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Post by Romy Ocon on Jun 25, 2010 4:58:58 GMT
In the next few days, starting early this evening, the International Space Station (ISS) will make bright passes over our islands. June 25 (magnitude -3.1), June 27 (-3.6) and June 29 (-3.7) are specially bright passes and if the skies are clear, even 400 mm lenses (+ TC) can get good captures. Schedule of passes, courtesy of www.heavens-above.com/: Ground Track Plots for June 25, 27 and 29 (Manila Time): Here are my best shots of the ISS to date at magnitude - 2.0 (the forthcoming passes are much, much brighter): Suggested Capture Workflow: 1. Pray for clear skies. The ISS will appear at least as bright as Venus, speeding from horizon to horizon, and easily visible to the naked eye. 2. Set up your gear about 20 - 30 minutes before the scheduled pass. Make sure your timepiece is synched with the correct time. You can check your time with this link: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=1453. Focus manually at a star or at the moon 5 - 10 minutes before the scheduled pass, be careful not to touch the focus ring after MF is set. 4. Shoot in bursts, with IS Mode 2 on if so equipped. 5. Recommended exposure values for various lenses (M mode): 400 5.6L + 2x TC - f/16, ISO 1600, 1/640 sec 100-400 + 2x TC - f/16, ISO 1600, 1/640 sec 500 f4 + 2x TC - f/11, ISO 800, 1/640 sec 600 f4 + 2x TC - f/11, ISO 800, 1/640 sec 800 5.6L + 2x TC - f/16, ISO 1600, 1/640 sec Happy shooting!
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Post by Bobby Kintanar on Jun 25, 2010 5:59:26 GMT
Thanks for this info Ka Mastah! Will try it tonight! Yahooooooooooo!!!!
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Post by Romy Ocon on Jun 25, 2010 6:26:30 GMT
The early morning passes (27th and 29th) will have cooler/less turbulent atmosphere (aside from brighter ISS) than the one tonight, Bobby. If you're an early riser, the early space bird will be caught by the early worm.
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Post by Bobby Kintanar on Jun 25, 2010 7:51:12 GMT
Alrighty Ka Mastah - will try! :-)
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Post by Romy Ocon on Jun 26, 2010 22:51:34 GMT
The skies are a bit hazy early this morning, but I was able to capture a recognizable ISS. I hope seeing conditions are better on June 29th, when the ISS will pass again over our islands at a maximum magnitude of - 3.7 (compared to this morning's -3.6). Nice to have a sustained 10 fps rate from the 1D4, as this increased the chances of getting sharper shots through areas of less haze. Last time I shot the ISS, it was with my 7D and the frame rate under the low light condition dropped to circa 3-4 fps. In the 2-3 minutes shooting window, I squeezed in almost 200 RAWs..... love the buffer of the 1D4! (Sandisk 32 GB 60 Mbps was used)
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Post by Romy Ocon on Jun 27, 2010 1:45:11 GMT
One of the shots enhanced and magnified to 200% of actual capture pixels. ;D
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Post by Bobby Kintanar on Jun 27, 2010 12:52:50 GMT
Well, at least you got it - hehehe. It was raining in Bohol this morning, till around 7 am, tsk.tsk, tsk.
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