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[OM] Taking pictures of Mars / more answers

Subject: [OM] Taking pictures of Mars / more answers
From: "Erwin Voogt" <photovoogt@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 02 Jul 2001 06:57:55 -0000
Cc: o.greve@xxxxxxx, hans@xxxxxx
Hi,

I have some more time now to answer Olaf questions:

Olaf wrote:
Now a few questions:
- -I decided to push the Provia 100F to 400 ASA, as it was mentioned to
  me that this gives better results than simply using the 400 ASA
  Provia F film.

The planets and the moon are very bright! Use the sharpest film you can get! To estimate the exposure time you can use the following equation: (F)^2/(C*ISO).
F = F stop
C = a constant, with Mars C=70
So with Provia and your F36 bazooka you must use an exposure time of about 36x36/(70*100) = 1/5 s, with a 1000 mm F11 -> 1/60 s!

  Does anyone know if this is true? Does Provia 100F perform really
  well when pushed two stops? Also, which high speed slide film do you
  guys recommend?

I recommend a slow speed film...

- -What type of magnification would be needed in order to get a, say,
  frame filling shot of Mars? Obviously this falls well within the
  telescopical range, but I'm wondering just what type of magnification
  would be needed.

This falls in the NASA range.
You will need a telescope with a focal length of about 300 to 400 *meters* the have a frame filling shot of Mars... However, the resolution of large telescopes is limited by the atmosphere. Even with "adaptive" optics it is very hard to increase the resolution beyond 0.1" (remember: Mars = 20"!). That's why it is worth to spend several billion to get a telescope in orbit, or better: send a probe.

- -Did any of you shoot pictures of Mars using telescopes? Acer? Matt?
  Anyone else?

Nope. Only Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto and of course the moon.
(and with an ordinary 200 mm lens the stereo photo of Uranus and Neptune:
http://members.nbci.com/_XMCM/photovoogt/astro/uranep.html)

- -I have to admit never having paid much attention to threads dealing
  about this topic, but what is the exact reason again that people tend
  to use an OM-1 for this type of photography, is it purely due to the
  MLU feature?

Yep.
But the selftimer MLU of the OM4 & OM40 is fine too.
The ST-MLU will not work with B, so then the OM1 is better.
The OM40 eats batteries at B.
Best camera for pictures of the planets through a telescope: a $40 webcam!!! Shoot a few dozen of images and combine these with Photoshop.
For deep sky images you need a cdd with a cooling device.

BTW: When pointing the set-up at the moon (which was just going behind
some trees :( ), I got a lovely frame-filling viewfinder. I will
perhaps take some shots of this type soon, but the problem is that one
of the converters is a really cheap Vivitar simple MC 2xA (the others
are the Vivitar 2xA matched for the 70-150mm lens, and the Oly 2xA).
Perhaps it's better to remove the cheap converter...

Yes. Use only 1 good converter and a sharp film.
Again: the moon is very bright!
With the OM4 you can use the spotmeter to estimate the exposure time. Do not forget to bracket!

Good luck!

Bye,

Erwin Voogt
Utrecht, The Netherlands
http://members.nbci.com/_XMCM/photovoogt/index.html

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