Here are a few more selected pictures from the flight:
ASTRO-12 - a set on Flickr
The equipment was basically the same as the last flight except for the lens. I am really happy with how it performed. The camera was full of about 450 images in RAW format, and every one was a "keeper." As you see in the picture above, even when facing directly into the sun, the exposure of the k10d and lens was perfect. If you don't recall from the last thread on ASTRO-09, the exposure settings are Tv mode, 1/3000s, auto ISO. The lens was set to MF in infinity focus, and electrical taped so that the zoom ring and the focus ring would not slip.
If you look in the list of pictures you will see that on this occasion, I was able to get a rare picture of the balloon from the ground. You may not believe it, but when conditions are right, you can see it from the ground with the naked eye. Conditions were perfect this day. We could see the balloon before it burst at 98,000 ft. clearly, and it was over 10miles down range and 20 miles straight up. At that altitude it is over 40 ft. in diameter. I grabbed my k20d and set my 18-250 zoom to 250mm and shot some pictures. To minimize shake (even with SR on, I couldn't allow the slightest blur due to motion since it was just a speck) I set to shutter priority mode at 1/1500. Below is a 200% crop of one of the ground photos:
Note that you can not only clearly see the balloon, but you can just barely make out the payload string as well. I then got out my binoculars and I was determined to see it burst for the first time ever. I was not disappointed! The best way to discribe how it looked is like a large 4th of July firework exploding in the daytime.