Reddit mentions of Thousand Oaks Optical 4"x4" Solar Filter Sheet for Telescopes, Binoculars and Cameras

For starters, buy it a couple months ago. Don't mean to be snarky, but you are unlikely to find a decent one for sale now, except perhaps at a grossly inflated price.

Thousand Oaks Optical generally makes the best ones. Meade and Celestron also sell them, but might even get them OEM from 1000 Oaks.

Amazon is still advertising fitted filters and sheets, but it's a tossup whether they will actually deliver in time:

https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Filter-Telescopes-Binoculars-Cameras/dp/B00DS7IFQS/ref=sr_1_1

If you don't have a solar filter yet and would like one, there still is some available in stock at various places if you're willing to pay for expedited shipping!

Agena Astro - Baader Astrosolar Sheet 7.9”x11.4”

Agena Astro - Baader Astrosolar Sheet 5.5”x6.1”

Cloud Break Optics - Baader Planetarium Filter (see drop down for sizes)

Cloud Break Optics - A4 size sheet

Cloud Break Optics - Star Guy Slip Filter (see drop down for sizes)


Cloud Break Optics - Threaded Camera Filters (see drop down for sizes)

Cloud Break Optics - Vixen Threaded Camera Filters (see drop down for sizes)

Amazon - Baader Astrosolar sheet 5.5”x6.1”

Amazon - Baader Astrosolar sheet 7.9”x11.4”

Amazon - Thousand Oaks Optical 4”x4” sheet

Let me know if any of these sell out and I'll remove them - I'll try and update with new ones if I come across any!

Edit: Well looks like they're all sold out!

Not sure what your budget is, but you could get a 4"x4" Solar Filter Sheet from Amazon for $14 and try to rig up a filter for your lens.

Hello :-)

If you can't find one - Make one. I was sceptical, but it really was easy to do. See

http://astrosolar.com/en/information/how-to/

Get some brand name filter such as Baader Solar / Astro Solar, Thousand Oaks. For visual. Do not get cheap Chinese or no-name filters.

A sheet of solar filter is usually enough for your filter, some smaller ones (e.g. binoculars) and material to spare (e.g. when the telescope filter gets damaged - holes, scratches).

• https://www.amazon.com/Baader-AstroSolar-Visual-Solar-Filter/dp/B072XPB9NS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501435925&sr=8-1&keywords=astrosolar+filter
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Filter-Telescopes-Binoculars-Cameras/dp/B00DS7RO7Y/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501435996&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=thousandoaks+filter
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Filter-Telescopes-Binoculars-Cameras/dp/B00DS7IFQS/ref=sr_1_2?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1501436027&sr=1-2&keywords=solar+filter
  
  (check shipping times / availability. Make sure it's for visual use, not for imaging, as that is more transparent).
  
  
  
  
  Celestron has cheap filters, but most just have a small opening with a tiny bit of solar filter.
  
  Clear skies! :-)

You have to have a solar filter. To save money you can buy the solar filter sheets like - https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Filter-Telescopes-Binoculars-Cameras/dp/B00DS7IFQS and cut your own filter and mount on like a UV filter...

It's just lens flare. If you try the same experiment with a solar filter, you will see that the size of the sun does not change. Getting a solar filter is not expensive, either. So why not try this experiment and see if you can prove us roundies wrong?

I am using autofocus, but sometimes it doesn't want to focus. When that happens, I manually focus as close as I can get and then autofocus and it works out.

I am using this filter but I don't know how many stops that equates to. I cut out a circle of it and applied it to one of the cheap Vivitar UV filters. I haven't done anything with white balance; the only things I have adjusted are the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture.

I am brand new to this, coming from phone cameras, so my knowledge is based on a 12 minute youtube video and some light googling.

You could get a solar film kit and make your own. Then the size doesn't matter quite as much since the film itself doesn't need to cover the full aperture (obviously the cardboard or whatever you're using to frame it still does).

Shipping depends on where you live - for me the 4" version of this Thousand Oaks Optical is the only one that says it will be delivered before Monday, but YMMV. I ordered the 8" version of that yesterday thanks to someone else posting about it, and should arrive tomorrow.

I would like to point this out:

>And don’t settle for a 99% partial eclipse just outside the path. “There’s no comparison between partial and total solar eclipses when it comes to sheer grandeur and beauty,” Michael Zeiler, longtime eclipse chaser and creator of the Great American Eclipse website told Universe Today. We witnessed the 1994 annular solar eclipse of the Sun from the shores of Lake Erie, and can attest that a 99% partial eclipse is still pretty darned bright!

Do yourself a favor and make the short trip up to the Nashville area where you can see "Totality" for up to 2 minuites and 40 seconds.

I also recommend a good pair of solar sunglasses and maybe a good pair of binoculars with a solar filter.

Do not ever stare directly at the sun without protective gear on

Can I use either of these as a solar filter?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1319799-REG/daystar_filters_ulf90_90mm_universal_lens_filter.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1340604-REG/celestron_94220_eclipsmart_white_light_solar_filter.html

https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Filter-Telescopes-Binoculars-Cameras/dp/B00DS7IFQS/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1502359266&sr=1-1&keywords=solar+filter+sheets

Thanks! I used a Mylar solar filter that I made out of a sheet. You can get one from here when they become available again: https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Filter-Telescopes-Binoculars-Cameras/dp/B00DS7IFQS