Thanks guys. The film is history. What slide film is recommended for piggy-back astrophotography? Rob, I'm using the Olympus OM-2 camera for piggyback wide-field shots and my Nikon Coolpix 4500 camera for lunar/planetary and maybe some deepsky shots of the winter Milky Way. Also, should a shoot a roll of film in the daytime just to get used to the camera? I haven't used this camera much and my last roll of film didn't turn out too good. Debbie
Hi Deb You shooting print or slide film?? I like 100asa film but then for astrowork you'll be out all night. 400asa Fujichrome has more pop than Kodak. Negative (print) film has more latitude for mistakes and you can get away with being exact and there are more labs that will process and print neg film. Negs can be scanned easily also. Doing daylight shots may just familiarize you with the camera controls, but you can do that w/o film too. I'd do a script of shots, starting at 1minute say at F2.8 or F4, then1 1/2 minutes, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 6 minutes, 8 minutes (probably getting overexposed by now) and 12 minutes. Then do it again at F4 or F5.6, same times, use a cable release (mechanical or electrical), your camera will be set in the "B" bulb position w/ infinity focus. and if you have more frames left on the roll, finish off the roll. It's also VERY GOOD to shot the first frame in DAYLIGHT so the lab person knows where it all begins when printing or mounting slides. we see that at the lab alot here and it's a real trick to know where to start mounting. You can also get 200asa film and push it a stop (400asa) and get a little more contrast and finer grain. GOOD LUCK and have fun Rob PS I went out to do Comet Bradfield but had haze,a nd some clouds and a neighbor w/ lights on (at 4 AM ????) made it a no go. Oh well .........
Hey Rob: I was a lab tech and custom printer for 5 years- you looking to hire? I could get used to Hawaii... ;) --- Rob Ratkowski <ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> wrote:
Hi Deb
You shooting print or slide film?? I like 100asa film but then for astrowork you'll be out all night. 400asa Fujichrome has more pop than Kodak. Negative (print) film has more latitude for mistakes and you can get away with being exact and there are more labs that will process and print neg film. Negs can be scanned easily also.
Doing daylight shots may just familiarize you with the camera controls, but you can do that w/o film too. I'd do a script of shots, starting at 1minute say at F2.8 or F4, then1 1/2 minutes, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 6 minutes, 8 minutes (probably getting overexposed by now) and 12 minutes. Then do it again at F4 or F5.6, same times, use a cable release (mechanical or electrical), your camera will be set in the "B" bulb position w/ infinity focus. and if you have more frames left on the roll, finish off the roll. It's also VERY GOOD to shot the first frame in DAYLIGHT so the lab person knows where it all begins when printing or mounting slides. we see that at the lab alot here and it's a real trick to know where to start mounting. You can also get 200asa film and push it a stop (400asa) and get a little more contrast and finer grain.
GOOD LUCK and have fun Rob
PS I went out to do Comet Bradfield but had haze,a nd some clouds and a neighbor w/ lights on (at 4 AM ????) made it a no go. Oh well .........
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Aloha Chuck We're a new lab, the main E6 lab closed, so we bought the gear and are building a business as E6 processing declines. Go figure?? I toy w/ the idea of moving to New Mexico or UTAH!!, I like the desert but I REALLY LOVE HAWAII. I'd like to move to the Big Island and have darker skys and more access to my caving, but the BI has little work and big distances. Starting a business again is too much work, I want to play a bit more ...... With everyone having computers,digital cameras and easy printers, labs are hard pressed to do well. Honolulu is a good place but TOO CROWDED, here on Maui I can be in the bush in 10 minutes and away from people in 1/2 hr. And the airport is 15 minutes away ........ Aloha Rob
I'll take that as a "No". :( --- Rob Ratkowski <ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> wrote:
Aloha Chuck
We're a new lab, the main E6 lab closed, so we bought the gear and are building a business as E6 processing declines. Go figure?? I toy w/ the idea of moving to New Mexico or UTAH!!, I like the desert but I REALLY LOVE HAWAII. I'd like to move to the Big Island and have darker skys and more access to my caving, but the BI has little work and big distances. Starting a business again is too much work, I want to play a bit more ......
With everyone having computers,digital cameras and easy printers, labs are hard pressed to do well. Honolulu is a good place but TOO CROWDED, here on Maui I can be in the bush in 10 minutes and away from people in 1/2 hr. And the airport is 15 minutes away ........
Aloha Rob
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Sorry Chuck, I wish I had work or things for everyone that wanted to be here ....... Aloha Rob PS and the sun is sorta out, I do hope that we get into a good nice weather pattern. Here in Pukalani we average about 14" of rain per year (Puka=hole lani=sky or hole in the sky), so we are mostly sunny and dry. From the 1st of the year till today we have 30.28" and we're planning a trip up Haleakala to see Q4 and T7 and Bradfield if still bright. :^)
UTAHDEB@aol.com wrote:
Thanks guys. The film is history. What slide film is recommended for piggy-back astrophotography?
My films of choice are Ektachrome 100 and Ektachrome 400.
Also, should a shoot a roll of film in the daytime just to get used to the camera? I don't know that you need to have any film in the camera just to practice using its various functions.
I'm not familiar with the OM-2. If it has a "T" setting on the shutter speed you can get away with most any cable release (click the cable release once to start the exposure and once to end it). But if all you have is a "B" setting you will need to use a _locking_ cable release. It's also handy if you can lock the OM-2's internal mirror into the "out of the way" position before starting the exposure (that helps to avoid some vibration). Chuck's warning about airplanes is all too true. However, an approaching airplane need not ruin or shorten the exposure. As the plane approaches the camera's field of view just put a black sheet of paper in front of (but not touching) the lens. Once the plane is gone pull the paper out of the way. I've used this trick many times. Works great. Patrick
--- Patrick Wiggins <paw@trilobyte.net> wrote:
However, an approaching airplane need not ruin or shorten the exposure. As the plane approaches the camera's field of view just put a black sheet of paper in front of (but not touching) the lens. Once the plane is gone pull the paper out of the way. I've used this trick many times. Works great.
Only if you are either not guiding or using the autoguider. If you are guiding manually you probably won't notice it in time. Sometimes another observer can act as "lookout" and give you some warning. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover
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