My Borg 77ED coupled to my Canon 350d using a camera nosepiece and Moonlite dual speed focusser - click on thumbnail to see a full sized image

A thumbnail view of the 2001 Solar Eclipse as I saw it from Rushinga - using an automatic film camera

Thumbnail view - Image of the 2008 Eclipse - 1/13th second exposure at ISO 400 using equiment as shown in the image above

Thumbnail view of the 2006 Total Solar Eclipse as seen from the Libyan Desert - taken using a Nikon 5200 Digital compact camera

Imaging a Total Solar Eclipse

Imaging a Total Solar Eclipse was an ambition of mine ever since I saw my first partial eclipse in 1999 from my home.
Thereafter I saw another partial phase eclipse on 2003 - also from Huddersfield.
Having viewed a Total Solar Eclipse from Rushinga in Zimbabwe, in June 2001, I was determined to get some experience of better photo's during my eclipse trips of 2006 to Libya and finally to make a big effort for the 2008 trip to China.
So:
1) the image of the 2001 eclipse was taken with an automatic film camera
2) the image of the 2006 eclipse was taken with a high-spec automatic digital camera [Nikon 5200]
and
3) the image of the 2008 eclipse was taken with a Canon 350d coupled to my Borg 77ED [fl 500mm] telescope  acting as a Telephoto lens

Click on an image to see a full sized view

The final eclipse image was the result of a lot of planning.
Firstly I imaged the 'full sun' using the camera and telescope set-up with a Baader Film filter on the objective of the Telelscope.
This gave me an idea of what camera settings (i..e exposure, ISO setting) I should use and also how 'sensitive' the focussing had to be to get a sharp image.
On the day of the eclipse I started taking images of the partial phases and inspecting the 'Histogram' of each image, on the camera display, to adjust the shutter speed to get the best results.
At each phase of the eclipse I took up to 10 shots with different exposures to (hopefully) get the right shot.
During Totallity this paid off as I had plenty of time to get the Corona shot as well as using a semi-automatic Digital Camera to take a wide-angle shot too.
As with many astronomical things -  practice and planning made perfect

Observing a Solar Eclipse requires no special equipment - the no.1 eyeball is quite adequate
BUT - when viewing or imaging the eclipse please be very careful - a solar filter - such as Baader AstroSolar Film MUST be used during the partial phases.
The filter can be removed during totality but always always ensure that you have the filter in place
before the totality phase ends - otherwise you may go blind as the camer/telelscope will focus the
heat of the Sun into your eyeball

Warning

Found this on the internet