Viewing solar eclipse with Mavic

[Regulator247]

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

I have been thinking about bringing my mavic to work and during the lunchtime period going to the side parking lot and flying my drone (quad) a few hundred feet up and trying to capture the solar eclipse. The question I have is two fold:

1.) Due to the position of the sun, would this be able to be viewed from the horizontal viewpoint of the drone being in a standard hover position around 400 feet up?

2.) Would there be any adverse affects on the camera if I chose to capture the solar eclipse? I mean obviously we aren't supposed to look at it directly, I was just wondering if there would be anything that might cause damage to the camera, or not.

Thank you for your advice in advance,

Paul

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Hi @Regulator247,

I'm headed for eastern Idaho to view the eclipse on Monday but I'm leaving my Mavic home. Here's why:

1.) Capturing the sun in the frame should be possible depending on the time of day the eclipse will occur in your time zone, but since the Mavic can't zoom I don't think you'll get much better images at 400 feet above ground level than you'd get just standing on the ground and looking up.

2.) I believe there's a high probability of damaging the optics in the Mavic's camera. I've heard experts disagree on cell phone-sized cameras but DSLRs, telescopes and binoculars definitely sustain damage after being pointed at the sun. The Mavic falls somewhere in between on that spectrum. That being said, if you've got a spare pair of eclipse glasses, you could probably create a home made filter that would protect the camera from harm while shooting directly at the sun. But you'll be flying pretty much blind when your camera isn't pointed at the sun, so keep that in mind.

For my time zone, totality will will be at 11:33 am, so I'd have to shoot almost straight up at it and there are better tools than the Mavic for that. Maybe timing will be more drone-conducive in your time zone. If you do decide to give it a shot, please share your pics afterward.

Good luck!
Nate

 

[Regulator247]

Thank you for your response. Do you think I would have any better luck with a ND16 or ND32 type of filter, or would that much filter take away from the already dark image being captured from the camera already?

Thank you for your reply.

 

[PDXteriors]

I'll be flying about 2 miles up to record the shadow and it's movement, should be a good show as I'm in the path of totality!

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

@Regulator247, an ND filter isn't going to be strong enough to protect the camera when pointing directly at the sun. In fact, eclipse filters (or eclipse glasses) should be dark enough that you don't see anything unless you're looking directly at the sun.

How to determine if your solar eclipse glasses are real or fake

Although, if you're in the path of totality, you will get between a minute or two where you could shoot with no filter while the sun is completely blocked. Just take care that you don't melt your optics when the moon's shadow starts to move off again and the sun peeks back through.

 

[Regulator247]

@Regulator247, an ND filter isn't going to be strong enough to protect the camera when pointing directly at the sun. In fact, eclipse filters (or eclipse glasses) should be dark enough that you don't see anything unless you're looking directly at the sun.

How to determine if your solar eclipse glasses are real or fake

Although, if you're in the path of totality, you will get between a minute or two where you could shoot with no filter while the sun is completely blocked. Just take care that you don't melt your optics when the moon's shadow starts to move off again and the sun peeks back through.

Fyi I asked DJI support and this is what they said...


Cristian （Support）

8月17日 00:04 CST

Dear Paul,

Thank you for contacting DJI Technical Support

With regards to your concern the camera will not be damage as long as you use an ND Filter on the Mavic.

Should you have further inquiry in the future, please don't hesitate to email us back.
Best Regards,

Cristian
DJI SUPPORT

Tel Support: +1(818)235 0789 / Mon-Fri 7:00AM-5:00PM(PST)
Online Support: DJI Support - Here for You

 

[Infidel90]

Hi @Regulator247,


2.) I believe there's a high probability of damaging the optics in the Mavic's camera. I've heard experts disagree on cell phone-sized cameras but DSLRs, telescopes and binoculars definitely sustain damage after being pointed at the sun. The Mavic falls somewhere in between on that spectrum. That being said, if you've got a spare pair of eclipse glasses, you could probably create a home made filter that would protect the camera from harm while shooting directly at the sun. But you'll be flying pretty much blind when your camera isn't pointed at the sun, so keep that in mind.

This is completely false. Telescopes and binoculars will not sustain any type of damage at all if pointed at the sun during an eclipse or any other day. LOOKING THROUGH a telescope or binocular during a solar eclipse or any other day for long term duration will damage your eyeballs, but will not damage the telescope or binoculars at all.

Viewing the sun during the eclipse with a mavic camera (or any camera) won't damage the unit either. Viewing the sun with the mavic on any other day won't damage the camera either unless you leave it looking at it for hours and the sun actually heats the camera up to the point of damage. No different than if you left it on the hood of your vehicle during direct sunlight pointing at the sun. A few minutes won't matter. Hours or even days will eventually depending on how hot it gets. Aiming your camera on the mavic from say Anchorage Alaska, or Phoenix Arizona, on the same day, in direct sunlight will have dramatic differences on not only the camera, but the mavic as a whole not because of the light from the sun, but the heat generated from the sun in those differing areas.

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Hi @Infidel90,

I think we're actually talking about the same thing but I wasn't clear enough in my initial post. Telescopes and binoculars contain lenses used for magnification which focus light and consquently heat. When pointed at the sun, its light is condensed right at the point of the eyepiece. There are plenty of reports online of novices melting their eyepieces or even burning their eyes using telescopes to look at transits and eclipses of the sun. And on a DSLR camera, that light (and heat) are focused on the image sensor, which will likely sustain damage. Here's some backing info from Nikon:

How to Photograph a Solar Eclipse from Nikon

Now, the optics in cell phone cameras and similarly in the Mavic certainly don't work the same way as a telescope or telephoto camera lens. You might be just fine. But just pop a good filter on and you're totally safe. You can even make your own. Better safe than sorry. That's all I'm saying.

 

[gnirtS]

How Can I Photograph the Solar Eclips 8/21/17 <-- might be an idea to keep all these threads that are about to spring up in one place.

 

[Marko9219]

The sun is about as high as it gets during the totality phase. How would you ever figure on getting a MP to point up towards the sun at that angle?

 

[Regulator247]

I just cut/pasted the first part of my question I originally asked right here>

1.) Due to the position of the sun, would this be able to be viewed from the horizontal viewpoint of the drone being in a standard hover position around 400 feet up?

 

[WolfgangStiller]

I just cut/pasted the first part of my question I originally asked right here>

1.) Due to the position of the sun, would this be able to be viewed from the horizontal viewpoint of the drone being in a standard hover position around 400 feet up?

The Mavic will not be able to film the sun during the eclipse while it is flying (the sun will be too high in the sky)

 

[behindust]

First, the sun is too high to see by MP during totality. It should be ~60degree above horizon (depends where you are). Camera on MP can tilt ~30degree up before the nose block the vision. SO, NO. However, you may be able to point at sun at the beginning of the partial eclipse. On the other hand, pointing MP's cute camera to sun won't capture anything useful. The size of the sun on the MP sensor is about 1/160th of the frame, but the lens flare will overexpose half of your frame.

Other than directly point at sun, you could try to find some reflecting surface on the ground, like ponds (may be not a swimming pool with people), black cars or roofs that can reflect a little bit sunlight.and use them as a solar filter to shot the reflection of the sun. Since the sun is really high, you may get images that cannot easily capture on the ground.

As for your concern, I don't think the small lens (~1x1mm) of MP camera can capture enough heat to damage the sensor, should be in <10mW range. However, camera (DSLR) lens (e.g. 50x50mm) are different stories, they can capture much much more light.

I'm planning take my MP with me to the total solar eclipse pathway next Monday. But I'll not (I cannot anyway) point the to the sun, instead I'll let it record the shadow come and leave, so I'll just let it hover by itself for the 2min totality and see what I can get.

 

[FollySteve]

My thoughts are that it will be 2 minutes that you will want to remember and I would rather spend it taking in the experience than operating gear. I like the idea of leaving it hovering to capture people's expressions, etc. I think the capturing the shadow may be problematic. If autoexposure then exposure will adjust and you won't get the full effect. If manual exposure then you will probably be well underexposed. I saw one many years ago and was quite surprised at how dark it got. Best of luck for a good viewing. I live in the path and am looking forward to my second if the weather gods cooperate.

 

[WolfgangStiller]

I think a cool thing to do with the Mavic during the eclipse (photographing the actual eclipse won't work as has been pointed out) would be a time laps from the air showing things get dark.