MC-36 problem on three cameras

<p>I just received an MC-36 which I plan to use for interval photography of the solar eclipse on May 20. It seems to work fine in terms of responding by itself as per the instructions. However, when I try to attach it to either of my F100s or my F90, I can not seem to get the locking nut to engage. This is even though the pins are lined up (you can tell by the two alignment tabs) and even when I push hard to seat the connecter and I try to turn the nut at the same time. The camera then does not respond to the MC-36 at all under either timer mode or manual release mode, even though the settings on the unit and the camera are all as per the manual.</p>

<p>It look to me like the connection is not being made between the MC-36 and the camera. I have tried repeatedly to seat the connector firmly. I have also examined the connector and all three receptacles with a 15x loupe and a flashlight to see if there is any sort of physical interference such as an obstruction in one of the pin holes. Nothing is evident.</p>

<p>I hesitate to assume that the unit is defective when maybe I am doing something wrong. Any suggestions?</p>

<p>BTW, I have Baader solar filters <em></em>and I ran the camera through its paces shooting the sun last weekend. I'm dropping off the test rolls tomorrow and I'll have them back before I shoot the eclipse.</p>

<p>Hi Bill, I don't have an answer to your MC-36 question but do have a question on your plan to photograph the solar eclipse; can you describe your intended setup? Will you use a tracking mount? Thanks. </p>

<p>Bill, I never had any problem engaging a remote into the 3 pin socket of my F801s, or doing up the locknut. The newer 10 pin socket is a bit more fiddly with its finer locknut thread, but I suspect you may have a bad MC-36 and that trying to force it in is going to cause damage to either the plug or socket.</p>

<p>If I were you I'd just return the darn thing and ask for a replacement.</p>

<p>Thanks, Rodeo Joe. I think I'll follow that course of action.</p>

<p>Michael, I am trying several different approaches but none involve a tracking mount. I ran though all the cameras last weekend and I'll have my film back next week to see how my experimental exposures worked. Here is my tentative plan:</p>

<p>1. Nikon D7000 and 500/4 AI-P with TC-14B for high-magnification individual digital shots. I'll have to realign the camera/lens combo repeatedly for this and the next one. The single shots will get lots of bracketing.</p>

<p>2. Pentax LX and Pentax 67 300mm f/4 lens with 1.4x converter and K-mount adapter for high-magnification individual film shots. Tests show that using a 35mm camera on this 6x7 lens to photograph the sun does create blobs of stray light due internal reflections but that these can be placed off to the side. Since these images will be digitized this can be corrected later. If push comes to shove I'll sacrifice this effort to make sure I get good shots on the D7000.</p>

<p>3. Pentax 67 with 200/4 lens for multiple-exposure shots of the peak portion of the eclipse. I'll have to manually time these shots. This is somewhat of a pain but I thought it would be nice to try to get a nice big piece of film with an eclipse sequence.</p>

<p>4. Nikon F100 with 55/2.8 lens, also for multiple-exposure shots of a somewhat longer part of the peak portion of the eclipse. I plan to use the MC-36 to automate this shot sequence. I still need to calculate the timing of this one and #3 to get a nice symmetrical sequence for each.</p>

<p>5. A Nikon D60 with the 12-24/4 DX for overall shots of the scene with both the sun and the landscape. I'll be using a heavy ND filter (but no solar filter) with lots of bracketing and I hope to get interesting results. When I learn more about Photoshop I may be able to go back and do some cool HDR work with these shots.</p>

<p>6. A Canon S95 for snapshots of the entire setup to record my crazy attempt to do all things, some in a very short period of time.</p>

<p>I'll have to realign the camera/lens combo repeatedly for the high-magnification shots. Fortunately the solar filters have an alignment feature although it's inaccurate. The multiple-exposure shots will not require realignment.</p>

<p>The solar filters are photographic rather than visual grade. That is, they offer a filter factor of 3.8 (12.7 stops) rather than 5.0 (16.7 stops). That means that it's not really safe to look into the viewfinders without additional filtration. All lenses except the 500/4 and the 12-24 are getting a B + W 486 on the business end under the solar filter . The 486 filter is very good at cutting out longwave UV plus the shortwave IR down to near 1100nm. I'll be using a combo of a B + W 489 and an ND filter at the viewfinder to get additional protection, and I'll have a spare 486 for the 500/4. The 489 does not cut out all the IR close to red but cuts out virtually all the rest of the IR down to 2000 nm. See http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/industrial_filters/pdf/IF%20Edge%20Filter.pdf for graphs.</p>

<p>Yes this is ambitious, but even if I fail I'll have fun trying. My wife points out, though, that my D7000 shots of the sun last weekend could have more easily been produced just by photographing a white disk on a black background!</p>

<p>Thanks for the description, Bill. That's an ambitious undertaking to be sure. </p>

<p>Suggestion: Your S95 can be loaded with CHDK set to time-lapse mode to record the event unattended:<br>

<a href="http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_in_Brief">http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_in_Brief</a></p>

<p>We won't be seeing the eclipse in the East coast but I've always been interested in sun observation and have been doing limited observing and photography also using Baader filters on a telescope with tracking mount, but as your wife observed, it's often less trouble to look at a white disc on a black background. :-) </p>

<p>I've bee toying with the idea of investing in some dedicated gear, either a <a href="https://www.google.ca/search?q=Coronado+PST&um=1&hl=en&prmd=imvnsfd&source=lnms&ei=hh6rT8zJG8XTgQeSy-xa&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=1&ved=0CDMQ_AUoAA&biw=1440&bih=813">Coronado PST</a> or ThousandOaks <a href="http://www.thousandoaksoptical.com/halpha.html">H-Alpha filters</a> but both are rather expensive options given the actual use might be limited. </p>

<p>I wish you the best of luck and look forward to your posts should you decide to share; I'll be observing vicariously though NASA's images. :-) </p>