Last Chance: High Density Filters to Photograph the Eclipse

Finally! I have found some high quality filters to photograph the eclipse. As I worked my way down the lift of safe vendors of solar eclipse products, the first 12 were totally out of stock. And then, success! But first, two notes of caution that could save your eyesight.

Eclipse Safety

First: Amazon and other online markets have been flooded with unsafe, counterfeit eclipse products. Read this article for more information.

Second: This is very important. High density filters are photographically safe but NOT visually safe. That means they are safe for your camera but not safe for your eyes. Do not look at the sun through a high density filter. When a high density filter is on your camera lens, do not look through the camera’s viewfinder.

To safely use a high density filter your camera must be in Live View mode, both to find the sun and to photographer the sun.

Everything you need to know about photographing the sun with a high density filter is in these two articles.

Do NOT Look at the Eclipse Through a High Density Solar Eclipse Filter! You Could Go Blind!

How To Photograph the Sun (and an Eclipse) with Lee and Other High Density Solar Filters

High Density Filters from Adorama

Adorama sells several brands of high quality, “high density” filters. High density filters are like neutral density filters but they may not be color neutral. You may not get a true color, yellow amber sun. That means you will probably need to do some post processing of the image.

The high density filters at Adorama are square or rectangular which means you will also need to buy a filter holder, plus an adapter ring to fit the filter holder to the front of your camera lens. The good folks at Adorama will help you with that. You will need to know the filter size on the front of the lens you intend to use to photograph the eclipse. I recommend you photograph the eclipse with the longest telephoto zoom lens you own. Something like a 70-300mm, 100-400mm, or 150-600mm would be ideal. The longer the lens at its longest focal length, the bigger the sun will be in the frame.

Most safe vendors who sell solar filters are already sold out or quickly going out of stock. If you want a high density filter from Adorama, order today. They could sell out quickly

There are cheap high density filters at Amazon but many of them are of poor photographic quality. If you want great looking eclipse photos, don’t cheap out.

Safe Glasses for Viewing the Eclipse