters bought through Amazon by ICSTARS are SAFE.

Most importantly, we hope you will use safe eye protection for August 21st for your eyes with ISO certified glasses and with solar filters for your equipment from sources on the AAS reputable vendors listing.

Clear skies,
jen Winter - Owner

 

[Johnny Angell]

I fiddle-farted around too long and I can't find a pair of eclipse glasses in stock. Those paper sleeves that Sam is using are cool, economical way to photograph it. Not sure I want to try photographing it. In Arkansas we won't be getting totality.

I read an amazon reviewer (I think) who was buying two uv filters and cutting a sheet of eclipse film in between the filters.

 

[Nelson Au]

I'm still chasing that film option to make a filter. Seems most outlets are sold out and can't ship in time.

 

[Sam Posten]

Good advice

https://twitter.com/emilyst/status/897209147187384320/photo/1

 

[Citizen87645]

Since where I live won't be in the path of totality but is close (I think one site I visited said we'd see 98% of totality), professional advice is to keep viewing filters on at all times. A local woman recently shared how her eyes were damaged as a child because her 5th grade teacher took the class out to watch the 1960 eclipse and all they did was the one-eye-look-through-your-fist "trick."

I'm mainly interested to see the effect of the eclipse (non)light on the landscape I visit frequently, so I'm thinking I can shoot similarly to when I'm shooting an approaching sunset or trying to get a star effect from mid-day sun. Which means no filter...?

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Oregon's ODT has supplied the press with a helpful list of roads to avoid over the weekend.
http://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.ssf/2017/08/eclipse_bound_avoid_these_road.html

Basically it's all the roads in the state.

 

[Nelson Au]

Guys, I really wish I had planned ahead to try to go to a site of totality. But I have seen an eclipse in totality in 1991 when I traveled to Hawaii for the July 11th event. So at least I had a chance already. It was in the early morning and I flew from Oahu to the big island while spending time in Oahu. Like many others, I walked out onto a lava field near the airport and set up.

I just dug out my negatives and scanned them in. I was disappointed as I hadn't seen them in a long time. There was more overcast then I remembered and the high resolution of the scan revealed camera shake as I didn't use a tripod. This was in the olden days of film cameras. I had a Canon AE-1 and a 200mm zoom. I just did a little photoshop to erase the shake while trying not to alter the image.

I scanned a 35mm negative at 4800 DPI, so theres some grain and I probably used a fast film. This is a good memory and you can see before and during.

I had small prints made at the time and they didn't reveal the flares shooting off the corona. So that was a really cool thing to see. And I think I actually see some stars during the shot at totality. I bet if I had a better lens and tripod, and no clouds, this would have been a pretty good shot.

I have a Canon EOS now and I'd have loved to try to shoot this this time. But I might try for the 2024 event and try for New York or Montreal.

I hope to see how you guys make out in your viewing and photography.

 

[Nelson Au]

The peak of the eclipse has passed us in California. The crescent shape of the Sun is morphing back to a disc. The moon's shadow is rapidly heading easterly! Hope you guys have a good view who are in the Midwest and east.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

 

[Citizen87645]

Here was my view outside of totality

(98-99%)

 

[Nelson Au]

That's great Cameron! I'll be interested in what filter specifications you used to cut down the sun's brightness.

 

[Citizen87645]

I just bought what Sam bought (which I ultimately got for free because of Amazon's CYA measures). Daystar ULF-90 http://www.daystarfilters.com/ULF.shtml

 

[Nelson Au]

Ah, ok. Thanks. I thought you might have had a fancy screw on neutral density type. Something I was reading up on. I couldn't find one available.

 

[Citizen87645]

I looked at a screw on filter initially, but got turned away by the $230 price tag. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...lp5_4_firecrest_77mm_eclipse_5_4.html?fref=gc