On Wednesday 12 August 2026, the Moon’s shadow sweeps across the top of the world. Totality begins over northern Russia, crosses the Arctic and Greenland, passes over Iceland, runs down the North Atlantic and finally reaches northern Spain and the far northeastern tip of Portugal. It is the first total solar eclipse visible from Iceland since 1954, the first in Spain since 1905, and the first in continental Europe since 2006.
Now the part that matters from here. This is a Northern Hemisphere eclipse, and none of it is visible from Australia. Not totality, not a partial, nothing at all. NASA lists the partial eclipse as visible across the northern United States, most of Canada, much of Europe and northwestern Africa. The Southern Hemisphere does not get a look in.
So this one is a travel eclipse. Below is where to go, what changes about the photography when you are actually inside the path of totality, and why 22 July 2028 is the date Australian photographers should really be building toward. All eclipse data here comes from NASA.
The Eclipse at a Glance
| Date | Wednesday 12 August 2026 |
| Type | Total solar eclipse (magnitude 1.0386) |
| Path of totality | Northern Russia, the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, the North Atlantic, northern Spain, northeastern Portugal |
| Greatest eclipse | 17:47 UTC |
| Longest totality | 2 minutes 18 seconds, about 45 km off the western coast of Iceland |
| Maximum path width | 294 km (183 miles) |
| Visible from Australia | Not at all |
| Saros series | 126 (eclipse 48 of 72) |
The Path of the Eclipse
This eclipse behaves unusually. The first part of the track runs from east to west as it passes from Russia over the Arctic to Greenland, narrowly missing the North Pole, before turning south. The eclipse falls about 2.2 days after lunar perigee, so the Moon is closer to Earth than average and its disc appears slightly larger, which is part of why totality is comfortably long.
Where to Stand for Totality
Two realistic destinations. Iceland gets totality in the early evening with the Sun still comfortably up, and the point of greatest duration sits just off the west coast. Látrabjarg on the Westfjords offers the longest totality available anywhere on land, which is why access there is expected to be managed on the day.
Northern Spain gets it late, low and close to sunset, which is dramatic but demanding: you need a clean western horizon and a long lens. The path crosses the country from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean and takes in the Balearic Islands. A Coruña, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Valencia and Palma are all inside it. Madrid and Barcelona are not, at 99%, and that last one percent is the whole event, so do not settle for it.
| City | Partial begins | Totality begins | Totality ends | Partial ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reykjavík, Iceland | 4:47 p.m. | 5:48 p.m. | 5:49 p.m. | 6:47 p.m. |
| León, Spain | 7:32 p.m. | 8:28 p.m. | 8:30 p.m. | 9:22 p.m. |
| Zaragoza, Spain | 7:34 p.m. | 8:29 p.m. | 8:30 p.m. | sunset |
| Valencia, Spain | 7:38 p.m. | 8:32 p.m. | 8:33 p.m. | sunset |
Worth knowing if you are planning a trip: Spain gets a second total eclipse on 2 August 2027, less than a year later. Iceland will not see another until 2196.
The 138 Seconds That Change How You Shoot
If you are travelling into the path of totality, there is one piece of technique that matters more than everything else in this article combined.
For the two hours of partial phases either side of maximum, the solar filter stays on. It has to: part of the Sun’s photosphere is visible and it will destroy your exposure, and looking at it will destroy your eyes.
Then, for roughly two minutes, the filter comes off. During totality the bright face of the Sun is completely covered and what you are photographing is the corona, which is millions of times fainter. Leave a 16.6 stop filter on and you will record a black frame. This is also the only moment in the entire event when it is safe to look at the eclipse without eye protection.
And then it goes straight back on, the instant the first sliver of photosphere reappears. Rehearse that swap at home until it is muscle memory, because you get one attempt at it and it lasts about as long as it takes to read this section. It is the single best argument for a magnetic filter mount over a screw-in one.
Or Go West for a Partial
Iceland and Spain are not the only options. A partial eclipse is visible from the northern United States and most of Canada, anywhere from Alaska across to North Carolina. If a trip to North America suits you better than one to Europe, you can still put an eclipse in front of your lens.
| City | Sun covered | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Fairbanks, Alaska | 37% | 8:27 a.m. |
| Anchorage, Alaska | 28% | 8:21 a.m. |
| Bangor, Maine | 24% | 1:53 p.m. |
| Boston, Massachusetts | 16% | 1:55 p.m. |
| New York, New York | 9% | 1:54 p.m. |
Alaska gets the best of it, in the morning. The US Northeast catches a smaller bite around midday. One important difference: because it never reaches totality there, the filter never comes off. No swap, no window, just two hours of straightforward shooting.
2028: The Great Australasian Eclipse
Here is the reason this article matters even if you are not getting on a plane this August.
On Saturday 22 July 2028, the Moon’s shadow makes landfall in the Kimberley and tracks south-east across Western Australia, the Northern Territory and outback Queensland, close to Kununurra, Tennant Creek, Birdsville, Bourke and Dubbo, and then directly across central Sydney, where totality runs for more than three minutes. Sydney has not seen a total solar eclipse since 1857 and will not see another until 2858. It also crosses Queenstown and Dunedin in New Zealand.
Totality on 22 July 2028 runs up to 5 minutes 10 seconds at its longest, more than twice the 2026 maximum, in a path 230 km wide. Totality is also visible from Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
| Date | Where totality falls |
|---|---|
| 12 August 2026 | Greenland, Iceland, northern Spain. Not visible from Australia. |
| 2 August 2027 | Spain, North Africa, the Middle East |
| 22 July 2028 | Australia, from the Kimberley to Sydney, and Queenstown and Dunedin in New Zealand |
| 25 November 2030 | Southern Africa, then South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland |
Which is the real argument for buying a solar filter now rather than in 2028. The Sun is up there every clear day between now and then. Sunspots, practice runs on exposure and focus, and the filter-off swap rehearsed until it is second nature. Two years of getting good at it beats learning on the one day that counts.
Why You Need a 16.6 Stop Solar Filter
The Sun is the brightest thing you will ever point a camera at. Without a purpose built solar filter you cannot expose for it, and pointing an unfiltered telephoto lens at it risks permanent damage to your sensor, your shutter and, if you use an optical viewfinder, your eyesight.
NiSi Solar Filters use an ND100000 (5.0) density, which is 16.6 stops of light reduction, a factor of one hundred thousand. That brings the solar disc down to a level an ordinary camera can record, and at the right exposure you get a clean, defined disc with sunspot detail rather than a blown out white blob.
Why UV and IR cut matters
Density alone is not enough. Many very dark neutral density filters leak ultraviolet and infrared light, because the coatings that block visible light do not necessarily block wavelengths either side of it. Your sensor is sensitive well into the infrared, so that leaked energy still lands on it. The result is a warm, muddy, colour shifted Sun, and in some cases a genuine question about how much energy is reaching the sensor.
NiSi Solar Filters cut UV and IR fully, so only visible light passes through. That is what produces a neutral rendering of the solar disc straight out of camera, and it is the strongest argument against improvising a solar filter by stacking ordinary NDs.
Choosing the Right NiSi Solar Filter
Two ways to fit one to your lens. Both use the same ND100000 glass with full UV and IR cut. The difference is how they mount, and if you are travelling into the path of totality that difference matters.
1. JetMag Pro magnetic, for the swap
The JetMag Pro FS ND100000 82MAG and 95MAG snap on and off magnetically in about a second. For the filter-off moment at totality that is worth more than any other feature on the filter. The patented twist lock then holds it firmly in place, which matters on a long lens in wind.
The system’s other advantage is economic. Fit an adaptor ring to each of your lenses and one filter serves all of them. No step-up rings, and no buying a separate solar filter per lens.
- 82MAG covers lenses with 67mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm filter threads.
- 95MAG covers 72mm, 77mm, 82mm, 86mm and 95mm threads, and is the one to choose if your eclipse lens is a large telephoto.
2. Circular screw-in, for simplicity
The NiSi Solar Filter Pro Nano UV/IR Cut ND100000 threads directly onto your lens with no adaptor system to buy into. If you have one lens you intend to use, this is the straightforward choice.
Here is the full range available in Australia, both mounting systems together.
| Filter | Fits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Circular Solar Filter 77mm | 77mm thread | $169 |
| Circular Solar Filter 82mm | 82mm thread | $189 |
| Circular Solar Filter 95mm | 95mm thread | $269 |
| JetMag Pro FS ND100000 82MAG | 67mm to 82mm via adaptors | $199 |
| JetMag Pro FS ND100000 95MAG | 72mm to 95mm via adaptors | $279 |
Not sure which JetMag system and adaptors suit your lenses? The JetMag Finder will work it out from your filter thread sizes.
How Much Lens Do You Need?
This is the question that catches people out. The Sun is only about half a degree across, which is far smaller in frame than it feels to the eye. On a full frame sensor the solar disc measures roughly the following:
| Focal length | Solar disc on full frame | Share of frame height |
|---|---|---|
| 200mm | 1.8 mm | about 8% |
| 400mm | 3.7 mm | about 15% |
| 600mm | 5.5 mm | about 23% |
| 800mm | 7.4 mm | about 31% |
| 1000mm | 9.2 mm | about 38% |
Practically: 400mm is the sensible minimum for a frame where the Sun reads as a subject rather than a dot. 600mm and beyond is where sunspots and the bite of the Moon become genuinely detailed. An APS-C body gives you an effective 1.5x advantage here, and a teleconverter is a legitimate way to get there.
The alternative is to go the other way entirely. A wide lens that places the eclipsed Sun in a landscape, with a recognisable foreground, is often a more interesting photograph than a tightly cropped disc, and far more achievable with the gear you already own. For 2028 in particular, a wide frame with a familiar Australian landscape under an eclipsed Sun is the shot worth planning.
Camera Settings and Technique
- Shoot a test session first. Pick a clear day, fit the filter, find the Sun and work out your exposure. Learning the filter on the day is the most common avoidable mistake.
- Use live view, never the optical viewfinder. This is a safety rule, not a preference. Aim using the rear screen.
- Focus manually, magnified. Autofocus struggles on a low contrast disc. Punch in on the edge of the Sun or on a sunspot, set focus, then leave it alone. Tape the focus ring if your lens drifts.
- Start around ISO 100 and f/8, then bracket widely. Shutter speeds in the region of 1/1000 to 1/125 are a reasonable place to begin, but haze, sun altitude and your specific setup move this significantly. Judge it on the histogram, not the rear screen brightness.
- Shoot RAW. You will want the latitude when you process the disc.
- Use a tripod and a remote release. With a long lens on a small target, the smallest nudge is visible.
- Track the Sun’s movement. It moves roughly its own diameter every two minutes, so a tightly framed shot needs regular re-aiming.
- Rehearse the swap. If you are heading into the path of totality, practise removing and refitting the filter until you can do it without looking. Have somewhere safe to put it down, because it will be hot.
Safety Tips and Cautions
- The NiSi Solar Filter is a photographic filter. It is not appropriate for direct solar observation with the naked eye and should be used exclusively for photography.
- Check the filter for damage before every use by holding it up to a bright light, not the Sun. Secure it properly by screwing it fully onto the lens or locking it onto the adaptor.
- The NiSi Solar Filter is not suitable eye protection for extended viewing of the Sun or a solar eclipse. Do not look directly or indirectly at the Sun without appropriate eye protection.
- Fit the filter to the front of the lens or telescope before attempting to align with the Sun. Point the camera away from the Sun when attaching and removing it.
- Do not use an optical viewfinder to align your camera or telescope with the Sun. Use live view for both aligning and viewing.
- Never leave a camera unattended where a child or an inexperienced adult could point it at the Sun without the filter properly attached.
- The filter absorbs solar energy and becomes hot during use. Take extra care when removing it.
The one exception to all of the above is the brief window of totality itself, and only if you are standing inside the path. During those two minutes the Sun’s bright face is entirely covered, and it is safe to look and to shoot unfiltered. The moment the first sliver returns, the filter and the eclipse glasses go straight back on.
Start Now, Not in 2028
If you are flying north this August, get the filter on your camera and rehearse before you go. If you are not, 12 August 2026 is still a useful prompt: the eclipse that crosses Australia is two years away, and the Sun is available for practice on every clear day between now and then.
Eclipse path, timing and coverage data in this article is sourced from NASA. Path map credit: NASA. All times are local to the city listed and are given for planning purposes; check a local source close to the date for your exact position.
