Novice: In need of inexpensive telephoto lens for eclipse/moon

[dr.stevil]

Can anyone help me out? I'm a complete noob when it comes to photography so I'm learning as I go. I need a lens for my Cannon T4i, that has enough focal length to get some decent shots of the eclipse (and other random moon/etc photography) later this summer. I'm sure there is more to it than just focal length though as, AFAIK, the light gets reduced on telephoto lenses?


Since this is only a hobby, and it's not something I will have the opportunity to shoot often, I'm not looking to spend a lot of money. Searching on Amazon for a 500mm to a 800mm cannon lens is giving me prices anywhere from 500-25K. Way out of the ball park lol

I should note that I do have a solar filter already

 

[northrop]

If this is a one time thing, I'd suggest renting a lens instead. Pay $200-300 for the weekend, and send the lens back after you're done with it. You might have to reserve it now, if it isn't too late already, as I'm sure many people have the same idea.

Places like https://www.borrowlenses.com and https://www.lensrentals.com are good online places to start. I've used both with great results. You might also want to see if any of your local stores offer rentals.

 

[MN Scout]

I've casually photographed the recent lunar and solar eclipses over the last 5 years. The biggest annoyance I've found is the focusing and my lens "creeping". My super cheap 1000 year old Nikon Lens that connects to the inbody focus motor doesn't change focus when it is pointed up above horizontal. The expensive $500 70-300 AF-S VR G slowly changes infinity focus when pointed above horizontal. The thing is absolutely worthless for this type of sky photography.

I sure would hope the extremely expensive lenses from Canon and Nikon would do better, but maybe best to read reviews and see if anyone mentions it. The other option would be mounting the camera to a telescope

My old notes says this upcoming solar eclipse is at 1PM, so high in the sky.

Renting a high end lens for a week would be a good plan. Gives you a few days to perfect your setup before the eclipse.

I always have wanted to reproduce a eclipse sequence picture similar to the one from at the bottom of this page http://www.mreclipse.com/SEphoto/SEphoto.html This page also has good information regarding the focal length and exposure. The T4i is a crop sensor camera so when looking at the Focal Length vs. Image Size use the blue text as directed.

 

[rive22]

Definitely rent in this case. You want fixed aperture and the long rang ones cost a buttload.

Or buy a good telescope and a camera adapter and you can get away with a much cheaper prime lens.

 

[IdiotInCharge]

Even 600mm would be too short for your Canon to halfway fill the frame (I've done this). By the time you've added enough focal length through long, fast lens and teleconverter (say 600/4 and 2.0x), you'll likely have been better off renting/borrowing a telescope and adapting that.