Shoot the Perseid meteor shower with an FM3a?

philipus · Aug 6, 2018

Hello everyone

I'd like to try to photograph the Perseid meteor shower this weekend with my FM3A and 24/2.8AI.

Unfortunately I have forgotten my cable release. Is the shoot doomed?

Also, any thoughts on exposure times? I have available Portra 160 and Velvia 100.

Thanks a lot in advance.
Philip

Sirius Glass · Aug 6, 2018

See the box about star trails.
http://www.cppdh.org/download/jiffy-calculator-for-night-light-exposures.pdf

Poisson Du Jour · Aug 6, 2018

Unless you have a locking cable release or the FM3a has a locking shutter button in bulb, you will not be able to do a time exposure effectively.

Velvia 100 can be used, but it will cast severely due to reciprocity. I use Provia 100F for star trails (EOS 1N and intervalometer -- so I can let the camera do the exposure while I head back to camp and check back on it in the morning!). Provia turns purplish for long exposures, and many photographers like this. Put the camera out where the Perseid shower is expected to appear (research an astronomy forum, or NASA). You will need a stable tripod in a safe place where you can hang out for say 6 hours to create star trails and striations, not necessarily just of the Perseid. Shorter exposures don't really create the interest that thousands of rotating stars do, nor do short exposures provide so much colour compared to the longer ones. A 35mm to 50mm lens at f5.6 for 6 hours on bulb should give you a good result. Don't attempt star trails when there is a waxing gibbous moon as the long exposure will make the scene appear as daylight!

philipus · Aug 7, 2018

Thank you very much, that's a very nifty calculator.

Sirius Glass said:
See the box about star trails.
http://www.cppdh.org/download/jiffy-calculator-for-night-light-exposures.pdf

And thank you Garyh for this, I appreciate it. I'll shoot from my mother's garden in the rural Swedish countryside so there's very little light pollution and there won't me much moon on the weekend, I believe. The problem is that I don't have a locking shutter button but I'm thinking I'll just put it on bulb and use a baseball cap and then leave it on for a few hours. Worth a shot, or perhaps two if I have the time for it.

Br
Philip

Poisson Du Jour said:
Unless you have a locking cable release or the FM3a has a locking shutter button in bulb, you will not be able to do a time exposure effectively.

Velvia 100 can be used, but it will cast severely due to reciprocity. I use Provia 100F for star trails (EOS 1N and intervalometer -- so I can let the camera do the exposure while I head back to camp and check back on it in the morning!). Provia turns purplish for long exposures, and many photographers like this. Put the camera out where the Perseid shower is expected to appear (research an astronomy forum, or NASA). You will need a stable tripod in a safe place where you can hang out for say 6 hours to create star trails and striations, not necessarily just of the Perseid. Shorter exposures don't really create the interest that thousands of rotating stars do, nor do short exposures provide so much colour compared to the longer ones. A 35mm to 50mm lens at f5.6 for 6 hours on bulb should give you a good result. Don't attempt star trails when there is a waxing gibbous moon as the long exposure will make the scene appear as daylight!

Shoot the Perseid meteor shower with an FM3a?

philipus

Sirius Glass

Poisson Du Jour

philipus

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