[interested_observer]

Canon 600mm f/4L IS II, Canon 7D Mark II, Nikon D500, Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 II ASPH

We recently had quite a spectacle in the United States, with a Solar Eclipse reaching totality throughout a large portion of the United States. Being that this was the first solar eclipse passing through the Continental US since 1979, excitement ran wild on capturing this natural event using the best camera gear available.

But with such excitement, came a treasure trove of warnings. Warnings that this event can easily damage your camera, your lens, and your eyes if you do not have the proper protection. With all of our rentals leading up to this event, we warned everyone to view the event with appropriate eyewear and to attach a solar filter to the end of their lenses to protect the lens elements and camera sensor.

... from the comments ....

Roger Cicala - In the repair department we were actually pretty pleased. I had predicted 18 or more burned items and it was actually like 6.

• Lens Rentals | Blog

[aslyfox]

those who read the info given by the lensrental folks or the posts to the various threads here were warned

I hope those who rented equipment took the highest level of " insurance " offered by the rental folks

those planning on catching the next one ( get your reservations for Carbondale Il asap )


NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 Apr 08

would do well to read the linked blog in the O P

IMHO

[photoptimist]

Ouch! (And I doubt rental insurance would cover such events because the renter did not "accidentally" point the camera at the sun).

Given the time of year and the geometry of the eclipse, south-central Texas may be the best place to go for the least threat of cloud and greatest duration of totality in the US.

[aslyfox]

Ouch! (And I doubt rental insurance would cover such events because the renter did not "accidentally" point the camera at the sun).

Given the time of year and the geometry of the eclipse, south-central Texas may be the best place to go for the least threat of cloud and greatest duration of totality in the US.

ah, you appear to be correct, from the linked blog:

" Overall, we were really impressed with how few pieces of gear we got back damaged. And of the things returned, we were equally impressed with our customer-base, and their guilt and owning up to the damage. Unfortunately, these types of damage are considered neglect, as warnings were given out to customers before the solar eclipse. Our LensCap insurance plan, which can be added to rentals for a small nominal fee, does not protect from neglect but is an excellent tool for those who are worried about their rental and want to protect themselves from any accidental damage. "
________________________________

greatest duration of totality appears to be in Mexico this time

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Last edited by aslyfox; 09-01-2017 at 03:12 PM.

[monochrome]

Canon 600 f/4 IS ll

Yikes. Rented it. Then he bought it.

[interested_observer]

Yikes. Rented it. Then he bought it.

Let's see $8,999.00 but if you buy through B&H you do get to Receive a 4% Reward.

• Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM Lens 5124B002 B&H Photo Video

I wonder if they get the old damage one. Lens Rentals, just probably repairs the unit and charges for the parts & labor along with the down time.

[mee]

Yikes indeed. That's around a 11-12k dollar lens. I wonder if they charge the repair fee and expense of losing money out of service or if they just mail them the whole lens and bill for it?

[mee]

Let's see $8,999.00 but if you buy through B&H you do get to Receive a 4% Reward.

• Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM Lens 5124B002 B&H Photo Video

I wonder if they get the old damage one. Lens Rentals, just probably repairs the unit and charges for the parts & labor along with the down time.

Thats the 500, the 600 is mentioned in the article. Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM Lens 5125B002 B&H Photo Video

[KiloHotelphoto]

I just bought a 600mm F4 IS II in July and I hope I never know the feeling that person had when they destroyed it.

I wonder what thier shots looked like?

[interested_observer]

I just bought a 600mm F4 IS II in July and I hope I never know the feeling that person had when they destroyed it.

I wonder what thier shots looked like?

There is a thread on this over at reddit and Roger Cicala (who owns Lens Rentals) commented on the damage....

[–]RCicala 65 points 5 hours ago

Exactly right. Replaced the aperture assembly, although the hard part actually was cleaning some residue off the lens elements on either side of the aperture. Still a $200 part and a few hours of repair time. Lens wasn't ruined. Roger

... so, it was salvageable and a few hundred dollar repair bill is pretty reasonable - all things considered...

______________________

...a bit off topic here - but have you folks seen some of the images of the eclipse taken with Pentax gear? Check out the Astro social group.

• Solar eclipse series - got some good stuff - Astrophotography - PentaxForums.com

[Theov39]

How does the sun damage a camera or lens?

is a SOLAR filter just a very dark ND filter?

[aslyfox]

How does the sun damage a camera or lens?

is a SOLAR filter just a very dark ND filter?

perhaps this thread's opening post and its links might be a good starting point for you to review -

So you wanna photograph the Eclipse - what you need to know in (sorta) a nutshell - Page 6 - PentaxForums.com

[Theov39]

Thanks for that. Very interesting.

[photoptimist]

How does the sun damage a camera or lens?

is a SOLAR filter just a very dark ND filter?

The sun primarily damages lenses and cameras through the high intensity of it's light (both visible and infrared) which like a magnifying glass will burn aperture irises, mirror box plastic, shutter blades, and even the sensor itself.

There's actually three classes of filters:

1) A standard ND filter attenuates visible light but is not guaranteed to attenuate either IR or UV which means there's a risk of camera or eye damage from using it.

2) A photography-specific solar filter (sold for photography and telescopes with cameras instead of eyepieces) attenuates both visible and IR light to avoid thermal damage but is not guaranteed to attenuate enough UV to avoid the risk of eye damage from using it.

3) An eye-safe solar filter (sold for use on telescopes and cameras) attenuates visible, IR, and UV light to avoid both thermal and UV eye damage.

[Theov39]

The sun primarily damages lenses and cameras through the high intensity of it's light (both visible and infrared) which like a magnifying glass will burn aperture irises, mirror box plastic, shutter blades, and even the sensor itself.

There's actually three classes of filters:

1) A standard ND filter attenuates visible light but is not guaranteed to attenuate either IR or UV which means there's a risk of camera or eye damage from using it.

2) A photography-specific solar filter (sold for photography and telescopes with cameras instead of eyepieces) attenuates both visible and IR light to avoid thermal damage but is not guaranteed to attenuate enough UV to avoid the risk of eye damage from using it.

3) An eye-safe solar filter (sold for use on telescopes and cameras) attenuates visible, IR, and UV light to avoid both thermal and UV eye damage.

Thanks for that. Very helpful.