Eclipse - no photos

[ffutures]

For the first time since I sold my 35mm gear I'm regretting not having it - it's a beautifully clear night, the eclipse is well under way, and my little digital camera simply can't cope - at maximum zoom the moon looks blurry or featureless and is teeny in the frame. Last time I got some pretty good photos. Not surprising since maximum zoom with the digital is 36mm and my old canon had a 500mm mirror lens.

It's a shame; I've been looking for a 2nd hand digital SLR with interchangable lenses for a while now, but I'd use it so rarely that I can't justify paying a lot, so haven't done much about it. The silly part is that I don't need incredibly high resolution - something like a 2 megapixel camera would be fine - so there ought to be some around at affordable prices, but I'm damned if I can find anything.

Oh well... there's another one in a few months, I think, hopefully by then I'll be better equipped.

Comments

[robertprior.livejournal.com]

I've got a decent camera, but clouds :-(

Tomorrow night will be clear...

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I got some shots, by balancing my digital camera at the end of my grandfathers decrepid telescope. In the rain. Waiting for occasional breaks in the cloud. None of them are any good.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

It's a shame - it was a really clear night here, could have got some excellent shots with the right equipment.

[pengshui-master.livejournal.com]

ravenrigan has got some better shots.

[vodex.livejournal.com]

Complete non-sequitur - not quite FF, I know, but: http://ericpoulton.blogspot.com/search/label/steampunk%20star%20wars

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I've seen some of the other Steampunk Star Wars stuff on the Brass Goggles website - fun, but not really where I want to go with Forgotten Futures.

[raygungothic.livejournal.com]

I've not met *anyone* yet who got decent eclipse photos. I tried a few before the eclipse to see if I could get decent results, did OK, but then got distracted and missed it - so I have OK moon photos but no eclipse :-(

It doesn't seem like the earliest dSLRs are coming down much on the secondhand market (when you can find them at all) even though they're really not a lot to write home about. A shame. Now dSLRs are becoming much more widespread the situation might get better.