Taking eclipse photos with a phone? Use a filter
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The total solar eclipse will quickly come and go, so many will be hoping to capture the moment forever on their phone.
While the picture could be worth a thousand words, the cost could be hundreds of dollars in damage to your camera.
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During the last partial solar eclipse in Arkansas, A-1 Cellular Repair General Manager Dakota Stroud helped many customers with sunspots burned into their lenses which required total camera replacements.
“They said they took a quick picture of it and all of a sudden their camera went black,” Stroud said.
He said that UV Rays during an eclipse can damage a phone even though taking pictures on a clear day will not.
“The eclipse does make it more concentrated. It’s like holding a magnifying glass over a leaf. It’s going to burn a hole in your camera,” Stroud said.
Just like people need eclipse glasses to safely view an eclipse, so does a phone.
While one solution is taping a pair up the phone’s lenses, a simpler solution is a tailored filter such as Solar Snap. It looks like one enlarged lens that attaches directly to a phone case.
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Solar Snap even has a free companion app that allows photographers to control zoom, exposure and focus.
“It puts you in control, and you are better than the phone app when it comes to the sun,” Dr. Douglas Duncan explained.
Duncan is an astronomer who worked on the Hubble space telescope team. He created Solar Snap during the pandemic to fill a gap he saw after 50 years of being a solar eclipse enthusiast.
For those in the path of totality, there will be a few minutes where the sun is completely covered by the moon and a filter is not necessary. Dr. Duncan advised his app could still be helpful then.
“If you just press the totality button, it will take pictures all on its own, and you can just watch,” Duncan said.
“But as soon as it starts coming back to light, put the film back on,” Stroud added.
One more thing that will enhance photos taken by phone is using a tripod or something else to stabilize shots.
To upgrade from taping eclipse glasses to a phone, Solar Snap can be bought in-store at Lowe’s but may be sold out.
Where can I get solar eclipse glasses?
Eclipseglasses.com offers overnight from Memphis which may be pricey but cost less than repairing a sun-damaged camera.
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