Total Solar Eclipse 2008 - Russia

Looking good Vagelis.!
I'll be using a setup similar to what I used in 2006
Celestron 4" F5 refractor + skylux (thanks Gerry ! ) + meade 2" flip mirror + canon 300D
Camcorder
Olympus OM1 + autowinder
TBH, the camcorder and olympus are a distant second and third to the celestron setup, the olympus is for totality only and the camcorder will be on auto.
Plan B incase we're travelling very close to totality in a car is a set of meade 7x50s binoculars

Lets hope for good weather. !

Gents,

My equipment setup will be much more aggressive so as to leave no room for any sort of error or surprise. More specifically, I will have:

AP Mach1GTO GEM (check-in luggage #1)
Losmandy G11 tripod and pier (check-in luggage #2)
Takahashi FSQ 106/f5 (carry-on #1)
Canon EOS 300d + 350d + cables/batteries/counterweight (carry-on #2)
Laptop for automated exposure sequencing while I am supervising (to be included somewhere with the above)
Laptop #2 for backup purposes (to be included somewhere with the above)

I would also like to travel "light" just for the sake of convenience BUT this is an event where there is NO room for error. Better to be overly aggressive and safe rather than the opposite.

Last time I checked Aeroflot allowed two pieces of check-in luggage plus one carry-on. I will be over this limit by at least one carry-on and I hope to solicit one of the friends who will be flying on the same flights to help me out in this regard. Surely not all of them will be at the limit in relation to both check-in and carry-on pieces.

What would ye reccomend as a solar filter for the
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM?

I'm thinking about taking the
350D
75-300 lens
18-55
&
12-24mm

Frank,

Use the Baader ND5 material ... it is excellent.

In fact, I received about ten days ago a fresh A4 piece for the Tak FSQ and there will certainly be some leftover and I would not be surprised if it is more than sufficient to address your needs.

If you do not have any such mylar material, let me know and I will inform you at some point next week what and how much I have left over after constructing the filter for my FSQ.

Hey! I am happy today. I did my homework on eclipse photography.

Vaggeli,

Are you sure my friend?????

Imaging the complete disk in white light is a no-brainer ... ex. ISO 100 and 1/500 sec. and any tripod will do!

However, what happens during totality and the MUCH longer exposures? Will the mount allow, for example, up to 4 sec exposures so that you can capture the full extent of the corona while shooting with a focal length of 400mm?

Anthony,
You believe skylux mount is inadequate for this? I really don't know...
What would you sugest for imaging the corona?
Renting a russian mount perhaps?