My Eclipse Rig

GAD

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The only thing left to get is the filters.

If it rains I'm going to be sad.

GAD-EclipseRig.jpg
 

GardMan

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Anne and I went to the Kona coast of Hawaii for the July '91 eclipse. My rig was a Celestron C90 and my Pentax SLR with 500 mm lens, with Thousand Oaks filters on both. The night before the eclipse, the trade winds shifted, and we awoke for the early morning eclipse to scattered clouds and high humidity. As the eclipse approached 95%, the temp dropped noticeably, and a solid layer of clouds formed in minutes. We could see the eclipse shadow race across the cloud deck, but our only view of totality was a TV turned on in the room behind us. As soon as totality passed and the air warmed, the clouds disappeared.

Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper!

Don't know if I will go with anything except my welders glass and own two eyes, this time...
 

Quantum Strummer

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My friend K has a solar scope but she's undecided about mounting a camera on it. I might do a timelapse sequence, though not of the sun but of our surroundings as the sky darkens & then brightens again.

-Dave-
 

GAD

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Anne and I went to the Kona coast of Hawaii for the July '91 eclipse. My rig was a Celestron C90 and my Pentax SLR with 500 mm lens, with Thousand Oaks filters on both. The night before the eclipse, the trade winds shifted, and we awoke for the early morning eclipse to scattered clouds and high humidity. As the eclipse approached 95%, the temp dropped noticeably, and a solid layer of clouds formed in minutes. We could see the eclipse shadow race across the cloud deck, but our only view of totality was a TV turned on in the room behind us. As soon as totality passed and the air warmed, the clouds disappeared.

Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper!

Don't know if I will go with anything except my welders glass and own two eyes, this time...

Should have gone up Mauna Kea! I bet it was mobbed, though.

We went up to Mauna Kea on our honeymoon in '95 where we watched the sun set at 14,000 feet before doing some astronomy. I learned first hand how little oxygen there is up there.

Bummer about the clouds, but the eclipse shadow across the clouds had to be pretty cool even if it was massively disappointing compared to totality.

My goal with this trip is that everything must fit into my roller-board suitcase. Also, the rig shown is designed so that I don't have to pay much attention to it. I'll align it and have it track the sun. I have software on my laptop where I can tether the camera and control it programmatically, so (in theory) I can let it take its bracketed exposure shots autonomously while I watch with the family. The only thing I'll need to do is remember to remove the filter during totality and replace them after.
 

GAD

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My friend K has a solar scope but she's undecided about mounting a camera on it. I might do a timelapse sequence, though not of the sun but of our surroundings as the sky darkens & then brightens again.

-Dave-


I also am planning on bringing a second SLR with a 24-70 zoom so I can take pics of the people and such during totality. I don't know if we'll be in the center line, but I'd like to be because it can add almost a minute to the main event.

My last eclipse was 1995 (annular) and digital cameras weren't really a thing yet. I shot it with a Pentax K1000 hooked to my Celestron 8" Ultima. I'm going way smaller this time.

Though I love my gear and such, my main goal is to get my kids to experience a total eclipse. I vividly remember the 1970 total eclipse; I was five and I remember my dad making a pinhole viewer for me. Right now my kids just think I'm a huge nerd, but the "holy crap - that was amazing!" I'll get afterwards will be the payoff for me.
 

GardMan

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Should have gone up Mauna Kea! I bet it was mobbed, though.
The road to Mauna Kea was closed for the day, because they thought it WOULD be mobbed.

We went as part of a group sponsored by Sky and Telescope. Aside from the eclipse getting clouded out, and coming down with a cold the second day of the 5-day tour, it was fun.

This year, we are driving to a friend's ranch that is in the eclipse path up in Oregon. It's the day before my first class of fall semester, so we'll have to hoof it back home in a hurry...
 

walrus

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Ah, GAD, a "pinhole viewer" - that brings back memories - I did the same thing in '70!

walrus
 

dreadnut

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I left my Celestron scope up at my friend's place for awhile because he is away from the city lights. He told me one day "Sorry, I burned up your moon filter." "How the hell did you do that?" "I was trying to view the sun through it..." "Why do you think they call it a MOON filter and not a SUN filter?"
 

GAD

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I left my Celestron scope up at my friend's place for awhile because he is away from the city lights. He told me one day "Sorry, I burned up your moon filter." "How the hell did you do that?" "I was trying to view the sun through it..." "Why do you think they call it a MOON filter and not a SUN filter?"

Moon filters generally go on the eyepiece. He's lucky he didn't go blind.
 

davismanLV

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Honestly? I'll just wait because I'm below the "good zone" and I figure you're gonna show us photos of this whole thing. So I'm going to stay calm and just look at your amazing photos that you'll share with us. Is that okay with you, Gary? That's my plan......
 

GAD

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Honestly? I'll just wait because I'm below the "good zone" and I figure you're gonna show us photos of this whole thing. So I'm going to stay calm and just look at your amazing photos that you'll share with us. Is that okay with you, Gary? That's my plan......

Sure! Just so long as you're OK with amazing pics of the rain if it rains.
 

GAD

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GAD

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Got my filters!

Test shots:

Canon 5D Mark III w/ 400mm f5.6L with a 1.4X TE (560mm):

Canon5D3-400mm-1.4x.jpg



Canon 5D Mark III w/ 400mm straight:

Canon5D3-400mm.jpg





Crop with the TE:


Canon5D3-400mm-1.4x-Crop.jpg




Crop without the TE:

Canon5D3-400mm-Crop.jpg
 

GAD

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Oh wait, you mean just for like a sunset pic - not for eclipse pics, right? Feeling slow today.
 
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