Ralf,
Have fun shooting the eclipse! I had the privilege of shooting the July 11,
1991 eclipse in Baja, Mexico. A couple of things to remember:
1. Take a test roll of the sun with a proper solar filter in place to see if
the solar disk is large enough. The 300 will not fill the frame even with
the prominences.
2. Make sure that you let the camera settle down in between shots. Totality
is all to brief and it can be very exciting and it is easy to forget good
form when you are shooting.
3. Practice keeping the Sun centered in the frame for the an equivalent
amount of time of totality + 2 minutes. This will help you not waste time
fumbling with the tripod during those precious minutes. If you have a
tracking mount (such as piggybacked on a telescope, all the better).
4. Remember to take time and look around during the event at both the
horizon and the sun itself. It's easy to be so focused on the equipment that
you miss looking with your eyes. Notice things like the 360' sunset, stars
that become visible, and the behavior of the animals in the area, etc. I was
lucky to have 7 minutes of totality in '91 and I almost missed looking
around. It's definitely better than any picture you will ever get!
Have fun, I wish I was going to this one.
Mike V.
----- Original Message -----
From: <ralf_loi@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2001 8:26 AM
Subject: Re: [OM] Solar eclipse - T/T2 Mounts
>
>
>
> <<
> I bought a Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 the other weekend. I christened it 'The
> Beast', as it is colossal and very heavy. Seeems OK from an optics
> point of view (I've had some nice moon shots from it), but as I want to
> take it to Zambia for the solar eclipse, I'd rather have something
> lighter. I've seen 500mm mirror lenses with T mounts and T2 mounts
> advertised quite cheaply, and I was wondering if there is a difference
> between T & T2, or are these are the same mount? I have an OM to T2
> adaptor.
> >>
>
> Roger,
> I don't know about the Vivitar lens, but I suspect that a 400/5.6 will
> outperform any 500 cat. Two years ago I was in Romania for a solar
eclipse,
> and I took the Oly 300/4.5 with a 2x teleconverter, stopped at F8/11 with
> good results. In your case, I will take the Vivitar with a teleconverter:
> remember that protuberances are very small and need a long tele.
>
> Ralf
>
>
>
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