Yes, you can film the eclipse with your phone, as video or as a timelapse, on one condition: while the Sun is in the frame during the partial phases, the camera needs a solar filter in front of it, and the filter comes off only during totality. In Tarifa that is from 10:45:11 to 10:49:38, and in Málaga from 10:48:08 to 10:49:51 (Spanish time, CEST, UTC+2), the safe times between ours and those of the IGN, Spain’s National Geographic Institute. The video people are usually most glad to have afterwards is the one of the atmosphere: the light dropping, the shadow arriving and the voices around you. For a timelapse of the Sun, allow about two hours and twenty minutes of eclipse.
The filter: in front, and only in the partial phases
The AAS (American Astronomical Society) rule for photos and video is the same as for your eyes: the solar filter stays on during the partial phases and comes off only in totality. In a total eclipse, it comes off at second contact and goes back on at third contact. On a phone, the filter covers the camera lens (all the lenses in the module, if it has several), and in totality you have to remove it because, as the AAS warns, with it on the picture comes out black.
The filter protects the sensor, not your eyes: if you look up from the screen at the Sun, you need your glasses. How to fit it and set up your phone is explained in our guide to photographing the eclipse with your phone (in Spanish).
What comes out best: the atmosphere
The AAS suggests another option, with no zoom: leave the camera recording a wide shot of the scene from about ten minutes before totality. You’ll capture the changing light, the glow on the horizon during totality, people’s reactions and, if the camera points west, the Moon’s shadow approaching. Many eclipse veterans say the best part of a video of totality is the sound.
In the path of totality, the Sun will be towards the east, with an azimuth of between 95° and 98.5° at maximum and an altitude of about 37-41°. If you set the phone on the tripod facing west, towards your group, you’ll have the lit-up faces and the approaching shadow in front of it, with the Sun behind the phone and out of shot. The filter is needed whenever the Sun enters the frame.
Patricia Reiff, of the Rice Space Institute, gives a simple recipe for phones on the AAS page: video mode, the phone propped up or on a tripod pointing at your group, and record from a minute or two before totality until a minute or two after. In Tarifa, totality begins at 10:45:11.
The timelapse of the Sun, in numbers
For the Sun itself, the AAS suggests clips of three to five seconds every four or five minutes during the partial phases, with the camera on a tripod: that way the whole eclipse fits into a few minutes of video. In Tarifa the eclipse runs from 09:40:56 to 12:00:35, two hours, nineteen minutes and thirty-nine seconds.
The sum for a photo sequence is simple: divide the duration by the interval and add the first photo. To work out how long the video will be, divide the number of photos by the frames per second. With one photo every 5 s you get 8,379 ÷ 5 = 1,675.8, so 1,675 + 1 = 1,676 photos, and at 25 frames per second, 1,676 ÷ 25 = 67 s of video.
| Interval | Photos | Video at 25 fps | Video at 30 fps |
|---|---|---|---|
| One photo every 2 s | 4,190 | 2 min 48 s | 2 min 20 s |
| One photo every 5 s | 1,676 | 67 s | 56 s |
| One photo every 10 s | 838 | 34 s | 28 s |
| One photo every 30 s | 280 | 11 s | 9 s |
| 3-5 s clips every 4 min | 35 clips | 105 to 175 s of footage | |
| 3-5 s clips every 5 min | 28 clips | 84 to 140 s of footage |
The whole timelapse of the Sun is shot with the filter on, except for the minutes of totality.
Before you press record
- A tripod: the AAS recommends one for the sequence, and no hand stays steady through a two-hour fixed shot.
- A power bank and free space on your phone, because a morning of video uses plenty of both.
- Aeroplane mode, so that a call or a notification doesn’t cut the recording.
- Focus and exposure locked. The AAS warns that phones burn out bright areas and focus badly on dark ones; the phone guide explains how to lock and lower the exposure, and the AAS suggests trying HDR mode.
- A test the day before, at the same time, with the tripod and the filter. And decide in advance what you are going to film: the AAS advises against changing plans at the last minute.
Don’t spend totality looking at the screen: the AAS insists that you watch it with your own eyes, because no image comes close. The exact times for taking your glasses off are in when to take off your eclipse glasses during totality.
On Order your glasses you can ask for the phone filter, as well as our cardboard glasses with the EN ISO 12312-2 certificate and packs for groups. We reply with the price and the delivery time.
Sources: AAS — How to Shoot Solar-Eclipse Images & Videos (filter in the partial phases and off only in totality, from second to third contact; 3-5 s clips every 4-5 minutes with a tripod; a wide shot from ten minutes before, with the shadow if you point west; the sound; Patricia Reiff’s recipe; HDR; no last-minute changes of plan; watch the eclipse yourself); AAS — Suppliers of Safe Solar Viewers & Filters (filters for phone cameras; remove it in totality or the image comes out black); phase times, the Sun’s azimuth and altitude: eclipseando data (skyfield engine + DE440s) checked against the IGN’s times; the photo count is our own.
If you would like something to keep from the eclipse, the shop prints T-shirts, mugs and posters with the name of your town, the time of its maximum and its seconds of totality. See the merchandise →
Remember: never look at the Sun without proper eye protection (filters made to EN ISO 12312-2). The official reference for safe viewing in Spain is the IGN (in Spanish): eclipses.ign.es.