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Anonymous
Dear /p, I photograph the shuttle and other rockets that launch at Cape Canaveral. I usually use my 70-200mm f/2.8 IS lens. As you can see, at four miles out, the shuttle hardly fills the picture. I was wondering if I could use extension tubes (0.5X, 1.4X, etc) to get a closer view without having to buy a bigger lens? I read somewhere that by using these extension tubes, you reduce your ability to focus on objects approaching infinity. Is this true? What suggestions do you have?
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
Depends on the extension tube. The good ones (e.g., genuine Canon ones, as well as the ones from Sigma and the like) have optics inside to maintain infinity focus.
>> Anonymous
zoom with your feet
... or a boat
>> Macheath !8b4g0BkNZg
It looks like haze is a problem as well... I'd take>>69652's advice and try to get closer.
>> Anonymous
Ya, it's been pretty hazy here in florida for the past couple weeks. Unfortunately, the press site (where this picture was taken) is the closest anybody can get to the shuttle without breaching the blast radius (how far debris goes if the shuttle were to blow up). But thanks for the suggestions!
>> Anonymous
http://www.myspace.com/thebuttholeexperiment
>> des
>>69647
teleconverter is what they call what you want.
A 2x on your 70-200 would get you a 140-400 f/5.6. Buy one of the canon ones. You're probably best off with not using it with a zoom however, I've seen stuff people have done at the local club with that lens and the canon 2x and it was pretty impressive.
>> Anonymous
Where can the public take photos? I went down a few times as a kid and saw them with some sort of pass (my father used to work with -- not for -- NASA) and we had COLD metal bleacher seats. If I would've thought ahead 15 years ago, I could've had some awesome shots.

>>69652
When I was there, there were alligator warning signs all over the place. (I was on the other side of the water and then some.) Perhaps you could ask NASA for permission (and a pass) to take some photographs?
>> Anonymous
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I don't think a teleconverter or a longer lens will help here a lot, since the blur caused by the streams of air is slightly visible even in OP photo.
I have a 500mm lens, and it's really hard to find a day when distant objects turn out sharp enough; with a 2X teleconverter it becomes impossible ;_;

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>> Anonymous
To take photos on NASA property, you need to be part of some news organization. I used to work for my school's newspaper, but then another company hired me so I work for them now. There are some pretty good viewing sites off-base, but they are farther away. If you are into rocket launches and such, you can go down to the cape canaveral pier which is only a couple miles south of some of the rocket launch pads. It's a great view down there because you can see the rockets curve overhead as they go east. Some other spots would be north of the base in titusville, but I'm not sure exactly where they are. There is some guy that has his own website (not sure what it's called) and he takes photos of the launches from several miles south using a telescope and puts them up on his site. He's been doing it for years.