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Bought a discount solar filter off eBay and instantly regretted it
I picked up a cheap solar filter for my telescope off eBay for like $15 two years ago. Took it out to catch a partial eclipse and the image was so blurry I couldn't tell if I was looking at the sun or a streetlight. Ended up returning it and losing $8 on shipping, plus I missed the whole event. Has anyone else gotten burned by cheap astronomy gear online?
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amy_coleman219d ago
$15 for a solar filter? That's not bad actually, you get what you pay for. If you did your homework and spent a little more you could have gotten something decent. I grabbed a similar cheap one off AliExpress for like $12 and it worked fine for my phone camera setup. Sure it wasn't perfect but I got clear shots of the eclipse and didn't cry about it. Blaming the gear when you went with the absolute cheapest option is kinda funny. Maybe look up reviews next time instead of buying random junk off eBay.
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jackson.matthew7d ago
Yall are missing the real problem here. Nobody's talking about how these cheap filters can literally damage your eyes or camera sensor if the coating is uneven or has pinholes. Ive seen people mess up their phone cameras permanently because they slapped on a $12 filter from some random seller with no quality control. A solar eclipse is serious business - you're staring at a magnified sun through a piece of plastic. Saving $30 isnt worth permanent eye damage or a bricked camera. Check the ISO standard before you buy next time.
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