Geminid Meteor Shower

Just a heads up, the shower peaks tomorrow night around midnight EST. If you go out now, you can see some. I was out for about a half an hour or so and saw maybe 10, and 2 pretty good ones. I was taking pictures as well, so I hope I caught one.

I just read about this - unfortunately best time to view is 12 midnight EST - past my bed time here on the east coast.

IF I were crazy enough to try it, are ordinary lenses enough to try a picture? I finally picked up a tripod and cable release so I have those. Among the lenses I have are the 50 1.4, 120-300 2.8, 70-200 2.8, and 24-105 F4. I do not have any wide angles yet.

Is mirror lockup something to do for nightime shooting. Never tried it before, and if I have enough energy after a long day, I might try it.

Thanks.

Pat

pigtailpat wrote in post #9187532
I just read about this - unfortunately best time to view is 12 midnight EST - past my bed time here on the east coast.

IF I were crazy enough to try it, are ordinary lenses enough to try a picture? I finally picked up a tripod and cable release so I have those. Among the lenses I have are the 50 1.4, 120-300 2.8, 70-200 2.8, and 24-105 F4. I do not have any wide angles yet.

Is mirror lockup something to do for nightime shooting. Never tried it before, and if I have enough energy after a long day, I might try it.

Thanks.

Pat

Best way is to get a wide angle lens (your 24-104 would do OK) and set it wide open, focussed at infinity then point it roughly at Gemini (sort of 3/4 of the way up in the S/SE). Then take moderately long exposures of 10 to 30 seconds and hope that a meteor streaks through your field of view. Mirror lockup isn't needed for such long exposures (assuming you don't have a really terrible tripod) but a remote release is almost essential.

Watch out for dew on the lens as that'll totally ruin everything.

Geminids Meteor Shower - Tonight!

So, there is one in the UK, starting at around 8PM GMT onwards. Anyone looking forward to this, or going to have a go at shooting?

I think I will, hope I can get something!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/​1/hi/sci/tech/8410702.​stm

Edit - Noticed topic below.

Already have a midnight picnic planned! Probably wont be taking photos though. Good luck to anyone who is, and try to stay warm.

Thanks for the pointers Frank, I just read about the shower and plan on getting out there tonight (providing the clouds have parted) Do you think that my Canon's kit 18-55mm lens will work using the above settings?

I'm really hoping I can find a place to set up...

It should do, as I was also thinking about using my Kit Lens as it's the widest one I have.

Hi All,
I use an 18-55 lens at f4, 15 secs exposure at iso1600 on a tripod with remote shutter release.
The Geminids have a radient originating from the constellation of Gemini (Doh) which is to the East and a little higher up than Orion (for reference). The Trail can appear anywhere however and it is recommended not to point your camera at Gemini. If we get a shower then you will quickly see the best place to point your camera.
BTW make sure you focus the lens at infinity first ( a far away street light will do) as focussing at 18mm is just about impossible in the dark, then set the lens to manual focus.
Good luck and please post any that you catch (I've captured none so far).

How exactly do I set to infinity? You mean at 18mm, focus on a far away light? Is it even possible with the kit?

Yes it's possible. I used my 18-55mm lens for nearly 2 years until I got my 50D with a 17-85mm lens. It works best to zoom in on the brightest star (or moon when it's up) and focus on that. That's what I do anyway.

Well, the skies down here on the South coast of the UK are totally clear. Just been out for 5 minutes setting the gear up and seen 4 Geninids - 1 very faint, two reasonable and a bright one blazed straight through the Plough (which, of course, is outside the camera's field of view). Gonna have to keep popping out to make sure that dew (or, tonight, possibly frost) doesn't start becoming a problem.

I hope I'll have some decent shots when I look through tomorrow. ISO 1600 should be enough for the brighter ones.

As soon as I got to my location, the cloud hit. I'm so disappointed...

Good luck.

THICK clouds and sprinkles here in coastal NC. Good luck to everyone else and I look forward to seeing your shots.

Thick clouds in the Bay Area, CA. Sad