Solar Film Filter 67mm
$69
Spectrum Telescope

Spectrum Telescope sent me one of their 67mm solar film filters for my DSLR camera lenses. I have two Nikon lens, 18-140mm and 70-300mm, that have a 67mm filter thread, so the filter was a perfect fit for these lens.

There are other threaded camera solar filter sizes available ranging in size from 37mm to 82mm and costing from $49 to $82. See their web site for specifications of each model filter.

As seen in the photo on the right, the filter comes in a nice protective plastic case that clips closed. A sheet of instructions and tips on using the filter is included. The cap from your lens will securely attach to the filter when screwed into the lens to protect the filter when you are not taking photos.

I mounted the Nikon D7200 DSLR on a SkyTracker Pro for tracking the Sun while I used the filter. I did tests with both the 18-140mm lens and the 70-300mm lens. Here you can see the Spectrum Telescope filter on the Nikon 70-300mm lens:

Photographs of the Sun with a short focal length lens are not too exciting. This is a full-frame focal length 18mm photo:

Even with a focal length of 70mm you still get a small disk:

Using a focal length of 140mm you get a nice sized disk, but small sunspots are not visible:

Finally with a focal length of 300mm you get a good disk as seen in this photo taken at f/5.6, 1/400sec, ISO 400. Zooming in on the Sun's image you can see two small sunspots that were visible.

Of course, larger sunspots would be more impressive, but Spectrum Telescope was not able to make any visible during my tests. With these small sunspots being visible you get an idea of the excellent optical quality of their solar film filters.

To prove that the small dots are indeed two sunspots, I took another 300mm photo the following day to show the movement of the sunspots as the Sun rotated over 24 hours.

Summary

The Spectrum Telescope Solar Film Filters are high quality, safe solar filters. For best results they should be used with a long focal length lens. The filters are good for showing the solar disk with large sunspots or during a Partial Solar Eclipse. The convenience of being a threaded filter means it will be securely attached to your lens.

I will be keeping this solar filter in my camera bag. That way when I travel or go on local photography outings I will always have it available if a nice sunspot breaks out.

If you like taking photos of the Sun and sunspots and have only a camera and long focal length lens, this is an ideal solution. It also makes a nice grab-n-go solar imaging solution.

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