Preventing sun damage.

[XJamesKendrick12X]

I hope this question doesn't sound rhetorical, and before I ask, I'd just like to mention that I'm well aware of the damage that could be caused to the lens and sensor by prolonged exposure to the sun.
With that said, I'm curious if there are any fool-proof methods such as lens/UV filters that allow you to record videos of the sun? I understand it's safe to take pictures and even short videos of sunsets, but what I'm wanting to do is record a video of the entire day from sunrise to sunset, similar to a time laps, but I'll be manually setting the playback speed so I can adjust at certain points of the day, mainly focusing on the sunrise and sunset.
Is that wishful thinking or something that would be feasible without causing any damage?
I have a Sony a7 iii and will be using the Sony 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 lens if it makes a difference.
Thanks everyone for assisting in my previous question on learning how to pick out a nice lens for wildlife!

 

[Photodave]

Great question. I’m an astro-imager, often using a dslr with a telescopeas my lens. we have several means of doing solar imaging.

1. A Herschel wedge, or diagonal. These are white light filters, merely reducing the amount of most, if not all, wavelengths passing through, usually sending the other energy into a ceramic to be dissipated;
2. A tunable filter, used to allow only certain frequencies to pass through in order to highlight sunspots or corona; and
3. Solar filters, usually made of a film, that are mounted in front of the telescope objective. Most are made from film from Baader.

You can buy all from OPT at:

https://optcorp.com/pages/search-results-page?q=Solar+filter+film&tab=products&page=2

This last method comes in three forms:

• Film sheets that you can cut to fit. Many people find or make a cardboard ring that just fits over the objective, and then glue or rubber band the film over it.
• The second type are preformed, and have adjustable pins allowing them to fit a variety of lens diameters.
• Screw in filters, similar to other photo filters like nd or polarizers we all use.
  

Hope this helps.