It's not easy to shoot the solar disc without a solar filter and it generally needs a very short exposure (e.g. 1/8000s), low ISO (100) and small aperture (f/30). Even then the the Sun is normally over-exposed and the surrounding landscape gets under-exposed.
Photographic conditions improve when there are bushfires and today the Rural Fire Service has been conducting hazard reduction burning, resulting in very smoky conditions across Sydney.
These images, taken today, show just how much settings can be improved when the atmospheric conditions are murky. They were all handheld and all framed using the camera monitor. Never view the Sun directly through the camera viewfinder!
The first image below includes a giant sunspot (AR2546).
200mm 1/250s, f/16, ISO-100
1/40s, 200mm , f/16, ISO-320
1/60s, 200mm, f/16, ISO-100