Re: Perseids, After Hours

[P3D Greg Erker <erker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>The exposure was not intense enough. [snip]
>But if I had used a faster film than the 400 I used, there
>would have been more obvious images.

  I had good luck with the Fuji 800 for comet
Hale-Bopp (50mm f1.4 for 15 sec). It's well
like by astrophotography types. That would gain
you one stop next year.

  I assume you shot with your 28mm lenses wide
open. If they were f2.8's you can't gain much
without buying expensive f2.0 lenses.

  You could use 50mm f1.4's but at the cost of
reduces sky coverage. The magnification also means
that you can't tolerate as long an exposure as with
your 28's.

> I should have just shot more film, probably
>exposing for half a minute with high-speed film, then winding the
>film in the next fifteen seconds and exposing for another half a
>minute, etc.

  Say you shot for 40 seconds and advanced during the
next 20. So a 36 exposure roll would last 36 minutes.
Three rolls per camera would give you about 2 hours
of shooting.

  If you had the rolls developed, but not printed
the cost would be pretty low (maybe $2 per roll).
Get prints only from the shots that have meteor
trails.

>Any clouds in the sky tend to spoil the effect.

  Yup clouds are bad. Can't do much to control
them. Except maybe go to the Sahara for shooting.


> I still think the two miles was about right.
>When I find evidence one way or the other, I'll report it.

  Assuming the 60 mile number is correct your
baseline should work fine. You could probably
use less and still get good stereo effect.

  FYI last year I shot 3d fireworks with an 8 foot
separation. The fireworks were about 750 ft away
judging by speed of sound. I got one good shot
with depth. Not a lot but enjoyably 3d.

  This year I was closer (est 600 ft). and
shot more film. I got several excellent shots
with lots of depth. I doubt that they are
anywhere near the maximum allowable on film
deviation (2.7 mm for medium format) but
"it don't matter if they look good".

  You should probably borrow a couple of cellular
phones for next year. A lot of people get free
airtime in the evenings so staying on line for
two hours wouldn't be a big problem.

Greg E.



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