These pictures have been taken with the most modest of equipment,
from the outskirts of Nottingham UK, so next time a comet comes
around, why don't you have a go?
Camera: Zenit
Film: Truprint 400 ASA
Lenses: 50mm F2, 200mm F4
Lens: 200mm
Aperture: F4
Exposure Time: 10 seconds
This image is the darkest of the ones shown here because of the shorter exposure.
Aperture: F2
Exposure: 15 seconds
Even with such a modest attempt as this (I didn't even use a cable release), it is possible to see the comet's 2 tails - the gas tail has a bluish tinge and sits above the whiter dust tail. The 2 tails are not usually visible with the naked eye. The gas tail is more prominent higher up the picture.
Lens: 50mm
Aperture: F2
Exposure: 12 seconds
This picture was taken in twilight - just after the sun had set - hence the reduced number of visible stars.
Notice on the 3 pictures how the angle of the tail is slightly
different. This is because they were taken several days apart,
and the position of the comet relative to the Sun (and Earth for
that matter) had changed, hence so has the "angle" of
the tail.