Sam Paris wrote in message <34A0E6FF.35E8@mcs.net>...

>I'm looking for a telephoto lens for photgraphing a solar eclipse this
>February (and occasional use thereafter). I'm thinking of the Tamron
>200-400mm zoom. Does anyone have experience with this lens? Is there a
>good fixed lens around 400-500 mm available for a similar price? I see
>no need for autofocus for this job. In fact I've been told to disable
>autofocus to keep the camera from "hunting" during the eclipse.
>
>Any eclipse hounds out there with tips? I'll be on a cruise ship, so
>I,m not sure how stable the "ground" beneath me will be. I think that
>rules out lenses with really high magnification, at least at speeds I
>can afford.

I would consider the older-version Nikkor 500mm f8 mirror, at least
for the bright parts of the eclipse (it is also quite sharp on the
TC14 or TC14B converters) and may be hand-held for the bright parts
of the eclipse *IF* you are careful not to keep the sun image still in
the finder, if you do not look at the sun in the finder for more than
a moment - and if during that moment, you keep your eye moving relative
to the sun image. Without the TC you can install the neutral-density
filter that should come with the lens. During the dark part of the
eclipse, being on a ship, maybe a short lens (one wide enough to
show the light horizon) would work better... BTW, you can find several
sun images on my web page under "Commercial Photography", then
"Sun-Clouds" - and at other locations on my web page. (I like
photographing the sun even when it is not being eclipsed...;-)
--
David Ruether
http://www.fcinet.com/ruether
ruether@fcinet.com