Will trying to photo the eclipse with no filter damage my D800 or D300

<p>Will trying to photo the eclipse with no filter damage my D800 or D300. I was going to try Aperture priority F22 ISO 100. Thoughts?</p>

<p>No more so than any photo that has the sun in the field of view. But as a general precaution, minimize the time with the lens cap off, and don't spend a lot of time staring in the viewfinder.</p>

<p>Looking back at some pics I took of the partial eclipse 2 years ago, I see that I could sort of define the chunk taken out of the disk at ISO 200, F/32, 1/8000th second, with a thin layer of clouds across the sun. So you might be able to get there, depending on your weather conditions. A neutral density filter might help if you have one. If you're hoping to get the suns disk somewhat balanced with the foreground so that it's not all black, you'll have to wait until the sun is very close to the horizon, and hope there's a lot of haze to dim it (just like any sunset photo). Or composite multiple pics together.</p>

<p>If you're talking about a lunar eclipse, the answer is no. If you're talking about a solar eclipse, especially a full eclipse, you should be certain that you aren't using a wide lens which will create a pinpoint of heat on the sensor-- without some sort of heavy ND filter, or keep the exposure extremely short. I'd suggest a ND filter in any case. As you know, it is potentially damaging to your retina to directly look into the sun, especially thru a camera concentrating its rays....most health care professionals suggest projecting the image onto a piece of paper (or film).</p>