Mounting a Red One/Epic to a massive telescope?

[Aaron Bernakevitch]

Graeme / Tom

Perhaps something like this could work. If you shot in 2k Tom you might start to get something tighter, Not sure about footprints though. Let me know if you figure it out. I love shooting the moon.

http://www.nikon.com/products/sportoptics/lineup/dsystem/fsa-l1/index.htm

I shot the moon on my reel last year when it was about -24 -oC which is about -11 in Fahrenheit. Man it was cold, but sure worth the shot.

Happy hunting

 

[Petr Dvorak]

I want to see Neil Armstrong's footprints. :sifone:

Ok then call Pentagon and ask for scope with Adaptive optics. Thay already have it when NASA was dealing with all that mess around Hubble :wink5:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_optics

maybe soon :wink5:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/06/ground-based-telescopes-with-adaptive.html

Or send there a lunar robot

 

[Pawel Achtel]

That 5200 is nice, but I'm looking for something more like this. :w00t:

ummm, be careful when using a neck strap with that :hand:

 

[Meryem Ersoz]

I had my old XL2 hooked up to a Sigma 300-800m with 2x and a 1.6x extender and got some pretty amazing lunar footage with the 6x crop factor (or whatever it was...) - you could probably achieve the same with an XL H1 and Canon lenses. It wasn't that expensive, either, on a relative basis.

The problem with the shot you are suggesting is the "panning" idea...the stabilization is more than challenging. The slightest whisper bounces the shit out of the rig. The XL2 didn't produce what I'd call useable footage, I would have had to build a more rigorous stabilizing system - but it was sure amazing to look at.

This may be different in an observatory setting, if indeed you could find a way to hook up a 4K camera to a larger system.

 

[michael zaletel]

Hi Tom:

I remember them saying a camera could be attached to this observatory telescope near my home. Not likely as powerful as the one in your picture but probably much easier to gain access for long period of time.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8HQ0_Gilbert_Rotary_Centennial_Observatory_Gilbert_AZ

http://www.riparianinstitute.org/observatory.cfm


-michael

 

[David Wilson]

Tom, you've had some wonderful response to your request but I'll throw in my thoughts as well. It is possible to arrange to use the 60" reflector at Mt. Wilson. We've done many projects on the mountain over the past decade and a half - the 60" is a beautiful telescope. Conceived by George Ellery Hale, and designed by George Carroll, a mere hundred years ago the 60" was the largest telescope in the world to the best of my knowledge. If you are interested in following up on this, send me a PM or email at dwilson_at_mjt.org. Best of luck with your project.

 

[Michael Hastings]

The idea would be to pan across mountain ranges and craters on the moon. Red would be better than timelapse because you can run the shutter fast without a physical shutter rattling the camera.

How about just a mirrorless/EVIL dSLR - tiny, raw and no mirror shake. AFAIK RED is about 8MP, the new mirrorless are 12 to 16MP or more.

How many FPS do you think you need? And wouldn't earth rotation create a pan?

 

[Brian Petrie]

Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona has some great telescopes that can be very accessible at times because they have a great staff. Just call them and introduce yourself or better yet stop in the observatory and let them know what you want to do and there is a good chance they'll help you out a lot. Check them out online if you don't already know about the place it's pretty neat.

http://www.lowell.edu/

 

[Michael McLaughlin]

Second David Wilson suggestion

Second David Wilson suggestion

The sixty at Mt. Wilson can be rented for private parties half night or full night. I was going to do such a thing for my dad's 65 birthday, but the economy hit and I lost my job.

But When I was up there getting preliminary information, the staff was really cool and helpfull.

Aproach them respectively and I am sure you can get what you need. Plus the views up there are amazing... oh and take a tour of the 100 inch, that one is pretty damn cool to.

good luck.

 

[Owen Rennie]

Tom, did you ever follow through with this? I'm
Currently shooting the moon with a canon 800mm and a x2 and I need more!

 

[Randall Weatherington]

You would be best off with a reflector, but be careful.
You want to have full field correction without any focus fall off on the edges.
For something like a RED camera, read the following, then check out their scopes:
http://rcopticalsystems.com/telescopes/index.html