RE: Tutorial: How to photograph a Solar Eclipse
I had to think about the answer to that for a second.. That is actually a bad idea. See even if you take a picture at f/22 and assuming you are in live view mode, the aperture of your lens is likely at f/1.4 until you click the shutter. The energy of the sun is strong enough when focused by your lens to heat the internals of your camera very quickly. If things get hot enough, they will be damaged. Even if the heat doesn't cause damage, the voltages generated in the sensor's electronics may be enough to damage the circuitry.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the higher the sun is in the sky, the greater the damage it can cause. If the sun is lower on the horizon there is more atmosphere and clouds in the way to prevent that.
The filter is there as much to protect your camera internals as it is to filter out the light :)
I mean you can try it, there's a chance you wont cause damage to your camera, but I wouldn't recommend it!
I think is is an interesting theoretical discussion. Sadly i currently do not have a camera with a live view to test it as i have sold my d3s. But.. i have just read in a few forums, that while in manual mode Live View does not actually change aperture, and instead it only gives you an estimate exposure by adjusting shutter speed. But when you press the shutter button it turns off Live View and takes a shot according to your manual settings. Would be interesting if you had a chance to turn Live View on your camera and see if turning it on actually changes aperture on the lens :)
That's an interesting idea. I will have to try it later. I just tried it with my 70 - 200 lens but I can't see the shutter at all. I will need to try again with another lens.
Not the shutter mate. See if lens aperture blades ar opening or closing when you turn on the LiveView.
Sorry that's what I meant.
Ahahaha! Interesting! My camera behaves in the exact opposite way! When live view is off the aperture remains completely open until you hit the shutter. However, in live view mode the aperture is actuated to whatever its is set at.
But if you set Aperture to f18 and turn on Live View the blades do not open to it's widest?
No, strangely enough it does the opposite. The blades constrict down to f/18.
Well in that case it is fail/safe :) So theoretically you could photograph solar eclipse without a filter, now we just need to find a guy who can risk his camera to test it out lol