Anybody ever shot a shuttle launch?

[mkilgour]

So i'm going to try and see the next launch this month, its going to be a night launch around 1 AM. Anybody have and ideas or pointers. The max telephoto I have is 200mm so I would probably rent something longer.

[mpphoto12]

i have never shot one but i have always wanted to. I think you will ned at least a 400mm maybe rent like the 400 5.6? or if you have the money the 2.8 or f4? i would love to see the results because it must be hard considering you only have one chance to do it right. good luck

[samoksner]

The 500mm f4 is probably your best bet. Probably with a tele converter (1.4x) The shuttle is REALLY far away from where people are allowed. However, metering is going to be tricky, spot metering in manual i would think... Good luck and have fun.


May i recommend inquiring about the lens renting in advance as opposed to 2 days before...

[mkilgour]

Yea I was just looking at the 500 f/4 on lensrental.com, the viewing site is 6 miles from the pad.

[mpphoto12]

oh wow 6 miles? wow good luck i would rent the 1200 5.6 lol

[peety3]

The shuttle is REALLY far away from where people are allowed.
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And the shuttle is a REALLY large object to photograph, especially with rocket plumes and such.


I had a good discussion with a friend who was in Florida for the May launch. We used DoF plus, a great iPhone app, to calculate Field of View. He expected to be 9 miles away from the launch pad, which is about 14,500 meters away. Dof plus says the field of view for a 600mm lens at 500m subject distance is 18.47m wide by 12.31m high. Extrapolated, that'd be 536m wide by 357m high. The launch stack is about 55m high, so 1/7th of your frame is the shuttle stack itself at that distance. I bet that's good enough, as you want to have some room for the rocket plumes and to keep your eye on the ball.


Making some assumptions (since the app won't go to 800mm), the 800mm would give you a field of view that's 402m by 268m. That helps, but I bet you'd have challenges aiming and tracking with that much lens.

[mkilgour]

Well the causeway tickets sold out before I was able to get them, so it looks like I'll be trying to see it from Titusville (which is 12 or 13 miles away I think). Keith, is this where you got your pic's from?

[Keith B]

I shot that on the back side of Port Canaveral between the Disney Cruise entrance and the Air Force Gate. It is about 12-13 miles but completely unobstructed and usually easy to get into. Titusville usually gets pretty packed. I don't know about night time though.


Where are you coming from?


I have a buddy that always offers use of his 400 2.8. Maybe I should take him up on that offer. He has a 2x converter too.

[Chuck Lee]

I'll be praying that the shuttle launches on time so that you can get a chance to photograph it!


I would say at 6 miles you are going to a really long zoom. The problem is, after the shuttle lifts off you may want to have a second camera with a 70-200 or 100-400 to get a little wider perspective. I would think.


The good news is that it's during the day so you can get away with slow apertures.


Yourreally fortunateto get to go. I'd love to be able to see one. That will unfortunately never happen for me.

[btaylor]

1 AM is during the day now is it? [:P] Good luck mate - looking forward to seeing some shots.