.........Remember the main thing is to enjoy being in the shadow of the moon and seeing the corona.
Actually...I'm looking forward to kicking back for a week in a Port Douglas resort, fresh seafood, scuba diving the reef.....and, maybe.... if it's clear...
Offloaded my 2x teleconverter last night - lasted <5mins on eBay - must have underpriced it! Also sold a lens and a telescope. I'm cash-flow positive on Astronomy purchases - well at least for this week!
Offloaded my 2x teleconverter last night - lasted <5mins on eBay - must have underpriced it! Also sold a lens and a telescope. I'm cash-flow positive on Astronomy purchases - well at least for this week!
DT
Which TC was that David? My old TC-300 is fantastic. Clear as a bell.
TC-20EIII - latest 2x. I think I was asking too much to expect crisp images through a 70-200 zoom and 2x converter. I think I am used to the quality of images we see through telescopes and the teleconverter/zoom lens combination doesn't really compete for sharpness. I tried some lunar photography and it didn't impress me, so rather than be disappointed at the eclipse I used it to justify the FS-60!
Ever shot an eclipse before Phil? I can tell you it is a manic few minutes. Three units is going to have you racing.
thanks paul. not seriously shot a solar eclipse before but i have done a little bit of photography . have seen a solar eclipse in africa so not too worried about compromising the visual experience a little this time, although will certainly not be touching the cameras during the two minutes. if the laptop/eclipse orchestrator control etc don't work so be it.. i won't be trying to fix it during totality! (or even five minutes beforehand).
had about six cameras running during a lunar eclipse last year so ok with planning/prepping a lot of gear and doing a lot of running between them (much slower timescales of course, but a lot less automated as well).
interested to hear tales though from experienced eclipse photographers. assuming you check focus and settings half an hour before totality, remove filters one minute beforehand etc, does eclipse orchestrator work reliably so that you don't end up touching much during totality?
thanks paul. not seriously shot a solar eclipse before but i have done a little bit of photography . have seen a solar eclipse in africa so not too worried about compromising the visual experience a little this time, although will certainly not be touching the cameras during the two minutes. if the laptop/eclipse orchestrator control etc don't work so be it.. i won't be trying to fix it during totality! (or even five minutes beforehand).
had about six cameras running during a lunar eclipse last year so ok with planning/prepping a lot of gear and doing a lot of running between them (much slower timescales of course, but a lot less automated as well).
interested to hear tales though from experienced eclipse photographers. assuming you check focus and settings half an hour before totality, remove filters one minute beforehand etc, does eclipse orchestrator work reliably so that you don't end up touching much during totality?
Phil
Phil, not suggesting that you have not done enough photography mate . I will not be using any automation like that. Things like that are prone to failure. Manual all the way myself. I have the bracket settings already sorted with the coronal exposure shots. Should shoot about 150 frames during the eclipse if the sky is clear. If not I will sit back and have a drink in the dark.
I suppose the thing here is that the cameras are actually running a similar script. this will be left alone for the eclipse once setup. I will have the 650D on the polarie with a 50mm lens so will be operating with a scripe running from Eclipse orchestrator running on windows
Phil, not suggesting that you have not done enough photography mate . I will not be using any automation like that. Things like that are prone to failure. Manual all the way myself. I have the bracket settings already sorted with the coronal exposure shots. Should shoot about 150 frames during the eclipse if the sky is clear. If not I will sit back and have a drink in the dark.
Thanks Paul. Interesting to know that you don't have high confidence in the automation. I figure whatever happens I'm going to learn a lot! cheers to drinking in the dark at 6:40am in november!
Phil, if you do a few dry runs you should be fine. As you know, eclipse orchestrator was the controller I used for my 12 day shoot and I only had 3 hiccups due to loss of USB control in that time. Just make sure you have good quality USB cables, adequate power, maybe invest in a small usb GPS for timing (eclipse orchestrator works fine with these and the're accurate to 1 second), leave enough time between shots for usb adjustments, or use a serial cable for remote triggering for maximum frame rate.
If you've done enough test runs you can sit back, relax, let it do it's thing and enjoy the show
Quote:
Originally Posted by philiphart
Thanks Paul. Interesting to know that you don't have high confidence in the automation. I figure whatever happens I'm going to learn a lot! cheers to drinking in the dark at 6:40am in november!
OK. I had the rig all together tonight for the first time and it looks like it should work. I have a 400D and a (borrowed) 600D with a 70-200 f/4L and a 400 f/5.6L on a long dovetail bar mounted on a Vixen Sphinx. I'm yet to decide which body to pair with which lens. Advice welcome!
Eclipse Orchestrator talks to the USB GPS and to each of the cameras. Immediate jobs are: by full version, arrange a hub, arrange an inverter and battery etc (have most of that), small job on the dovetail, write scripts, do test runs, do more test runs. Stay calm.
[QUOTE=Paul Haese;895048]This is my third total and being on mainland Australia I have chose the following options.
I am using my CGE mount for stability. Setup will be around 3 am in the morning to beat out the crowds from our location. Perhaps earlier.
Hi Paul
I am taking an EQ6 with Canon 5D Mk11 on an FSQ-106EDX with Reducer (380mm) and will run exposure sequences with a Phottix timer. I am only trying for corona images.
I am hoping to shoot from the beach around the centre-line if possible and setup early also but with saltwater crocs up there this is a worry. Where are you hoping to shoot from Paul?
Brian Coote
Yep, Saw a program where they tested salties bite strength. About 1500 lbs from memory. There is no way I want one nibbling on me in the dark, or the light for that matter.
With setting up the mount on a beach in the dark has this problem. If set up with mount, deep cycle battery etc. you can hardly leave it there, but hanging around in the dark on a beach up there has a real element of risk. Perhaps having a fair crowd there would be the greatest protection, the lions would probably take one of the fatter wildebeest.
I assume a polar alignment using a compass setting and latitude angle will be sufficient for the exposure times involved.
Location: '34 South' Young Hilltops LGA, Australia
Posts: 1,462
[QUOTE=bcoote;897653]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Haese
This is my third total and being on mainland Australia I have chose the following options.
I am using my CGE mount for stability. Setup will be around 3 am in the morning to beat out the crowds from our location. Perhaps earlier.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Haese
Hi Paul
I am taking an EQ6 with Canon 5D Mk11 on an FSQ-106EDX with Reducer (380mm) and will run exposure sequences with a Phottix timer. I am only trying for corona images.
I am hoping to shoot from the beach around the centre-line if possible and setup early also but with saltwater crocs up there this is a worry. Where are you hoping to shoot from Paul?
Brian Coote
A Cairns local I know told me yesterday that a dog was taken by a croc at Kewarra Beach.
Aside from the real risk of crocs, read the article about tides on my web site. http://joe-cali.com. Tides article is linked from the home page.
Oak beach is one of the prime candidates to be closed by the authorities on safety concerns.
It matters little where you are located up and down the coast over quite a long distance. The limb corrected duration of totality only varies by a few seconds between Smithfield & the Cairns northern beaches to the beaches north of Port Douglas.
When observing the 2002 eclipse from Cameron Corner, the legs on the pier of my equatorial mount which have a much greater surface area than any commercial tripod EQ mount wouldn't stop sinking into the sand. If you do brave the crocs, tides and crowds to sit on the beach, bring some large boards to put under the tripod legs or else you might get that sinking feeling.
For what it's worth, in 2001, I spent 2 hrs photographing Baboon's at sunrise in South Luangwa National Park all the while being stalked by a croc. Taunted a hippo to make him testy. I've stood face to face metres from grizzly bears and been charged by moose hiking in Alaska. You could say I am very comfortable being part of the food chain but I like to see them coming so I can react appropriately.
However, I wouldn't dream of sitting on a beach in the dark hoping the croc takes someone else in the crowd on the morning of the 14th.
