Posted by Paul DeCesare on April 12, 2014 at 4:29 AM
I'll be heading up to a spot near the Lowell Observatory south of Flagstaff on Monday night to go after the blood moon eclipse. If anyone's in the area and plans on shooting the moon, maybe we can do a meetup, just shoot me a message. That area by Lowell is above the dust line and super black in the sky. It's also going to be 28 degrees and windy, and I'm coming from Phoenix, so THAT'LL be a change of atmosphere!
I was even nuts enough to rent a 300mm/2.8 for this, lol. I actually wanted the 500mm/4 but Tempe Camera was OUT of all big lenses for next week. Guess I'm not the only nutcase.
Eclipse starts at 9:53pm Monday evening and hits full eclipse between 12:06am and 1:24am. The Western USA is the epicenter for "best spot to view it", so this should be good!
Posted by Karl Buiter on April 13, 2014 at 12:16 PM
It should be an excellent night.
The 300/2.8 is an awesome lens. I'm using it for motorsports work; maybe some wildlife if I get to it. It definitely takes the 1.4x almost transparently; And normally I would not consider the 2.0x; but with the 300 its pretty much a non-issue - so consider the "600/5.6 opportunity" if you need to fill the frame. I did try the ultimate coupling of 1.4 + 12mm extension + 2.0 but then, yeah, the image becomes soft - though i could read writing on a person's shirt at 500m away.
Your location is great... unfortunately my day job obligations will get in the way this eclipse. Have fun!!
Posted by Doug Koepsel on April 14, 2014 at 9:45 AM
It should be clear and the winds will calm tonight, per NOAA. The winds were very gusty, to 50mph on Sunday.
Discussion
2 repliesI was even nuts enough to rent a 300mm/2.8 for this, lol. I actually wanted the 500mm/4 but Tempe Camera was OUT of all big lenses for next week. Guess I'm not the only nutcase.
Eclipse starts at 9:53pm Monday evening and hits full eclipse between 12:06am and 1:24am. The Western USA is the epicenter for "best spot to view it", so this should be good!
The 300/2.8 is an awesome lens. I'm using it for motorsports work; maybe some wildlife if I get to it. It definitely takes the 1.4x almost transparently; And normally I would not consider the 2.0x; but with the 300 its pretty much a non-issue - so consider the "600/5.6 opportunity" if you need to fill the frame. I did try the ultimate coupling of 1.4 + 12mm extension + 2.0 but then, yeah, the image becomes soft - though i could read writing on a person's shirt at 500m away.
Your location is great... unfortunately my day job obligations will get in the way this eclipse. Have fun!!