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The great American eclipse Aug. 21 2017

Benm

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If you have enough camera's it might even be cool to set up one with a very wide angle lens, or even a 360 degree camera and capture video of the whole thing.

Looking at the sun through eclipse glasses is worth it though, it just happens SO quickly and looks so different a second before and after totality hits.
 





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Chrisbee

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Benm said:
If you have enough camera's it might even be cool to set up one with a very wide angle lens, or even a 360 degree camera and capture video of the whole thing.

Looking at the sun through eclipse glasses is worth it though, it just happens SO quickly and looks so different a second before and after totality hits.
Click to expand...

A 360 camera is actually a really good idea! I don't know how often I'd use something like that otherwise, but I'm going to search around for one in the $100 or so price range and see what I can find.
I have an app on my phone for time lapse video, so I will be getting a mount for my phone so I can have that set up for at least the 15 min or so around totality. So at this point, I should have 4 cameras set up (2 video, 2 still)!
 
Benm

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Those 360 camera's arent that cheap for a good one. Friend of mine has one of those Ricoh theta S camera's which takes pretty good stills, but the video quality is not that good. That is still a $300+ camera though, but LG has something similar around the $200 mark.

I doubt anything cheaper than that would be worth using really.

360 degree cams are nice, but if you have something with good image quality and say a 15mm or wider lens available, that'll probably produce better results even when unable to pan around much afterwards.
 
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Chrisbee

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Right now the widest thing I have is 16mm, but it's not full frame, so probably more like 24mm. So maybe a wide angle diopter would be a better option.
I guess I'll have to do some research on those 360 cams. At least I still have time to shop around, and compare.
 
Benm

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Definitely do some research on the 360 degree ones. The problem is that the picture is all the way around, so something like 4k resolution might sound very good, but spread 360 degrees around it really is not - it's perhaps comparable to 3 megapixels with a 24mm equivalent lens at best.

Also beware of how they work: 2 camera's capture a bit over 180 degrees each, but the resolution and distortion in the area on the 'side' where the image is stitched is not very good. So regardless of being 360 degrees it may make sense to orient them in a specific direction with one of the lenses pointed at the most interesting thing in the scene.
 
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Chrisbee

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I was just reading on what sounded like some pretty similar conclusions about the overall video quality. It was also noted that the video quality will further degrade if loaded onto a site (i.e. YouTube or Facebook).

Do you have any experience in the single aperture 360 cams? I know it wouldn't be true 360, but if it was pointed up, not being able to see the ground may not be a big deal? And a single 4k lens may end up yielding better video quality?
 
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RedCowboy

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I may drive about 1.5 hours NE and be right in the center of the path, maybe find a Wal-Mart parking lot and get there early.
I saw a solar eclipse before 30 years ago when I was in grammar school, we went outside with our pinhole cameras, it was amazing how you could feel the temp drop as it happened.

FULL SIZE >>>>> http://eclipsewise.com/solar/SEnews/TSE2017/TSE2017fig/TSE2017-07.jpg

54406d1484276672-great-american-eclipse-aug-21-2017-tse2017-07.jpg
 

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Chrisbee

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Nice RC! You're pretty close to being in one of the longest totality duration areas! I have to drive a total of 13+ hrs. and will still be 13 seconds or so down from max totality time. 13 seconds doesn't sound like much, but from what I've heard, it feels like it's over in a few seconds anyway.
 
RedCowboy

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The time I saw it 30 years ago seemed short because I did not look at it but in short glances until it was totally covered, it seemed like it just got a little dimmer then suddenly it went much dimmer in just a few seconds as the last of the sun was blocked, the real cool part was while it was totally blocked out I looked and saw a big black spot where the sun would be and then a bright crescent edge appeared, I stopped looking as the crescent appeared, it was unexpected how much cooler I felt as it happened, without the sunlight it felt like a 20 degree temp. drop and it was not like night time, but like dark daytime, the fully covered time was just a few seconds but still I want to see it again.

I should be within 4 seconds of the longest duration as I will go North on I-85 from Atlanta.
 
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Benm

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Chrisbee said:
Do you have any experience in the single aperture 360 cams? I know it wouldn't be true 360, but if it was pointed up, not being able to see the ground may not be a big deal? And a single 4k lens may end up yielding better video quality?
Click to expand...

Well some. A friend has this 7mm lens, which is probably as wide angle as you can get.

It doesn't quite look back around the corner, but it's fairly close. If you point that straight up and take pictures you'll capture the entire sky as well as some features around you (tall things like trees).

Donwside of such ultra-wide-angle lenses is that you get a fair amount of distortion in the image along the edges, as well as their price - expect to pay around $400-$500 for a decent objective with such wide angles.
 
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Chrisbee

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I wish that I could justify the cost, but I can't. I just don't really see myself using it that much.
We're now thinking about taking some extra time off to explore the rest of Wyoming. Being that we're already making the 11 hr. drive just to get to the state, mite as well see the parks and monuments while we're there!
 
Rivem

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Chrisbee said:
I wish that I could justify the cost, but I can't. I just don't really see myself using it that much.
We're now thinking about taking some extra time off to explore the rest of Wyoming. Being that we're already making the 11 hr. drive just to get to the state, mite as well see the parks and monuments while we're there!
Click to expand...

If you're driving via the CO West Slope (my neck of the woods), there's a lot of cool stuff in the area too. Also, Moab not far off track.
 
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Chrisbee

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Rivem said:
If you're driving via the CO West Slope (my neck of the woods), there's a lot of cool stuff in the area too. Also, Moab not far off track.
Click to expand...

We'll probably cut into Colorado from Utah around the Grand Junction area.
 
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