Total Solar Eclipse 2009

I actually have a few options now that i think it through...

I can lie back on the ground, handheld with the camera resting against me and IS to compensate. f/4 will allow a fair bit of light in!

I dug out a sturdy ball head that can see straight up so I could use that on a monopod or a tripod but this offers less flexibility in relation to the ship's movement. I'm going to try out both of these and see how they feel!


michaeloconnell wrote:

handheld at 600mm - even with IS, IMHO it will need to be a very short exposure.

Dan,

I would also suggest you avoid shooting the eclipse totally hand-held, for you will have problems.

Just to give you an idea, I had problems due to weight last year with my gear and decided to take with me my non-motorized CG3/EQ2 mount to Novosibirsk so as to be under 20 kg. It took a VERY VERY VERY serious effort for me to get half-decent results and I did not go past 1/15 sec (ISO 200)!

Just to give yourself an idea, take your setup and shoot a distant image (ex. a house at a distance) with exposures up to 1/8 sec which is probably the limit for handheld equipment. Since you are shooting at 600mm, I suspect you will encounter problems and shaking. You can also try something similar during the day with the sun but with your lens filtered.

Speaking for myself only, I will never do again what I did last year with the non-motorized mount and where my heart skipped a few beats during totality. I will have a CG5 motorized unit with me this year so as to be able to pursue the eclipse hassle-free. I plan to shoot the partial phases, diamond rings and Baily's beads at 1060mm and totality at 530mm using my Tak FSQ and Astro-Physics APO 2x barlow.

It would be a shame for you to travel all the way to China and to be "rewarded" with photos which are not perfect due to camera shake (and especially at 600mm).

Anthony.

Just to be clear, I'm going on the ship so I would think a tripod might be difficult. Of course I would have it mounted if I thought I could get better images; hand-holding on land would be be insane! Anyone any experience shooting from a ship?

I wasn't really considering 1/8 of a second either (I think the ship's motion would make this impossible anyway). Using my last shots as a guide www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsechaser/122930590/ it looks like I could get away with ISO400, f/4 and 1/250s. This is just about on the limit of hand-holdable It's worth saying that I only intend to take photos with it for a minute or so...

Of course I'm open to suggestions!

Thanks for your PM by the way Anthony!

OK, I said I would try out some setups today and that's what I did. I think this technique here might be the best that I've found so far. It's got good stability with room to compensate for the ship's movement. IS also helps a lot!



What think you all?

Dan,

Your comment about 1/250 sec max does not surprise me.

However and aside from the partial phases, do not expect very much with 1/250 sec or faster for totality since the really interesting captures are around 1/100 sec and slower (up to 2 seconds).

You also have another factor against you .... the rotation of earth which becomes more and more significant as you increase focal length.

Please do as much testing as you can right now so that (1) you will know what potential problems exist and (2) how they can be addressed.

Anthony.

Dan,
I'm thinking, modified home made steady cam...
tripod and a gimbal...? hmmm....
must think this through...

probably wouldnt work..