Tonight's Lunar Eclipse - Rained Out?

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Hello Jeff,

What sort of mount are you using?

This one. Of course we removed the scope tube and mounted the RED One instead.

The R1 rig weighed less than the telescope tube it replaced. Not sure what the problem was, lots of theories at the moment. ...Cold, vibration, balance issues, etc..

 

[Andy Jarosz]

Curse you, Chicago weather!

 

[Roberto Lequeux]

Jeff, were you guys on a man-made floor, not including a massive concrete slab?
(and having a kegger party under the moonlight, dancing, jumping in unison to the sounds of the DJ)


Either way I think I want to cry with you. Perhaps cause I didn't get to see any of it, and your post got me in touch with a deeper sense of missing out...

Bet you have some sick photos of it that would make a great still sequence though.

Welcome to Winter/Summer btw!

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

We were on a concrete slab. Driveway in front of telescope owner's house.

 

[Joe Taylor]

This one. Of course we removed the scope tube and mounted the RED One instead.

The R1 rig weighed less than the telescope tube it replaced. Not sure what the problem was, lots of theories at the moment. ...Cold, vibration, balance issues, etc..

After spending the spring trouble shooting, balance issues where the key problem with the Meade LX200 mount. A scope builder in Las Vegas machined a set of gears with a higher ratio that completely solved the problem. Sounds like your Celestron, like the Meade, had its balance thrown off which over labored the motor. That's the problem with most Schmidt-Cassegrain system. They are highly synced instruments that allow a certain degree of balance adjustment, but only for one lateral axis. You don't want to do this too much or you risk burning out your bushings.

 

[Matt Gottshalk]

Some pics with the 5d:

 

[Pawel Achtel]

Shot mine with two cameras from Central Coast, Australia. Looks OK. Still need to process the footage. I was racking exposure by 6 stops through the shot. How were you guys compensating for ~10 stops exposure change? Where is HDRx™ when you need it? I will post frames soon.

On the same note, frames from time lapse of Geminids meteorite shower from central Australia taken last week attached.

 

[Joe Taylor]

Awesome sky shots, Pawel. I'll be working on a film near Winton in Queensland in July. That's where they shot the best movie of the 2000's, The Proposition. Never been to Australia, but so looking forward to experiencing an entirely new world.

 

[paulherrin]

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

Here is a nice timelapse:

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse 2010>>>

by William Castleman

 

[paulherrin]

yeah i saw that, he was quick to post it the day after... i should have shared it here.

thanks sanjin! that's definitely a high quality timelapse. now i just want to see what mark captured... and jeff! what kind of shots have you salvaged?

 

[Tom Lowe]

Here's a photo of my setup from the Eclipse, taken on an infrared-converted Canon 5D2. A second 5D2 is on an EF 600mm, which is on an Orion tracking mount.

Seriously, this shot would have come out much better on an Epic, because of its lack of a physical shutter.

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

Here's a photo of my setup from the Eclipse, taken on an infrared-converted Canon 5D2. A second 5D2 is on an EF 600mm, which is on an Orion tracking mount.

Seriously, this shot would have come out much better on an Epic, because of its lack of a physical shutter.

When last Eclipse thing happened here in Vienna about several days ago unfortunately I had hangover from the party a night before.

Next time I'll be sober, probably shoot a timelapse with 5DMK2 and this amazingly sharp, lightweight vintage Carl Zeiss Jena Fernobjektiv 500mm f/8.0.

BTW, also I like all manual set up and camera/lens adjustments.

5DMK2 and Carl Zeiss Jena Fernobjektiv 500mm f/8.0 shot with GH2 and Lumix 14mm f/2.5 pancake lens.
The image processed in DxO FilmPack 2 with Color Negative Film Fuji Superia HG 1600 and Color Positive Film Kodak Kodachrome 200.

 

[Tom Lowe]

When last Eclipse thing happened here in Vienna about several days ago unfortunately I had hangover from the party a night before.

It happens. :thumbsup:

I like that 800mm. Currently I am trying to dream up ways to shoot the International Space Station passing in front of the sun with a Phantom camera. I think it can be done!

 

[Roberto Lequeux]

I would guess that if you want to shoot the Space Station with the sun shining between the modules and solar panels as it hurtles through the frame at 17,000 miles an hour (28,000 km/h), then you are probably going to want to shoot in slow motion. Hence the Phantom.

But what if you could shoot it at 3k ~250fps in HDRx and catch sun-spots making the sun that much more alive?



Will HDRx be available at such high frames per second?

Would ~250fps be enough? How fast will it cross the frame if you go for a "wide" :rofl: with the station close to filling the frame from top to bottom? And how big would the sun be then?

 

[Tom Lowe]

Well I think it takes the ISS about 1 second to pass in front of the sun. So to be safe, I think you'd want to be shooting at least 500fps to give yourself a sequence of decent length that the viewer could ponder over.

 

[Craig Ryan]

You could get HDR with a Phantom by using 2 into a beamsplitter. For a shot like this, I think it would be worth it if it's ever done. Though, I don't know how easy or expensive it is to get a hold of 2 at a time.

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

I use the Panasonic GH2 set on 720p 60FPS, and then used after effects and twixtor to slow it down to 4% of it's original speed.

LINK>>>

or

http://vimeo.com/15995969


more like that here>>>

Tom,

until you get your hands on any of extremely expensive fast speed cameras (perhaps a rental is only option)...

today maybe you could try out with Twixtor (Twixtor enables you to speed up, slow down or frame rate convert your image sequences with visually stunning results.)

Can you imagine Epic 5K 120 fps slowed down with Twixtor until 4% of that already slow motion original speed, maybe it's a way to go...

 

[Pawel Achtel]

Well I think it takes the ISS about 1 second to pass in front of the sun. So to be safe, I think you'd want to be shooting at least 500fps to give yourself a sequence of decent length that the viewer could ponder over.

LOL, at least lighting the damn thing should not be an issue, but how do you make sure you don't miss it?

 

[Roberto Lequeux]

I was actually thinking about 250fps for 500fps in post. Other than the flaring from the sun it should be an easy job for interpolation plug-ins. You could extensively test the time warping of the flares before hand.

You could get HDR with a Phantom by using 2 into a beamsplitter. For a shot like this, I think it would be worth it if it's ever done. Though, I don't know how easy or expensive it is to get a hold of 2 at a time.

+1 Only you will have a much harder time convincing them to let you mount that beast onto their observatory. Sounds like a big camera-rigging job if there ever was one. : )