[gregbradley]

I guess the whole point of this automated approach is at total solar eclipse sites the exposures will vary a lot as it gets darker.

But for those who are only seeing a partial eclipse the exposure settings probably won't change too much.

Around Sydney with 60 something percent eclipse it may end up being fastest shutter speed, highish F ratio, lowest ISO.

I've been testing with various lenses.

A Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 ED seems the best so far with a variable ND filter blocking out a lot of the extra light. The trouble is with these filters is it makes the sky mostly black which could make for a not so great final image. The 24-70 showed some cloud when it was nearby but the 180mm or 300mm did not. Also the image took considerable enlargement before breakdown with a Nikon D800E. But still not what I would consider a beautiful image.

Any thoughts about how best to expose for partial eclipse? I would like to see some blue sky in the shot. Perhaps it will need a composite to achieve that. Or perhaps a HDR but even that, the brightness range would have to be massive to achieve a normal blue sky. So widerfield lenses may end up taking the better shot?

Greg.