Camera Labs

hi everyone
. ......well i am lucky enough to located at a place where we will be getting a solar eclipse
...and i really really really^really want to capture it.

well the problem is i am (super experienced)^-1

and i just have my Nikon d5000 with kit lens

so could you guys palleease help me out with this cause all the other sites could not(actually they all are a bit confusing).

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Nikon d5000

Nikkor 18-55 AF-S DX 1:3.5-5.6

I guess the question is what do you want to capture?

Even at maximum zoom you wont be anywhere near filling the frame with what's left of the sun. That does open up the possibility of composition with a foreground, like landscape or buildings for example.

Do be careful though, as the sun is not fully obscured it remains potentially dangerous to look at directly, and may be a risk to the camera too.

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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.

really! i thought it had no effect on the camera!

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Nikon d5000

Nikkor 18-55 AF-S DX 1:3.5-5.6

ok let me be clear

i am new to photography and have absolutely no experience or skill
but ya do fancy my self to be OK at it.So hear sitting giglinglike a girl oggling at my new d5000 when i hear that theres going to be solar eclipse and i am like ya i am going to shoot it and the..........(useles buildup to motivate people to help me)....................and i say how do i shoot it because................................ya lets google it......................................................um this doesnt help...........................................why should i pay this guy...................................................god iam hungry..................................................................................................................... lets just ask on CL forum.

and here i am with no idea how to shoot or what to shoot and with what to shoot ...so please help me out guys

i went to all these sites and it was full of jargon as the "first contact"(creepy) so i was lost


but i do have full trust you guys .....just tell what kind of filter i need and is it all that indispensable?

well..... i guess i should just submit this

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Nikon d5000

Nikkor 18-55 AF-S DX 1:3.5-5.6

um... i guess i am a bit drunk right now.

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Nikon d5000

Nikkor 18-55 AF-S DX 1:3.5-5.6

Camera manuals generally tell you not to point the lens or camera at the sun. Personally I have ignored this and done so on many occasions without problem, but who knows when my luck might run out? An obscured sun might be less dangerous than a full one, but that doesn't make it safe either.

There do exist dedicated solar filters, which block both the UV and IR, but they're intended for direct viewing of the sun normally. While you could find and use one, it would probably make everything else too dark.

A possible problem is still going to be your lens. Even at max zoom the sun will be rather tiny. As a very rough estimate, the sun would be in the ball park of 1/20th of the width of the captured image. That's a lot of empty space you might want to find something else to fill.

If all else fails, just see it for yourself, and don't worry about the camera.

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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.

have u thought about hireing som gear just a thought but I would go for a 600mm+ lens then couple it with a 2x extender... and i would probably try to get one or those solar filters aswell. But that may be a bit of a money problem?

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Canon EOS 40D, EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, 50mm f/1.8 II, Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro, EF 70-300mm F/4-5.6, Lensbaby Composer, Canon 430EX II, Giottos MTL 9351B tripod with 3-way head.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/i_gilmour/sets

Everything you need to know about Eclipses and Eclipse photography is here:

http://mreclipse.com/MrEclipse.html

thanks a lot everyone,

first thing that i would like to say is ..Sorry that i went a little overboard yesterday night(friends party
)
hiring gear!!!! why didn't it occur to me?

Hi Gordon ( ...must say ....big fan of yours.... )
well i went to that site and well there is a huge amount of read up.
i was looking for a summarized form of things you know for the layman
no prob anyway i know i have to do my homework to get those shots right

so... I guess I'll just read all that up.

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Nikon d5000

Nikkor 18-55 AF-S DX 1:3.5-5.6