Camera Labs

Greg, Bob, or anyone else hoping to get any pics of it? (weather permitting of course )

_________________

Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

First I heard of it, I checked the long range forecast. Yup, cloud!

It's a bit of an early evening object too, so it'll be difficult for me.

_________________
Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Yep - I'm on the case
Greg

_________________
Nexstar 11 GPS, 2 x Sky 90, M25C, MaximDL, Photshop CS3, Noel Carboni's Photoshop actions, 7 foot Pulsar fibreglass dome, Canon 40D, 100mm macro lens, 28-200mm zoom lens, 17-55mm f#2.8 zoom lens, 100-400mm zoom lens, 1.4x converter, 2x converter.
http://www.newforestobservatory.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12801949@N02/

We finally had a clear (but still cold) night here, so I drove about 20 minutes out of the city to try and grab a few shots. I haven't had any time to stack the shots or play around with them much in LR or PS, but here's an 8 second sub at ISO 1600, 300mm at f4, slightly cropped and enhanced in LR.



I did all my Pan-Starrs shots piggyback, with a very rough alignment. The comet itself wasn't too impressive; I couldn't make it out with my naked eye (I'm assuming because of the moon), and it was below the horizon within 90 minutes after sunset, so there was very little working time. I wasn't out there too long as it dropped down to -30 plus a brutal wind, which isn't a fun experience when you're standing on bald prairie.

Interested to see what you guys got, and if you have any tips on stacking or post processing comet shots.

_________________
-Evan

Gear: 7 Nikon Nikkor AI-S and AF-S lenses, SB-700 flash, Nikon D7000, Nikon FM, variety of accessories

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs."
- Ansel Adams

Well caught!! Nothing but cloud here, mostly in the west of course, so no joy. Will try later with the scopes.
The way I stack comet shots is by taking the levels right down so you can only just make out the comet nucleus and then using a "one star stacking" routine. This will give you a clear comet with trailed stars. You can then stack the frames using a pair of stars and you'll get a good star field and an almost non-existent comet. Combine the two for a sharp comet with a nice star field
Greg

_________________
Nexstar 11 GPS, 2 x Sky 90, M25C, MaximDL, Photshop CS3, Noel Carboni's Photoshop actions, 7 foot Pulsar fibreglass dome, Canon 40D, 100mm macro lens, 28-200mm zoom lens, 17-55mm f#2.8 zoom lens, 100-400mm zoom lens, 1.4x converter, 2x converter.
http://www.newforestobservatory.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12801949@N02/