Soooo my solar filter sucks...

[6 X 17 Feind]

I went looking for my really good solar filter I bought for 2017 and couldn't find it. I did find one that was designed just to go on a spotting scope for direct viewing and it appears it's not very good. The orange tint gives that away. I threw it on my Oly 40 to 150 with a MC14 and this was the best I could come up with.



BTW focusing was extremely touchy. Is this most people's experience with focusing on the sun?

In 2017 (granted it was an eclipse and I was as close to the center line as I could get) I do NOT remember having this much difficulty at all. In fact, I was able to get this quite easily.



I did just look and this next shot from 2017 was just before the moon started across





The sunspots aren't that well-defined then either.

That was a Nikon 300 F2.8 with a 1.4 TS on it as well so both sets of pictures are roughly 420mm equivalence.

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6 X 17 Feind

 

[ABCMO]

I went looking for my really good solar filter I bought for 2017 and couldn't find it. I did find one that was designed just to go on a spotting scope for direct viewing and it appears it's not very good. The orange tint gives that away. I threw it on my Oly 40 to 150 with a MC14 and this was the best I could come up with.



BTW focusing was extremely touchy. Is this most people's experience with focusing on the sun?

No, I have found that my OM-1 (and earlier Olympus cameras) focus well on the sun (and on the moon). But I use the cameras’ regular autofocus, not manual focus. Many years ago I experimented with manual focusing on the sun and discovered that regular autofocus did a much better job than I could do manually. The photo of the sun below (a stack of about 60 images in Photoshop but I don’t know how much better that was than a single image would have been) was taken in May this year with my OM-1, Oly F/5.0-6.3 100-400 lens, and MC1.4 teleconverter. Please note that when I say “regular autofocus” I do not mean “Starry Sky Autofocus.” Starry Sky Autofocus works well on the stars, but it is not designed for the sun or moon.

Al




The sun on May 25, 2023

 

[W5JCK]

ALWAYS use MANUAL focus for Sun and night sky. (If AF does better than MF, then you are not doing the MF correctly. See the instructions below.) Night sky isn't too difficult, but the Sun can be a royal PITA due to the difficulty in seeing the camera VF or LCD in such bright light. For the Sun, I suggest taking your camera and lens out the night before and focus on the Moon or stars. The carefully use a small strip of masking tape to lock down the focus ring. That way the camera lens will be in focus the next day to capture the Sun. Temperature ad humidity can affect the focus though, so tiny adjustment might be necessary.

Here is a copy of a short article I wrote a few years ago on how to focus on stars:

How to Achieve a Sharp Focus on Stars

Last Updated on 3 April 2019

For cameras with interchangeable lenses, never rely on the infinity mark for true infinity focus. It is ALWAYS best to focus using your eyesight. ALWAYS use manual focus. Follow the seven steps below to achieve a sharp focus on the stars.

Step 1:

Set your camera to Liveview.

Step 2:

Set up your camera to use focus magnification. When focusing on objects in the night sky always use the focus magnification to zoom in.

Step 3:

Initially set your lens focus ring to the infinity mark. This is to get "ballpark" focus. You will need to fine tune focus. If focus is too far off, you probably won't see any stars as they tend to get so blurry that they disappear.

Step 4:

Point your camera at a reasonably bright star. Why? Because they are easier to locate in your Liveview LCD, especially if focus is soft.

Step 5:

SLOWLY turn the lens focus ring until the star is as small of a point of light as you can get.

Step 6:

Look for dimmer stars nearby the brighter one. Why? Because dimmer stars require a better focus to be able to even see them. Even slightly soft focus can cause dim stars to disappear. So if you can make them display and make them as small of a point of light as possible, you will have achieved a good focus.

Step 7:

Take a few test photos and zoom in to verify focus.

A Few Additional Pointers:

• You will likely need to open the aperture up, perhaps even to the widest setting, in order to see better.
• Some people like to tape down the focus ring on the lens after achieving focus. You can. But if your focus ring is fairly tight and not prone to moving, then I wouldn't because taping can actually move the ring. Be careful and don't touch the ring after achieving focus.
• If you change aperture settings, then verify the focus to make sure it didn't change.
• Periodically verify focus during the evening.

And note that it is easier to focus with telephoto lenses than on wide angle lenses. You can only zoom in so far with focus magnification, and WA and UWA lenses are more difficult for our eyes to see the stars on during focusing. So expect to take more time with a 24mm lens than with a 400mm lens.

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Best Regards,
Jack
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAfQN-Ygh9z7qqUXdZWM-1Q
Flickr Meteor Album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jackswinden/albums/72157710069567721
Sony RX100M3, a6000, and a7

 

[W5JCK]

BTW, it is best o use a prime telephoto lens for Sun, Moon, and AP in general. If you accidentally touch the FL ring, you can screw up focus. Also, prime lenses tend to be better quality than zoom lenses. If you use a zoom lens be sure to tape down the FL ring to prevent slippage or accidental movement due to touching it.

 

[6 X 17 Feind]

Here's today's attempt. Lots "o" Sunspots...



attempt

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6 X 17 Feind

 

[6 X 17 Feind]

I went looking for my really good solar filter I bought for 2017 and couldn't find it. I did find one that was designed just to go on a spotting scope for direct viewing and it appears it's not very good. The orange tint gives that away. I threw it on my Oly 40 to 150 with a MC14 and this was the best I could come up with.



BTW focusing was extremely touchy. Is this most people's experience with focusing on the sun?

No, I have found that my OM-1 (and earlier Olympus cameras) focus well on the sun (and on the moon). But I use the cameras’ regular autofocus, not manual focus. Many years ago I experimented with manual focusing on the sun and discovered that regular autofocus did a much better job than I could do manually. The photo of the sun below (a stack of about 60 images in Photoshop but I don’t know how much better that was than a single image would have been) was taken in May this year with my OM-1, Oly F/5.0-6.3 100-400 lens, and MC1.4 teleconverter. Please note that when I say “regular autofocus” I do not mean “Starry Sky Autofocus.” Starry Sky Autofocus works well on the stars, but it is not designed for the sun or moon.

Al


The sun on May 25, 2023

I meant to ask earlier, what is "Starry Sky Autofocus"?

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6 X 17 Feind

 

[ABCMO]

I meant to ask earlier, what is "Starry Sky Autofocus"?

Starry Sky Autofocus is a feature of the OM-1, the EM-1 III, and maybe the new EM-5 (you’ll need to check on that one) that automatically focuses on the stars. I used it with my EM-1 III (now traded in for my OM-1) and my OM-1. I’ve used it with my Oly f/5.0-6.3 100-400mm and my Panasonic f/2.8 35.100mm lenses, with both lenses zoomed in all the way (I.e., the Panasonic to 100mm and the Oly to 400mm). I’ve even used it with the MC1.4 on the Oly zoomed in all the way to 560mm. It worked well at all of these extreme settings as well as zoomed out. The feature is very accurate, and in my view, it nails the focus. And it reduces the complexity of achieving focus on the stars as well as uncertainty about it.

The key point is that Starry Sky Autofocus focuses on the stars (might do the planets too, but I’ve not tried that), but it will not focus on the moon or the sun. As I said in my original reply, I’ve found the regular OLY automatic focus to focus well on the moon and the sun. Below are two images I got using Starry Sky Autofocus. Both are stacks of multiple images, one taken with the EM-5 III and Panasonic 35-100; the other with the OM-1 and Oly 100-400.

Al




The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) taken with the Oly EM-1 III and Panasonic 35-100mm lens.




The Running Man and Orion Nebulas taken with the OM-1 and Oly 100-400mm lens.

 

[6 X 17 Feind]

Any recommendations out there for Solar filter material to make my own? In a brief perusal of the internets...

it seems Baader Planetarium film is better than the Thousands Oaks Film?

 

[6 X 17 Feind]

I tried an Astromania Filter...





little sharper...

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6 X 17 Feind

 

[OutsideTheMatrix]

I meant to ask earlier, what is "Starry Sky Autofocus"?

Starry Sky Autofocus is a feature of the OM-1, the EM-1 III, and maybe the new EM-5 (you’ll need to check on that one) that automatically focuses on the stars. I used it with my EM-1 III (now traded in for my OM-1) and my OM-1. I’ve used it with my Oly f/5.0-6.3 100-400mm and my Panasonic f/2.8 35.100mm lenses, with both lenses zoomed in all the way (I.e., the Panasonic to 100mm and the Oly to 400mm). I’ve even used it with the MC1.4 on the Oly zoomed in all the way to 560mm. It worked well at all of these extreme settings as well as zoomed out. The feature is very accurate, and in my view, it nails the focus. And it reduces the complexity of achieving focus on the stars as well as uncertainty about it.

The key point is that Starry Sky Autofocus focuses on the stars (might do the planets too, but I’ve not tried that), but it will not focus on the moon or the sun. As I said in my original reply, I’ve found the regular OLY automatic focus to focus well on the moon and the sun. Below are two images I got using Starry Sky Autofocus. Both are stacks of multiple images, one taken with the EM-5 III and Panasonic 35-100; the other with the OM-1 and Oly 100-400.

Al


The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) taken with the Oly EM-1 III and Panasonic 35-100mm lens.


The Running Man and Orion Nebulas taken with the OM-1 and Oly 100-400mm lens.

Beautiful! I dont have this feature on my EM10 Mark 2 but it is on my Panasonic FZ300 which I just got.



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In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

 

[6 X 17 Feind]

ok, this Filter is working better but I think I simply need a much larger magnification.







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6 X 17 Feind