Testing: One... Two... Three....

Functional Units:

A. Mount: I prefer to use my TG-SP II since it's much lighter, but my LXD55 can hold far more stuff and stand quite a lot of imbalance, and give more stability

B. Capturing:

- White light: I will be using my Canon 100-400mm at 400mm plus a Kenko 2x, that would give 800mm effective focal length, Canon 450D will be used for image capturing and it will be controlled via a timer release. Thousand Oaks Type 2+ will be used for filtering.

- H-alpha: I will be using my Tele Vue Ranger at prime focus, maybe with a reducer or barlows for closer up, DMK 31AF03 will be used for image capturing and it will be controlled via my Sony Vaio U3. Coronado Solarmax 40 with BF10 will be used for filtering.

- Video: I will be using my Konica Minolta Z5 in video mode, 640x480x30fps at maximum zoom. A small DIY solar filter will be used for the filtering.



Problem:

- Since my Ranger was not yet mounted via a ring, so I have problem balancing it with the Canon 100-400mm. That means I will have to use my LXD55 to handle that imbalance. And that would add significant bulk to the setup. The H-alpha setup is also the most troublesome one which requires a computer, a bigger battery, etc.

I shall try to capture the sun in H-alpha tomorrow to see if there's any big prominence around. If it does not, I will skip this one altogether.

The Minimal Setup:

- Gitzo G106 with Takahashi TG-SP II, 6A SLA
- Scope stuff mounting plate
- Konica Minolta Z5 with DIY filter for video recording
- Canon 100-400mm with Kenko 2x and Canon 450D, Thousand Oaks Type 2+, timer release

that is, the Ranger side is replaced by a small 12x zoom DC.

That would be very portable and easy to setup. Adding the H-alpha part will mean double the weight, and that might not be feasible and not worth the effort.

--

Additional Remarks at night:

Just a sudden thought, maybe I can take H-alpha with my Ranger as well as white light video with my KM Z5 before and after the first contact?

And then switch to Canon 100-400mm with 2x afterward?

The balance issue could be resolved by then.