Yeah I had this all set up and ready to go. As it instructed, I started it about 5 minutes before totality. It began counting down until it took the first picture. Then instead of taking pictures the app just closed/crashed.
Is there any risk of damaging your phone/camera by pointing it directly at the sun? Or is it dim enough during the eclipse to not matter? The article doesn't say how long you would need to point it at the sun, maybe a few minutes to an hour.
Nearly every photographer that comments on this issue says it is OK if you do it very briefly such as when you are taking a scenery photo and the sun is in the picture. The argument for it not being safe is that some of the more recent smartphones use larger and faster lenses (f/1.7 to f/2.0) to get better resolution, and that can be a problem. Most digital cameras have an Auto mode in which they will automatically reduce the exposure speed and increase the f/stop to take the photo, and this will not harm the camera
I do not actually know, nor do I know if that is true, but if it is, I suspect it would have to do with temperature differentials due to the sun temporarily shutting off.
Same experience here. Meteor shower… cloudy, lunar eclipse… cloudy, Aurora… cloudy, comet that’s visible for a couple of weeks… you better believe it’ll be cloudy every day.
I have a fairly recent android phone, but the app says it’s not compatible. I don’t see any page that lists models which are compatible. Did anyone else find one?
Oh I’m going to do this. I’ll have 97% at my little cabin, and my husband is going to drive a little bit east to film the totality. We were planning to film anyway, so we might as well share it with NASA.
“When shooting still images or video of a solar eclipse, one rule is paramount: special-purpose solar filters must always remain on cameras and telescopes during the partial phases (including the annular phase of an annular eclipse).”
It’s a good way to fry your camera. If you’re taking a single shot, you’re fine. But if you’re recording continuously, you can damage your phone’s sensor.
It's going on a curve from Texas through the middle of the country and then out through Maine, it's just that more of the population lives on the coasts. I've just given it a review, though, to hopefully bring some visibility!