Using B&W film as eclipse filter

[Kino]

Well, millions of people are going to be attempting to photograph the eclipse directly. More power to them, but I don't see the point in duplicating their efforts, so if I take a photo, it will probably be of one of the indirect effects, maybe the shadows of a tree or something. I'm mulling over ideas to make an eclipse-related picture more interesting. Maybe use water to reflect the image in some way. Or having something else in the frame. I'm open to suggestions.

Maybe document the mass reaction to the event? It's always interesting to watch the watchers...

 

[Cholentpot]

Thankfully in my country, that is illegal and for a good reason.

It's illegal in mine too but so is going over the speed limit.

 

[ic-racer]

Very few will be recording this event on film. Even fewer in movie film. Even fewer in B&W movie film. It is a very unique opportunity. I don't think the world has 'too many' film accounts of total solar ecliipse. Platinum, cyanotype, silver gelatin, carbon transfer, wet plate, cine, large format, etc.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have take partial and total eclipse photographs and I would rather enjoy the eclipse than set up all the equipment ahead of time and scramble around in a hurry to get all the planned photographs and miss the enjoyment of the even which is rare at best, especially in good weather. Much like enjoying a wedding or bar mitzvah instead of photographing it.

This time I will be observing the partial eclipse with my grandchildren. The cameras will stay home and I will show them the pinhole images through the leaves and other phenomena.

 

[Cholentpot]

I have take partial and total eclipse photographs and I would rather enjoy the eclipse than set up all the equipment ahead of time and scramble around in a hurry to get all the planned photographs and miss the enjoyment of the even which is rare at best, especially in good weather. Much like enjoying a wedding or bar mitzvah instead of photographing it.

This time I will be observing the partial eclipse with my grandchildren. The cameras will stay home and I will show them the pinhole images through the leaves and other phenomena.

Oh I agree. I'll set up the cameras but it's not the main event by any means. It's a sideshow. I'll be watching from my backyard and documenting the chaos that is a million people flooding my area.

 

[kingbuzzie]

Bringing a small camera with me to the eclipse. Maybe like a minox 35 or a small point and shoot. Can I tape the material that is in the eclipse glasses over the lens for accurate exposure?

 

[reddesert]

What kind of scenes do you intend to shoot with a Minox 35, or any other short focal length lens/camera? The solar filter in eclipse glasses is to protect your eyes (or, say, a focal plane shutter curtain) when looking at the sun. If you point a Minox 35 at the sun without a filter, the sun will be a tiny overexposed dot on the film. If you point it at the sun with a solar filter on, the sun will be a tiny dot on the film that may or may not be correctly exposed, and everything else in the frame will be dark.

Taking pictures of the the landscape and the people around you as they react to the eclipse is a perfectly reasonable thing to do (with a Minox 35 or any other camera), but you don't need a solar filter for that.

 

[John Wiegerink]

I haven't read this whole thread over, but was curious about using a darkroom safelight glass. I have several different types of Kodak filter glass, and it would seem that maybe a certain type number might work, Of course I am not sure which one?

 

[reddesert]

None of them. None, none, none. A point of the eclipse glasses (a metalized film) and the makeshift exposed developed B&W film (high opacity metallic silver layer) is that they absorb near-infrared light, not just the stuff you can see. Don't screw around with safelight filters or R72 filters. These will give you the impression of safety because they are visually dark, but let the near-IR light through to damage your eye.

Just get the darn eclipse glasses, or go hang out someplace with other people who are watching the eclipse and will share their glasses with you. I'm sorry to be blunt, but this kind of improvisation is how people get hurt and why the official sources will tell you "only eclipse glasses from a trusted supplier" and not mention B&W film anymore.

 

[John Wiegerink]

None of them. None, none, none. A point of the eclipse glasses (a metalized film) and the makeshift exposed developed B&W film (high opacity metallic silver layer) is that they absorb near-infrared light, not just the stuff you can see. Don't screw around with safelight filters or R72 filters. These will give you the impression of safety because they are visually dark, but let the near-IR light through to damage your eye.

Just get the darn eclipse glasses, or go hang out someplace with other people who are watching the eclipse and will share their glasses with you. I'm sorry to be blunt, but this kind of improvisation is how people get hurt and why the official sources will tell you "only eclipse glasses from a trusted supplier" and not mention B&W film anymore.

Well, I've seen an eclipse before and am not even interested in viewing this one. I only ask out of curiosity in case one of my grandkids ask. So far none have and that's fine with me. My question and the answer here might help someone here who might have thought it alright to use a safelight filter.
Also, I think we are blowing this danger from viewing the eclipse with just your bare eyes alone way out of proportion. I just saw a picture of former President Trump viewing the eclipse in 2017 with no protection at all. We all know it had no ill effects on him. His beautiful wife was standing next to him, looking down like she was a chicken to look up. What a scaredy-cat. Or maybe it did have an ill effect on him???????

 

[ic-racer]

Eclipses, retrograde planetary motion, comets, meteorite collecting, telescopes, etc. I was crazy about that stuff as a kid and still am. I took off work for the Eclipse. Next one over my house will be in 600 years.

 

[MattKing]

Or maybe it did have an ill effect on him???????

It turned him orange .
Now to report myself.

 

[reddesert]

I think, even if you can't get to the path of totality, that solar eclipses are really cool. Somewhere out there in deep space, the moon is casting a shadow hundreds of thousands of miles long, all the time, and on rare occasions, that shadow whips across the surface of the Earth and we get to witness it. If you are "only" in the region of partial eclipse, you're still witnessing an event of vast proportions. Go outside and look at the crescent sun images cast by the leaves of trees forming momentary pinholes, or take a colander and cast crescent suns on the sidewalk as a multi-lens pinhole camera (seriously, the colander effect is pretty cool and accessible to almost everyone).

People really do imprudently stare at solar eclipses, and that is why science educators, astronomers, NASA, etc have made such a big deal out of eclipse glasses now. However, the downside is that now some fraction of the public has the idea that there is something especially harmful about eclipses, as if they emitted x-rays or something. You just need the glasses if you are going to stare at the sun, which normally most people know not to do. I flew to get to the 2017 eclipse path, and as the flight attendant was making the descent announcements, they told us to enjoy the eclipse but admonished us that it could be dangerous for pets and to make sure to keep them inside. Dogs don't need eclipse glasses - dogs aren't dumb enough to stare at the sun! Only people do that kind of stuff.

 

[John Wiegerink]

It turned him orange .
Now to report myself.

Good one Matt! I think we'll let you off the hook, since there is far too little humor in this world right now. Of course, you might just end up on the big orange guy's shit list.

 

[Cholentpot]

I'm smack dab in the middle of it. And if I'm lucky and the weather complies I'll get to see it. I've already committed to setting up a few cameras but not fretting about them. Main goal is to experience the phenomenon and if I get some photos that'll be nice too.

 

[Roseha]

Has anyone used a pinhole lens cap for eclipse viewing, say over a piece of cardboard? I have one from an Ebay seller that was made to fit the Bronica C I bought this year. I wasn't aware until the last minute that New York City was in the partial viewing area and I am wondering if I can hold this thing over a piece of paper or cardboard (white or black?) for the pinhole view.

 

[NB23]

All right! Good to go. Glued to the filter of a 500mm f/8 mirror lens and made a makeshift filter cover for the Mamiya TLR 18cm lens. I still have some of the film left so I have to figure out a way to mount onto my EF 200mm without making a mess.

What’s this???

Just cut a tiny piece for the viewfinder.

 

[Bushcat]

Has anyone used a pinhole lens cap for eclipse viewing, say over a piece of cardboard? I have one from an Ebay seller that was made to fit the Bronica C I bought this year. I wasn't aware until the last minute that New York City was in the partial viewing area and I am wondering if I can hold this thing over a piece of paper or cardboard (white or black?) for the pinhole view.

Yes you probably can.

Or you could tape a bit of paper over the top of a paper cup, make a pinhole in the bottom, and view the projected image. If it works, you're good to go. If you have time, try different-sized cups. If you want a really small pinhole, make a large hole in the bottom, and tape aluminum foil over that. Make the pinhole in the foil. (Actually, if you've never done this before, your first pinholes will probably be too large, so make a bunch of pinholes. If one of them works, block the others with nail varnish.) Me and the kids have had great success with this over the years, and routinely knock something together when we want to check for sunspots. You just need a pinhole in something that casts a shadow, and a surface to project onto. Paper cups are great all-in-one solution. In my limited experience, the pinhole punches more cleanly in a paper cup than in a plastic cup, and the paper cup is more opaque anyway.

Warning: this next one may involve looking at the sun, which you should never do. Anyways, if you have time to practice, you can also try with just fingers: pinch thumb and index finger together, then press the nail of the index finger of the other hand into the pinch. You end up with a very small hole but it's difficult to project because you've no more hands left to hold a projection surface and geometry means your body is in the way. If you wear spectacles, tape a bit of paper over one lens and project onto that. Or project onto your light-colored T-shirt. As another poster mentioned, nature may be making pinholes for you: check under trees, etc., for any projected images.

 

[Cholentpot]

What’s this???

Just cut a tiny piece for the viewfinder.

Packaging specifically said not to do that.

 

[John Wiegerink]

I just remembered something from my very early years of viewing an eclipse. My father filled a washtub with close to a foot of water, and then we viewed the eclipse by watching it in the reflection of the water. Was he nuts?

 

[VinceInMT]

Mass blindness after an astronomical event is the set up in “The Day of the Triffids.”

 

[Sanug]

All your warnings concerning DIY filters are correct. But you should not forget one very important fact:

If you are so lucky to be in the area of the total eclipse, do not forget to remove all protection filters as soon as the totality is reached, and you are nearly in total darkness! Otherwise you will miss to see the corona and the surrounding light effects. During the short phase of totality, any protection filters are obsolete!

However, as soon as the sun is back, you will immediately need to reinstall the protection.

Do not miss to view the arriving and leaving moon shadow prior and after the totality! Viewing the surrounding may be even more interesting than watching towards the sun.

At the 1999 eclipse in Germany and France, I was unable to see the corona due to clouds. But the fast running moon shadow, the immediate darkness as if somebody pushed a light switch to the off position, and watching the surroundings was breathtaking.

I am happy that I did not operate heavy equipment, but took some digital snapshots of the scene. And watched around carefully. In the directions of the arriving and later leaving moon shadow, I was able to see some red sky, similiar to sunrise and sunset. Do not miss it!

 

[reddesert]

What’s this???

Just cut a tiny piece for the viewfinder.

I'm not sure if you are serious, but this is bad advice. The solar filter has to go at the front, between the sun and the optics. If you put the filter after the optics, the large light gathering aperture of the lens means you have a much more concentrated intensity of light, which risks damaging parts inside the camera (or binoculars or telescope). The highly focused light could damage the filter or possibly be enough to damage your eyes through the filter.

This is extra true for an SLR where the camera focuses the light on the screen - you'd probably melt the plastic parts of the screen if you left it pointed at the sun long enough.

For similar reasons, if you make a filter for binoculars, the filter goes at the front over the objective, not at the rear over the eyepiece; even though binoculars don't focus light onto a point like a camera lens does, they concentrate light by a large factor.

 

[Cholentpot]

What’s this???

Just cut a tiny piece for the viewfinder.

I basically ended up doing this. It was high clouds and a little hazy. The filter was just too dense. I ended up focusing using the eclipse glasses. Image was still pretty dim.

 

[nosmok]

I just remembered something from my very early years of viewing an eclipse. My father filled a washtub with close to a foot of water, and then we viewed the eclipse by watching it in the reflection of the water. Was he nuts?

Well, it must have been OK, otherwise you wouldn't ever have been much of a photographer ! Trying to think about how this could have worked: 1) Maybe you were actually looking at the image on the bottom of the tub, and the water was refracting the full intensity away from your eyes; or 2) You could watch the reflection on the water because some of the intensity went along the surface, due to Brewster angle effects. Just spitballing here...