SOLAR Eclipse LF PINHOLE Advice

[Tin Can]

I want to use a Pinhole camera

for safe viewing live view

and burn some X-Ray

any advice!

[BrianShaw]

Just make sure that you nail the focus! ��

[ic-racer]

I made a hole in tin-foil with a pin. Then used an on-line pinhole f-stop calculator to figure the aperture based on the extension of my 8x10 Shen-Hao.

I used the top of a film box as a shutter. The cereal box was the viewer, there is a pinhole in tin-foil attached to the box and it projects the image of the sun inside the box for viewing.

Even with that maximum extension of my Shen-Hao, and after enlarging the negative to 11x14, the sun was only as big as a dime on the print.

This was the partial eclipse from 2017 and it was an overcast day. I exposed about 5 sheets and at this moment, there was a circular opening in the clouds. Pretty amazing.

I don't recall the exposure, but you can see the clouds moving. I suspect for the next eclipse, with the same setup, the exposure will need to last the entire of totality, a couple minutes probably.

[Tin Can]

I made a hole in tin-foil with a pin. Then used an on-line pinhole f-stop calculator to figure the aperture based on the extension of my 8x10 Shen-Hao.

I used the top of a film box as a shutter. The cereal box was the viewer, there is a pinhole in tin-foil attached to the box and it projects the image of the sun inside the box for viewing.

Even with that maximum extension of my Shen-Hao, and after enlarging the negative to 11x14, the sun was only as big as a dime on the print.

This was the partial eclipse from 2017 and it was an overcast day. I exposed about 5 sheets and at this moment, there was a circular opening in the clouds. Pretty amazing.

I don't recall the exposure, but you can see the clouds moving. I suspect for the next eclipse, with the same setup, the
Thank you

I get 55%

If the Sun comes out of hiding

I will see nothing April 8th!




exposure will need to last the entire of totality, a couple minutes probably.

[Jim Jones]

The best way to view the eclipse is to go to NASA's site on YouTube and watch it on your TV. It's rather late now to get set up to photograph it. However, there's still time to get ready for next year's eclipse. I've photographed a solar eclipse with a 25 foot long pinhole camera, although using a more moderate telephoto lens on a camera is far more convenient if you plan ahead to get an appropriate solar filter and practice solar photography long before the day of an eclipse.

[John Layton]

You can also use a regular LF lens...just set infinity focus first, then stop your lens down a bit (f/32-ish), then move your camera around while viewing the screen obliquely (you'll see the eclipse just fine), and you'll be perfectly safe! I did this a few years back while on the road with my 4x5 - stopped in a parking lot and pointed the camera skyward...got a great view!

Edit - my suggestion is just for viewing, while a filter would likely be needed (as suggested above) to make a good photograph with a glass lens.

[Tin Can]

Thanks guys

Today is overcast, no Sun

I have new filters from 2007 and we had a perfect view on my lawn that time

I moved here FOR the Eclipses

April 8, 2024 is the big one again

[BrianShaw]

We have clear skies. The light level is -3EV in my estimation.

[Tin Can]

The critters know

They ALL get quiet

Wind drops

[Corran]

We only had a bite taken out of the sun. Not a huge reduction in light levels from what I could tell. Will be thinking about what to do next year when we are much closer to totality (or, travel).

Nikon D800E / 500mm + 1.4x TC / SkyWatcher EQ6Pro Mount