Post Your Comet Pictures

[niteclicks]

Barely brightened above the background here before disappearing into the muck. 5DMKiii and 200 2.8l @ 2.8 iso 6400 . Jupiter was my focus check.

[East Wind Photography]

Awesome shots guys.  Tonight's the best night with the moon near by.  It's raining here today but supposed to clear out this afternoon.  Will be hit or miss on how many clouds are left after 7pm.

Anxious to see what everyone comes up with tonight.  Also please post your exposures and what time you took them.  5 minutes can change everything.

[niteclicks]

NO kidding, 1st one was 8:04 ,2nd one minute later, then it was gone. Raining here this morning too. Was supposed to be a perfectly clear day  !!! Back home I could find it in shots up to 10 minutes earlier.

[East Wind Photography]

That's great.  Gives us some idea of the time frame after sunset.  I checked the forecast here and clouds start thinning at 3 or 4 pm and supposed to be clear by 7pm on.  Which means clearer toward the west as the evening goes on.  I'm cautiously optimistic!! 

Now kidding, 1st one was 8:04 ,2nd one minute later, then it was gone. Raining here this morning too. Was supposed to be a perfectly clear day  !!! Back home I could find it in shots up to 10 minutes earlier.

[TrumpetPower!]

I've been at the Grand Canyon the past couple nights and never saw a thing. Seeing how small it is in those 800mm shots, I can understand why...even if it actually is in the shots I took, it wouldn't be more than a few pixels.

So...I know to definitely plan on setting up the 400 with the 1.4x tonight, and to not bother with anything other than the 70-200 on the other body for the "wide"-angle shot. Bummer...I was hoping to have more of the Canyon in the shot. Maybe I'll set up the 70-200 on a pano head....

b&

[East Wind Photography]

Should be very close to the crescent moon tonight 400mm or 600mm is the way to go.  Just watch the exposure times due to star trailing.  The longer lenses will enhance the movement.

I've been at the Grand Canyon the past couple nights and never saw a thing. Seeing how small it is in those 800mm shots, I can understand why...even if it actually is in the shots I took, it wouldn't be more than a few pixels.

So...I know to definitely plan on setting up the 400 with the 1.4x tonight, and to not bother with anything other than the 70-200 on the other body for the "wide"-angle shot. Bummer...I was hoping to have more of the Canyon in the shot. Maybe I'll set up the 70-200 on a pano head....

b&

[TrumpetPower!]

Should be very close to the crescent moon tonight 400mm or 600mm is the way to go.  Just watch the exposure times due to star trailing.  The longer lenses will enhance the movement.

Thanks for that.

I'll be shooting tethered and / or chimping on the rear LCD...but remind me...what's that rule of thumb again for star trails and focal length v shutter speed...?

One thing I've been meaning to try out, and was going to try out tonight with Andromeda regardless, was using stacking to do some deep-ish sky stuff without a tracking mount for the tripod. The idea is to go ahead and shoot up to 25,600 ISO if need be to get the non-trailed exposure, but shoot a whole hell of a lot of frames, align them in Photoshop, and use the average blend mode to get rid of the noise. And then track the object manually. So, yes, I'll be cropping a fair amount around the edges because I'm not going to be perfect at tracking, but that's okay. I might even make use of that, and leave the edges ragged for artistic effect....

Cheers,

b&

[rpt]

People, you have posted lovely pictures! It is so light polluted here! I cant get a shot so close to the horizon... Well, may be the next comet... and by that time Canon should have the f8 focus fix for five-D3 (absolutely arbitrary alliteration).

[East Wind Photography]

You can focus on the cresent moon or jupiter using live view...either AF or manually and then swtch the lens to manual focus and dont touch it.

People, you have posted lovely pictures! It is so light polluted here! I cant get a shot so close to the horizon... Well, may be the next comet... and by that time Canon should have the f8 focus fix for five-D3 (absolutely arbitrary alliteration).

[TrumpetPower!]

You can focus on the cresent moon or jupiter using live view...either AF or manually and then swtch the lens to manual focus and dont touch it.

Gaffer's tape is awesome for preventing focussing shifts from "oops" types of causes. Just be sure that focus doesn't shift as you tape down the ring!

b&

[rpt]

You can focus on the cresent moon or jupiter using live view...either AF or manually and then swtch the lens to manual focus and dont touch it.

People, you have posted lovely pictures! It is so light polluted here! I cant get a shot so close to the horizon... Well, may be the next comet... and by that time Canon should have the f8 focus fix for five-D3 (absolutely arbitrary alliteration).

May be I'll give it a shot tomorrow. Worst case I'll get just the crescent moon...

[rpt]

You can focus on the cresent moon or jupiter using live view...either AF or manually and then swtch the lens to manual focus and dont touch it.

Gaffer's tape is awesome for preventing focussing shifts from "oops" types of causes. Just be sure that focus doesn't shift as you tape down the ring!

b&

Knowing me, not touching the lens is a better idea...

[RS2021]

I actually made an effort to inspect the western sky at dusk couple of days ago...granted orange flare and city scape overwhelmed everything... but there was a brilliant streak from a jet trail, but no comet that I could see. Oh well.

[niteclicks]

Should be better tonight. Sun sets one minute latter but the comet is 5 minutes higher, so even if its hazy like last night should get a couple of shots. It will be a little over 4 degs south of the moon so plan ahead.

[East Wind Photography]

No real rule of thumb as it depends on the camera.  Crop factor will increase the trailing.

Should be very close to the crescent moon tonight 400mm or 600mm is the way to go.  Just watch the exposure times due to star trailing.  The longer lenses will enhance the movement.

Thanks for that.

I'll be shooting tethered and / or chimping on the rear LCD...but remind me...what's that rule of thumb again for star trails and focal length v shutter speed...?

One thing I've been meaning to try out, and was going to try out tonight with Andromeda regardless, was using stacking to do some deep-ish sky stuff without a tracking mount for the tripod. The idea is to go ahead and shoot up to 25,600 ISO if need be to get the non-trailed exposure, but shoot a whole hell of a lot of frames, align them in Photoshop, and use the average blend mode to get rid of the noise. And then track the object manually. So, yes, I'll be cropping a fair amount around the edges because I'm not going to be perfect at tracking, but that's okay. I might even make use of that, and leave the edges ragged for artistic effect....

Cheers,

b&