Magaliaman Loc: Magalia, CA

I Can tell you this about viewing. If you don't have dark skies forget it. You just wont see it. The pictures I've taken of it look so much more vivid than I could see in person. You almost have to strain to see it. It does NOT come up from the horizon, it just magically seem to materialize about midway between the bottom of the Big Dipper and the horizon once its dark enough. Initially when you see it, it looks like a faint star with a slightly smeared tail. At first I thought it was a bug splatter on my windshield. Size-wise, its like any other star in the sky. The amount of tail visible depends on how dark it is.

The good news is: once you see it, you can't un-see it ! It doesn't seem to move much either. Stays in one place for quite a while until it fades away. Total viewing duration maybe 1-1/2 hrs maybe more.

I found it very difficult to focus on it because it was so faint, I could just barely see it in the viewfinder of my D810

Hope this helps

-Gary

johnsonsjourneys

Find the Big Dipper, then look below it and slightly to the east. it’s closer to the horizon. I found it with binoculars. It’s spectacular! And I looked around 10:45.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I saw it last night. It is very dim. It needs to be very dark and eyes used to the dark. Binoculars would be a big help.

ELNikkor

I had great success seeing it before dawn last week. It was just west of due north, 30degrees above the horizon, very clear to the naked eye over Lake Ontario from the Charlotte pier in Rochester, NY.

Math78 Loc: Scottsdale, AZ

Look 90 minutes after sunset. Set your camera on a tripod and take a 5 second exposure of the sky below the big dipper. You can then use your photo to locate the comet with binoculars. It is not visible with the naked eye for most people.

John Matthews Loc: Wasilla, Alaska

I Viewed it two nights ago. You want to be in an area that has dark sky’s. Go outside about 35 minutes after sunset. Give your eyes time to adjust to the dark (this really takes 10 plus minutes). Find the Big Dipper and using the “cup” end of the dipper note the leading two stars of the cup, split the distance between those two stars and start drifting your sight down towards the horizon. About 2/3 of the way to the horizon a vague smear will appear (I thought I was looking at a wisp of cloud at first) and that is neowise. For me A low power pair of binoculars clearly showed the comet and tail. My viewing area was In Minnesota.

I did get a picture I was happy using the following settings on an Olympus omd 1 Mark 2. Iso 6400, 2.8f stop, shutter speed of one second, hand held, manual focus (pre-focus on distant object on the horizon). I bet I could have cut the iso down to 3200 and move the exposure time to 2 seconds if I had been on solid ground but I was on a very shaky dock.

Lastly I was unable to see the comet in the view finder or screen and had to guesstimate. I took about 30 pictures. I had the comet in about 12 of them and I was happy with about 3 or 4of them.

ralphjh

It can be found with binoculars by around 9PM and then knowing where it is you can view faintly with naked eye. It much better after 10:30 pm.

mflowe Loc: Port Deposit, MD

Thanks Gary

mflowe Loc: Port Deposit, MD

Thanks

mflowe Loc: Port Deposit, MD

Thanks John

mflowe Loc: Port Deposit, MD

Thanks Dave

drobvit Loc: Southern NV

I saw it fairly well through the Las Vegas Valley light dome. Shots were crappy though.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I photographed the comet both Fri and last night. If you are in a dark enough area it can be seen with the unaided eye. As for the lens, it's at least a 20 year old 400mm f/2. It worked just fine.
--Bob

alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ

When I'm in a location I'm not familiar with and dont have binoculars, I'll use my compass to point in the general NW direction. Then if you use at least a 50mm to 70mm lens on a sturdy tripod, start taking pics at f5 or lower, 10sec and maybe a fist or slightly more at arms length above the horizon. Then pan and take another, then pan and another. Pretty soon you'll stumble across it. Then I like 70-105mm to get it with something else in the shot, mountains, trees, buildings depending on distance. After you are able to compose your shot, I would generally use the 500 sec rule 500/fl and you will get a pretty good shot. You can modify and push these settings to your satisfaction. Good luck and I'm anxious to see your results.

mflowe Loc: Port Deposit, MD

A crappy shot's probably better than none.