SolarLite Solar Filter Film (ND 5) - 3" (76mm) Square Piece

Great filter, at such a low price. This review is gonna sound really pansy, but whatever. First photo is how it looks with your eye, the second was a high-ISO just for giggles WHILE IT IS 6"x 6", DO NOT THINK IT IS SUITABLE FOR 6" TELESCOPES. BUY LARGER SHEETS IF YOUR SCOPE IS >4". The primary mirror is 6", the opening at the front of the telescope is always larger. For instance, my telescope is 130mm/5.1", but the opening is 160mm/6.3", so the sheet was too short. The corners could fit over the outside but there were still 4 gaps letting a dangerous amount of light in. If you have a 6" telescope, the opening is probably closer to 7". To attach to the telescope I wrapped rectangular cardboard around the telescope and stapled the two sides together to make a hollow cylinder. Each corner of the sheet was stapled to the side of the cardboard cylinder, now it is like a bongo drum. The gaps were sealed, I went nuts with sellotape just to make sure and now it can slide onto the telescope easily and safely. Anyone with a Celestron 130EQ, there's a real nice way of attaching it: If you take off the awful finderscope, there are two 'rails' where its slides on and off. Place the drum-filter on the end of the telescope and mark where the cardboard comes into contact with the two rails, and then cut out two lines ~5cm along the markings. Now attach the drum, the rails should pass through the cut lines and it should tightly keep the filter in place against wind or pointing down. I can't really explain this without pictures, sorry. Okay, looking through it: When I bought this, I expected to take some nice photos. I didn't expect it to completely change my perspective of the sky I see every day. The sun is our everything, it provides all warmth and life, it controls how we live our lives, when we work, when we sleep. We've worshiped it as a god for thousands of years. But only up until recently have we been able to actually look at it. Looking at it long enough to barely see a circular shape is long enough to wreck your eyes. Under the telescope with a 4mm eyepiece I only just began to get a glimpse of how large the Sun is, it gave me goosebumps. Even without any equipment, just holding the sheet over your eyes, the sun is just breath taking to look at. I can't recommend doing this enough. Maybe walk around a little for parallax, to see how far away yet large it is. It immediately transforms from the annoying patch of sky that forces you to squint, to a beautiful golden ball. The sheet blackens the sky, it looks as if it's window looking into the vacuum of space, with a star sitting right in front of you. There's nothing like it. Now every time I go outside and feel the warmth on my skin, I can appreciate what's really going on instead of "just a sunny day". To me that is priceless.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but ended up very pleased! This comes as just a sheet of 'film' but it's very easy to make your own filter from it! I cut a circle from a cereal box, just slightly larger than my lens. Then I cut most of the center out of that. I cut a piece of the film to the same size as the outer circle and then taped it to the cardboard disc. I then used some masking tape to hold this filter onto my lens hood (it was on my lens, in the 'unused' position). And voila! I used my camera's video mode to find the location of the sun, while it was on a tripod. This way I could just look at the back of the screen instead of through the eyepiece and being tempted to see where I was looking. We took very sharp, brilliant photos of the recent eclipse, and by playing with the shutter speed I was able to get crisp photos, or ones with more 'atmosphere'. I am very impressed with this, and I'm thinking we'll also use it to photograph sunspots. It's a useful piece of kit for a homeschool, photographer, or anyone who is curious about what the sun 'really' looks like! My only disappointment is that there won't be another eclipse anytime soon!

I ordered this solar filter paper for the forthcoming solar eclipse in the UK this week. I hadn't realised that it was being sent from Israel but it arrived securely packed and in good time, well within delivery estimates. From this 6"x 6" sheet I have been able to make a filter for my 95mm diameter telephoto lens and four pairs of solar glasses, using cardboard templates I found on the net. The paper is very thin and easily marked and needs careful handling but that being said is excellent for the stated purpose and works extremely well as a solar filter. If you are looking to so any solar viewing or photography then I would recommend this, if you are happy to do some minor "Blue Peter" DIY as the results are good.

I'm not an astronomer nor a photographer, but the sun interests me a lot. So I wanted to get a look at the sun's disk using my camcorder. Finding a 43mm solar filter proving to be difficult (or very expensive), I discovered this solar sheet product and ordered it. Due to being shipped from Israel it took quite a long time to arrive, but it finally did. It was rather thinner/flimsier than I expected, and I was not entirely sure how to attach it. I was going to use my existing 43mm UV filter, but I didn't want to damage it with adhesive (sticky tape would have been problematic). So I hit upon the idea of getting a 43mm x 58mm adapter ring. This provided a flat flange on which to adhere the filter. Shown in the images are what the filter (after cutting) looked like after mounting. And there's the photo of the adapter attached to the camera -- as you can see, it's a very consumer-oriented camera, without a manual focus. And the fourth photo is the result of finally getting the camera to focus on infinity! I was very disappointed in the result, as there were no sunspots whatsoever! I wondered why... was it the filter? the camera? Then it hit me: it's the low point in the sun's 11 year cycle. I checked online, and yes, there were no sunspots at the time I took the photo, 3 July 2020. So the photo I took is a fair representation of the current sun disk. So, all in all, I'm pleased with this solar filter.

I have an existing solar filter for a different scope which is too big. I bought this and made my own custom filter with it. Essentially I found a small (very clean unused) plastic flower pot, which is slightly tapered, that fitted snugly inside the dew shield of my small refractor. I cut most of the bottom off but left enough for a good light proof fit. The pot also has a slightly wider part near the top which butted up against the edge of the dew shield nicely. I opened the solar film package very carefully by using a sharp blade to just score through the tape holding the two pieces of cardboard together. With the film black side up, still on one side of the cardboard, I put a very thin bead of superglue around the rim of the pot and placed it onto the film. After a minute or so, I trimmed off the remaining film with scissors to end up with a perfect solar filter with no creases or wrinkles.

I bought this back in January, in preparation for the recent solar eclipse. I taped it to a Cokin z pro filter holder adaptor ring and screwed the ring to the front of my camera lens. Firstly I tried it on a glorious clear sunny day and managed to create some superb images of the sun. I knew it worked and it did the job for the recent solar eclipse. The colour of the images are exactly like those shown on the advert for the item. It comes well packaged, sandwiched between card. Just look after it when it’s not in use. You can see the sun safely if you hold it up to your eyes. The camera works fine after using it, no damage to the sensor etc.

Good for safe direct optical viewing, but so dark orangey/yellow that you won't easily see sunspots even through decent binoculars. I guess you CAN make it work for photography BUT typically, for indirect viewing electronic viewfinder cameras, you are better off with less attenuation. This thing, at 16.6 stops, optical density 5.0, cuts so much light that you may struggle to make a good exposure without movement etc. It makes a tricky jo very much trickier. Other makers such as NiSi produce 15 stop, optical density 4.5, dedicate filters for Solar photography. Still a bit dark for digital Solar photography with EVFs, but has other benefits, like turning a 1/125s to a 2 minute exposure - great for quirky seascapes etc. Filter experts Hoya, and astro specialists Baadar, recommend 13 stops, optical density 3.9, which is much easier to work with especially with smaller aperture telephoto lenses. Proper flat coated glass filters or ultra thin metalised and encapsulated films may do a better job of rendering detail too, especially if you don't have huge diameter optics on hand. This film would be good for making solar safety glasses, but we already had those. I bought it to make safe solar viewing through decent binoculars, but as mentioned, it doesn't afford much of a view. As for digital photography with EVF, better off with NDs totalling 13 stops - the Sun is then rendered natural white and detail and sunspots have higher contrast. I've had various approved solar safety filters over the decades, but this one has gone back in its pack and may well stay there

The filter sheet arrived four days before the earliest estimated delivery date, well packed and as described. A snip compared to the price of solar filters on the market - now I have to do the Blue Peter bit with the cardboard and glue, but the cost saving will be worth it. There are loads of suggestions online for making your own filter to fit your camera. Update - making the filter was easy and took less than an hour. The pictures of the sun are really good and I'm now all set for the solar eclipse.

Bought this to make a solar filter for my telescope. Much cheaper than buying a ready made one.

I made my own solar filters to use with my 20x80 binoculars. Quality film and works amazingly to view the sun

Ho acquistato questo filtro in vista dell'eclissi di sole prevista l'anno prossimo. Ho fatto qualche prova con la mia macchina fotografica (una bridge con lunghezza focale da 400 mm) e sono soddisfatto del risultato. Il filtro funziona bene e protegge perfettamente. Il pacco è arrivato in tempo e il contenuto all'interno è ben protetto.

Funciona perfecto! Lo usé para el eclipse de abril en mi telescopio, realicé fotos muy bonitas. Todo bien

I put this on my telescope viewed the sun through the trees so I had moving shadows in case the sensor got overloaded & despite having to shorten the exposure because it was relatively dark it still burnt the sensor evidenced in the daylight moon photo taken just after the sun photo also in the trees the white haze remains in the centre! A perfectly good Olympus em5 mkii $1000 ruined it probably blocks visible light but let too much IR or ultraviolet in! It had the best chance to do well with only 20 mins of viewing through the moving trees max ! Not happy 🥲