152 replies to this topic

[johnpd]

How many exposures are in your bracket from 1/800 to 1.6?

Each set (3 sets total) has 12 exposures.

 

Program starting up at localtime Thu Jun 08 21:15:58 2017
UTC, Sim/real, TimeError, Camera, Exposure, Aperture, ISO, Comment
2017/06/09 04:23:08.3, Now using REAL time!
2017/08/21 17:30:01.0, Now using SIMULATED time!
2017/08/21 17:33:08.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,   1/200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Diamond Ring C2 1/3
2017/08/21 17:33:09.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,   1/200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Diamond Ring C2 2/3
2017/08/21 17:33:10.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,   1/200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Diamond Ring C2 3/3
2017/08/21 17:33:11.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.4, Nikon D90,  1/4000, F/6.0, ISO   200, Baily's Beads C2 1/3
2017/08/21 17:33:12.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,  1/4000, F/6.0, ISO   200, Baily's Beads C2 2/3
2017/08/21 17:33:13.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,  1/4000, F/6.0, ISO   200, Baily's Beads C2 3/3
2017/08/21 17:33:15.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,  1/4000, F/6.0, ISO   200, Chromosphere C2 1/2
2017/08/21 17:33:16.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,  1/4000, F/6.0, ISO   200, Chromosphere C2 2/2
2017/08/21 17:33:17.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,  1/3200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Prominences C2 1/2
2017/08/21 17:33:18.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,  1/3200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Prominences C2 2/2
2017/08/21 17:33:58.7, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,   1/800, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.1 Rs
2017/08/21 17:33:59.5, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,   1/400, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.1 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:00.6, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,   1/200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.2 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:01.6, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,   1/100, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.2 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:02.5, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,    1/50, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.5 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:03.6, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,    1/25, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.5 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:04.5, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,    1/10, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 1.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:05.7, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,     1/6, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 2.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:06.9, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,     1/3, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 4.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:08.2, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,   1/1.3, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 4.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:10.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,     1.3, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 8.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:12.4, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,     1.6, F/6.0, ISO   320, Corona bracketing deep
2017/08/21 17:34:15.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,   1/800, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.1 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:15.8, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,   1/400, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.1 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:16.9, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,   1/200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.2 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:17.9, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,   1/100, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.2 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:18.8, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,    1/50, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.5 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:19.9, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,    1/25, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.5 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:20.8, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,    1/10, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 1.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:21.9, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,     1/6, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 2.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:23.1, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,     1/3, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 4.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:24.5, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,   1/1.3, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 4.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:26.2, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,     1.3, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 8.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:28.7, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,     1.6, F/6.0, ISO   320, Corona bracketing deep
2017/08/21 17:34:31.3, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,   1/800, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.1 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:32.1, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,   1/400, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.1 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:33.1, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,   1/200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.2 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:34.1, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,   1/100, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.2 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:35.1, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,    1/50, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.5 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:36.2, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,    1/25, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 0.5 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:37.1, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,    1/10, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 1.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:38.3, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,     1/6, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 2.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:39.4, SIM_TIME, late by  0.1, Nikon D90,     1/3, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 4.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:40.8, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,   1/1.3, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 4.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:42.6, SIM_TIME, late by  0.2, Nikon D90,     1.3, F/6.0, ISO   200, Corona bracketing 8.0 Rs
2017/08/21 17:34:45.0, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,     1.6, F/6.0, ISO   320, Corona bracketing deep
2017/08/21 17:35:27.2, SIM_TIME, late by  0.4, Nikon D90,  1/3200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Prominences C3 1/2
2017/08/21 17:35:28.1, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,  1/3200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Prominences C3 2/2
2017/08/21 17:35:29.2, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,  1/4000, F/6.0, ISO   200, Chromosphere C3 1/2
2017/08/21 17:35:30.1, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,  1/4000, F/6.0, ISO   200, Chromosphere C3 2/2
2017/08/21 17:35:32.2, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,  1/4000, F/6.0, ISO   200, Baily's Beads C3 1/3
2017/08/21 17:35:33.2, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,  1/4000, F/6.0, ISO   200, Baily's Beads C3 2/3
2017/08/21 17:35:34.2, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,  1/4000, F/6.0, ISO   200, Baily's Beads C3 3/3
2017/08/21 17:35:35.2, SIM_TIME, late by  0.4, Nikon D90,   1/200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Diamond Ring C3 1/3
2017/08/21 17:35:36.1, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,   1/200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Diamond Ring C3 2/3
2017/08/21 17:35:37.2, SIM_TIME, late by  0.3, Nikon D90,   1/200, F/6.0, ISO   200, Diamond Ring C3 3/3
Program exiting at localtime Thu Jun 08 21:30:05 2017

 

JohnD

Edited by johnpd, 13 July 2017 - 02:17 AM.

[Jerry Lodriguss]

Hi John,

 

Are you using any mirror lock ups?

 

Jerry

[AUricle]

Jerry,

 

Speaking of MLU...I'm using a Canon Rebel T3 coupled  to a old style f/11 C90.

The T3 has no MLU setting...unless you use Live view shooting in the EOS Utility.

Problem is you ( or at least I ) can't keep EOS open if I want to use EO with the serial cable. If I do, EO won't fire the shutter, or I get weird error messages "no serial cable detected.

I ran the whole eclipse sequence this afternoon and the pic's of my light bulb were sharp as a tack .....so maybe it's not such a problem?.....or is there a MLU hack?

The sim ran smooth as silk...no hang-ups, but then again I didn't push the envelope and left 1 sec. spacing between shots.

I'm scared as hell to try to alter the script or add bursts at critical times, because I've never written scripts and am still a little computer shy. ( Don't want to BREAK the **** thing )

Log file looked good with about 10% of the 270 odd shots being only .1 sec late.

Am I being too big a wuss?

Also, the C90 fl = 1000mm... so with a sensor crop factor of 1.6x does that mean I should set the fl at 1600mm?

Edited by AUricle, 13 July 2017 - 08:48 PM.

[Jerry Lodriguss]

Speaking of MLU...I'm using a Canon Rebel T3 coupled  to a old style f/11 C90.

The T3 has no MLU setting...unless you use Live view shooting in the EOS Utility.

Problem is you ( or at least I ) can't keep EOS open if I want to use EO with the serial cable. If I do, EO won't fire the shutter, or I get weird error messages "no serial cable detected.

I ran the whole eclipse sequence this afternoon and the pic's of my light bulb were sharp as a tack .....so maybe it's not such a problem?.....or is there a MLU hack?

The sim ran smooth as silk...no hang-ups, but then again I didn't push the envelope and left 1 sec. spacing between shots.

I'm scared as hell to try to alter the script or add bursts at critical times, because I've never written scripts and am still a little computer shy. ( Don't want to BREAK the **** thing )

Log file looked good with about 10% of the 270 odd shots being only .1 sec late.

Am I being too big a wuss?

Also, the C90 fl = 1000mm... so with a sensor crop factor of 1.6x does that mean I should set the fl at 1600mm?

My T3i and T5i don't have mirror lock up either.

 

What exactly do you mean you "can't keep EOS open"... the camera?  EOS Utility?  I'm sorry I don't understand.

 

Do you have the pro version of EO?  The free version won't work with the serial cable. Only the Pro version.

 

I wouldn't be scared to alter the script and experiment. I don't think you can hurt the camera. Stuff might not work, but it won't hurt the camera. Believe me, I've tried everything and not everything works, but no damage so far.

 

Just make a copy of the script that you have that works.

 

Jerry

[Jerry Lodriguss]

 

Also, the C90 fl = 1000mm... so with a sensor crop factor of 1.6x does that mean I should set the fl at 1600mm?

 

Yes. But I don't think it matters.

 

Jerry

[AUricle]

 

 

My T3i and T5i don't have mirror lock up either.

 

What exactly do you mean you "can't keep EOS open"... the camera?  EOS Utility?  I'm sorry I don't understand.

 

Do you have the pro version of EO?  The free version won't work with the serial cable. Only the Pro version.

 

 

Jerry,

What I mean is this....

When I start the hook up process, the first thing that happens is that the PC 'sees' the camera, and opens the EOS utility. Then, if I start EO, I have to close EOS, because if I leave it running in the background, it somehow interferes with the serial cable shutter control, and the EO script will not fire the shutter. This drove me nuts for a while.

Of course, I wouldn't be able to talk about this if I didn't if I didn't have the Pro Version.....

 

As far as the 1.6x crop factor goes, won't EO interpret the increase in FL from 1000mm to 1600mm as a need to lengthen the exposure time?....Or is the fact that I have a fixed f/11 aperture that rules the day?

[AUricle]

 

 

 

My T3i and T5i don't have mirror lock up either.

 

What exactly do you mean you "can't keep EOS open"... the camera?  EOS Utility?  I'm sorry I don't understand.

 

Do you have the pro version of EO?  The free version won't work with the serial cable. Only the Pro version.

 

 

 

 

As far as the 1.6x crop factor goes, won't EO interpret the increase in FL from 1000mm to 1600mm as a need to lengthen the exposure time?....Or is the fact that I have a fixed f/11 aperture that rules the day?

 

Ahh....never mind on the 1.6x crop factor. That only speaks to image size across the sensor,

It should make no diff. on the exposure.

[johnpd]

Hi John,

 

Are you using any mirror lock ups?

 

Jerry

No. I am using the DSUSB cable to trigger the shutter.

 

JohnD

[Jerry Lodriguss]

 

 

 

My T3i and T5i don't have mirror lock up either.

 

What exactly do you mean you "can't keep EOS open"... the camera?  EOS Utility?  I'm sorry I don't understand.

 

Do you have the pro version of EO?  The free version won't work with the serial cable. Only the Pro version.

 

 

Jerry,

What I mean is this....

When I start the hook up process, the first thing that happens is that the PC 'sees' the camera, and opens the EOS utility. Then, if I start EO, I have to close EOS, because if I leave it running in the background, it somehow interferes with the serial cable shutter control, and the EO script will not fire the shutter. This drove me nuts for a while.

Of course, I wouldn't be able to talk about this if I didn't if I didn't have the Pro Version.....

 

As far as the 1.6x crop factor goes, won't EO interpret the increase in FL from 1000mm to 1600mm as a need to lengthen the exposure time?....Or is the fact that I have a fixed f/11 aperture that rules the day?

 

Just turn off EOS Utility detecting the camera when it is connected in the EOS Utility preferences. Then you won't have that problem.

 

The f/number is what matters.

 

Jerry

[jforkner]

I’m confused by the apparent disparity of recommended camera settings being published for Diamond Ring images.  Here’s what I’ve found:

 

Alan Dyer………...1/2000, f/7, ISO 100
Fred Espenak……1/1000, f/9, ISO unknown (form 2006)
Xavier M. Juber….1/50, f/8. ISO 100
B&H Photo……….1/125, f/8., ISO 200
Jerry Lodriguss….1/100, f/6.5, ISO 100

 

Sure you can compensate for aperture; but the first two are so different from the last three, it wouldn’t make much difference.  I’m curious why the huge difference?  I realize that recommended settings cannot work for every camera/lens combination.  But the difference between, say, 1/2000 & 1/100 is huge.  Curiously, settings for most other features of the eclipse are similar.

 

What am I overlooking?

 

 

Jack

[dghundt]

I imagine the difference is with or without a solar filter?

[Jerry Lodriguss]

I’m confused by the apparent disparity of recommended camera settings being published for Diamond Ring images.  Here’s what I’ve found:

 

Alan Dyer………...1/2000, f/7, ISO 100
Fred Espenak……1/1000, f/9, ISO unknown (form 2006)
Xavier M. Juber….1/50, f/8. ISO 100
B&H Photo……….1/125, f/8., ISO 200
Jerry Lodriguss….1/100, f/6.5, ISO 100

 

Sure you can compensate for aperture; but the first two are so different from the last three, it wouldn’t make much difference.  I’m curious why the huge difference?  I realize that recommended settings cannot work for every camera/lens combination.  But the difference between, say, 1/2000 & 1/100 is huge.  Curiously, settings for most other features of the eclipse are similar.

People have different definitions of what the Diamond Ring is.

 

Some say it is the very last Baily's Bead.

 

Some just say it is overexposed photosphere with a long enough exposure to get some inner corona to get the "ring" part of the diamond ring.

 

Photographically, I think the latter is a better picture, so my exposure is based on the inner corona to get the "ring".

 

I don't know where you got those numbers for Fred, but he gives 1/60th at f/8 at ISO 100 for the DR, the same as for 0.2 Rs corona here:

 

http://www.mreclipse...to/SEphoto.html

 

All of the others except for Dyer are in the same ballpark once you compensate for differences in ISO and focal ratio.

 

Different exposures will work here, depending on how much photosphere is showing depending on exactly when you shoot it before totality starts.

 

But if you want it to look like a diamond on a ring, you need to expose longer for the inner corona.

 

Jerry

[jforkner]

People have different definitions of what the Diamond Ring is.

 

Some say it is the very last Baily's Bead.

 

Some just say it is overexposed photosphere with a long enough exposure to get some inner corona to get the "ring" part of the diamond ring.

 

Photographically, I think the latter is a better picture, so my exposure is based on the inner corona to get the "ring".

 

I don't know where you got those numbers for Fred, but he gives 1/60th at f/8 at ISO 100 for the DR, the same as for 0.2 Rs corona here:

 

http://www.mreclipse...to/SEphoto.html

 

All of the others except for Dyer are in the same ballpark once you compensate for differences in ISO and focal ratio.

 

Different exposures will work here, depending on how much photosphere is showing depending on exactly when you shoot it before totality starts.

 

But if you want it to look like a diamond on a ring, you need to expose longer for the inner corona.

 

Jerry

 

Thank you for the clarity.  I missed the note for the DR on the page you referenced.  BTW, I found the numbers I referenced for Fred here (fourth image down).

 

I’ll make the appropriate change to my planning.

 

Jack

[charotarguy]

Find out if you can take advantage of a faster card.  I'd get one if that's the case.

Unfortunately the new UHS-ii cards are only supported by the Sony A9 (from the fleet of Sony cameras, not sure about other brands). I did a test run yesterday after a long down time and found out that 2 mins go by really quickly, I ran a sequence of shots from 1/4000 sec to 8 sec taking a shot through a cable release after changing the shutter speed manually on the camera by hand, I was able to get the whole sequence one time. Also tried bracketing but ran into buffering issues after a while. 

[AUricle]

 

 

Find out if you can take advantage of a faster card.  I'd get one if that's the case.

 

 

Because I'm shooting a Canon not a Sony, this is a general question. All my practices have been done using the 16GB ....15MB rate sdhc card that I got with the camera when it was new.

It's been suggested that a faster card might improve the time-between-exposures because down around 1 sec. running a script in Eclipse Orchestrator, my coronal bracketing sequences run into a LOT of errors and skipped images. I expanded the times to 1.8 seconds and get a clean run....then backed down to 1.5 sec and got a whole extra bracketing sequence with the only glitch being that in two of the brackets, an 0.3sec exposure fires twice, instead of getting one at 0.3 and one at 0.7. I can live with this, but........

I can buy a new SDHC card that reads at 95MB (6x faster) for peanuts, but will it really make any difference?

Isn't how fast your camera can dump data to the card what's really important? Once you've hit that limit, why would it matter how fast your card can take the data???

Edited by AUricle, 17 July 2017 - 10:22 PM.

[Jerry Lodriguss]

Because I'm shooting a Canon not a Sony, this is a general question. All my practices have been done using the 16GB ....15MB rate sdhc card that I got with the camera when it was new.

 

 

It's been suggested that a faster card might improve the time-between-exposures because down around 1 sec. running a script in Eclipse Orchestrator, my coronal bracketing sequences run into a LOT of errors and skipped images. I expanded the times to 1.8 seconds and get a clean run....then backed down to 1.5 sec and got a whole extra bracketing sequence with the only glitch being that in two of the brackets, an 0.3sec exposure fires twice, instead of getting one at 0.3 and one at 0.7. I can live with this, but........

I can buy a new SDHC card that reads at 95MB (6x faster) for peanuts, but will it really make any difference?

Isn't how fast your camera can dump data to the card what's really important? Once you've hit that limit, why would it matter how fast your card can take the data???

 

15mb/s is not very fast.

 

There are two things going on here... the time to write to the card, and the USB overhead between frames when the computer sends settings to the camera. 

 

The USB overhead is going to be about 2 seconds.

 

If you use a serial cable in addition to the USB, you can make that substantially faster so you can shoot 3 frames per second in my setup. Then the speed of the card comes into play.

 

Jerry

[AUricle]

 

.....

I can buy a new SDHC card that reads at 95MB (6x faster) for peanuts, but will it really make any difference?

Isn't how fast your camera can dump data to the card what's really important? Once you've hit that limit, why would it matter how fast your card can take the data???

 

15mb/s is not very fast.

 

There are two things going on here... the time to write to the card, and the USB overhead between frames when the computer sends settings to the camera. 

 

The USB overhead is going to be about 2 seconds.

 

If you use a serial cable in addition to the USB, you can make that substantially faster so you can shoot 3 frames per second in my setup. Then the speed of the card comes into play.

 

Jerry

 

Jerry,

I've got the Hap Griffin USB/Serial hook up, and the Canon USB. All the EO recommended stuff.

I guess what's most mystifying is this "USB overhead" you speak of.

Do you mean it takes 2 sec to send new commands??

If that's so, how can I set a 1.5 sec between exposure time, and come up with "on time" exposures?

I'd think I would be losing .5 sec/per exposure.........compounding over time, so I'd end up WAY off the scripted time-of-exposures..................yet my log file never shows more than a "0.1 sec. late" time error?

I can do 2fps.....but after 2 of those I better have at least a 3sec pause, so is that where a faster card would help?

[Jerry Lodriguss]

I've got the Hap Griffin USB/Serial hook up, and the Canon USB. All the EO recommended stuff.

 

 

I guess what's most mystifying is this "USB overhead" you speak of.

Do you mean it takes 2 sec to send new commands??

If that's so, how can I set a 1.5 sec between exposure time, and come up with "on time" exposures?

I'd think I would be losing .5 sec/per exposure.........compounding over time, so I'd end up WAY off the scripted time-of-exposures..................yet my log file never shows more than a "0.1 sec. late" time error?

I can do 2fps.....but after 2 of those I better have at least a 3sec pause, so is that where a faster card would help?

 

I said "About" 2 seconds. It's going to vary with your setup.

 

I'm happy you can get faster than that. 

 

Go for it.

 

Jerry

[charotarguy]

What is this serial cable, I read it in a couple of posts and did not understand it, so you connect your camera to a laptop for downloading the images and then connect another serial cable to trigger the shutter? Is that how it works? Does this also mean that Canon cameras come with dual pin where it can take both usb type and serial type cables? Not sure about Sony as I only have one multiport.

[Jerry Lodriguss]

What is this serial cable, I read it in a couple of posts and did not understand it, so you connect your camera to a laptop for downloading the images and then connect another serial cable to trigger the shutter? Is that how it works? Does this also mean that Canon cameras come with dual pin where it can take both usb type and serial type cables? Not sure about Sony as I only have one multiport.

You connect your camera to the laptop and the settings commands go over the USB cable and the fire shutter commands go over the serial cable. This allows faster framing rates.

 

You need a USB to serial adapter (unless your laptop has a serial port), and then a serial to camera shutter port cable adapter.

 

The low-end Canons have a simple mini stereo plug as the shutter release port. The Canon also has a USB port that will do both settings and shutter, but it is much slower that way.

 

I can't help you with the Sonys as I have never used one.

 

Jerry

[Skywise2]

Sorry for the amateurish questions, but I have a few that nag at me:

 

1.  how large a memory card should I have in my Canon 5D if I shoot the entire sequence in RAW format in Eclipse Orchestrator Pro?

2.  What battery setup?  I plan to use the original camera battery and switch it out if needed?  Bad idea?

3.  Do you recommend shooting with mirror lockup?

 

Thanks!

[grnbrg]

Sorry for the amateurish questions, but I have a few that nag at me:

 

1.  how large a memory card should I have in my Canon 5D if I shoot the entire sequence in RAW format in Eclipse Orchestrator Pro?

2.  What battery setup?  I plan to use the original camera battery and switch it out if needed?  Bad idea?

3.  Do you recommend shooting with mirror lockup?

 

Thanks!

1. This depends on how many images you expect to shoot, but anything over 8G is probably going to be sufficient.  You should probably be more concerned with the write speed of the card, than the size.

2. Practice, practice, practice.  Preferably in conditions similar to the eclipse.  I discovered that I will likely need to do a battery change at some point during the eclipse.  Between Live View, number of shots, and the heat from sun exposure, the batteries in all three cameras were going flat toward the end of the (simulated) totality.

3. MLU in Canons is tricky.  "Press the button to lock the mirror up.  Wait for vibrations to stop.  Press the button to fire the shutter."  Scriptable, but does eat up time.  For some Canon bodies, Live View will lock up the mirror, and keep it locked during still exposures.  For others, even with LV running, a still exposure will drop the mirror, then immediately lift the mirror and fire the shutter.  Test with your body to see.  (I will be shooting in LV with my 5DmkII and 70D, which both leave the mirror up, and in standard mode with my 500D, which just flaps the mirror when taking stills in LV.)

 

 

 

 

grnbrg.

[Jerry Lodriguss]

1.  how large a memory card should I have in my Canon 5D if I shoot the entire sequence in RAW format in Eclipse Orchestrator Pro?

 

That will depend on how many frames you shoot during the partial phases and how quickly you plan to shoot them.

 

You need a plan.  Then once you have the plan, run through it in real time and see how many frames it is total, and if it fills up your memory card.

 

2.  What battery setup?  I plan to use the original camera battery and switch it out if needed?  Bad idea?

 

Well, if you have access to 120v and have the 120v to 7.4v adapter from canon, then that is the way to do.  If you don't have that, and if you have a 12v to 7.4 volt adapter, that would be second best if you have a large 12v battery.  Finally, if you are only going to use in-camera batteries, you probably should change it about 5 minutes before totality just to be safe.

 

3.  Do you recommend shooting with mirror lockup?

 

That depends on the focal length of the lens you plan to shoot with and how sturdy your tripod is.

 

Jerry

[AUricle]

1.  how large a memory card should I have in my Canon 5D if I shoot the entire sequence in RAW format in Eclipse Orchestrator Pro?

2.  What battery setup?  I plan to use the original camera battery and switch it out if needed? 

 

Thanks!

Skywise2,

1) If you image the WHOLE eclipse, starting with a photo every 2% change in solar brightness (optional in EO Pro)....that's 50 shots on each side of totality = 100.

Plus an ambitious script for totality may add another 150-200. So let's say you have 300 exposures maximum.......at (lets' go high) and say 25MB each..........that's still only 7.5GB.......so an 8GB card is plenty.

Now video is another story......

 

2) One fully charged fresh battery can get you through this easily. You might consider keeping it in a small cooler just before you set up. (It'll even help keep the camera cooler)........or just carry a back-up as Jerry suggested.

[dragracingdan]

Is the shoestring astro cable a serial cable? Does it allow for more exposures in EO like the Hap Griffin cable?