Don,

I would not describe your photo as an 'effort' its more of a success. Exposure is on the nail and moon highly detailed. I have yet to produce anything close.

Unfortunately 10/10 cloud here ( Norfolk ) at the moment.

If you are interested and have a clear view, then based on yesterdays experience it is certainly worth a go. Best detail views I have had of a nearly full moon in a long time. Usually too bright with a scope at 38x magnification to see much surface detail.

Don

Moon and cloud possibilities now so got to go. :)

Don

I notice the forecast is good for photographing the moon over the next few days in the United Kingdom - clear skies with good visibility.

I have just been out for a look and it is a good one. A lot colder than it has been of late, but I think I will give it a go now as forecast is for it getting a lot colder over the next few days.

Don

2nd attempt at this.

Ok I have been out and here is a quick pic. A bit nippy out there, cap and gloves next time.:)

Taken with a 300mm lens and pretty poor 2x converter.

I notice from Stevies astronomy mags that most of the published stuff is made up from a seriously large number of stacked images. Any clues as to how this may be done in CS with say 3 or so. It may help make up for the lack of quality glass.

You will be the death of me Foxy.:D

Don

All good Fun!!

Like a fool I decided not to photograph the moon yesterday evening instead processing other photos (huge backlog). I thought I would set time aside this evening (01.11.06) and do a proper job without time constraints. Unfortunately in my location we have 100% cloud cover! Weather outlook appears promising for the next 5 or so days so hope to catch my death of cold :D sometime soon.

Foxy Bob,

As you missed it tonight here is what it looks like today.

When you get your sharp glass on it your results should be better than mine. :D

As I am all day in the workshop, with no time to study my CS manual, I have resorted to loads of usm to try to make up for deficiencies on the lens front.

Don

I could not resist taking another moon shot, it was so big and bright I had to take it. I will try later in the week when I should get more shadow around the craters?

First day without fog for a bit, so following Tannins lead, I took a shot of the moon in daylight.

Don

Nice one Don. Good detail. The magnificent blue sky is superb.
You know my over sharpen taste, so my wish is a tad or sharpening in pp and then decrease in brightness a bit. Blue sky is tough. Well done.

Thanks Sassan,

20 year old lens and coke bottle converter so not up to your glass. :)
Quite different doing a daylight shot as contrast of the moons surface is a lot less than at night.

Will try to do a bit better next time round MASTER.

Don

I have noticed the moon over the last few days while I have been otherwise engaged. I also checked tonights weather forecast which shows clear skies. It looks a good opportunity later for anyone in the U.K. to have a crack at photographing the moon.

I may have a go tonight providing a freind brings his telescope, results coming Sunday.

I found this on another forum and thought it might be of interest here.

The Geminid shower is coming up and is considered the most consistent and viewable meteor shower - probably the best shower for photography as the trails move more slowly across the sky:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geminids

Not quite in the same league as Sassan, but with a gap in the clouds, here is this evenings moon.

80-200mm lens + 2x converter. 1/200 sec, f4. ISO 400

Don

That's very impressive Don. The terminator region is really clear and sharp and you haven't overexposed other parts of the Moon which is a common fault.

Dave

Nice one Don,

I am impressed with this one from Sassan -> http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...hp?photo=13495

You were lucky to catch a gap in the clouds yesterday evening as was 100% cover in the midlands.

Forecast for this evening is clear but cold (-1) - Brrrr :eek:

Well at least I have beaten Sassan to this. :D :D

Taken this evening. The Moon and Saturn. 2 merged exposures as the Moon is too bright for Saturn to register on the same frame. Easily visible with a scope and 30x eyepiece.

Don

For any crazies still around that are interested, as of now 12:30, Saturn is about one moons width away from the moon, at 3 o'clock, and easily visible with 7x binoculars.

Don

Excellent, I assume we shall have a repeat today (03.02.07)

I have just checked the Heavans Above page, link http://www.heavens-above.com/ , and from Norfolk it shows :

At 20:00 Saturn about 4:30 o'clock to the Moon, at 21:00 at about 4 o'clock, at 22:00 at about 3:30 o'clock etc. However Saturn will be several Moon diameters further away in comparison with last night.

On the Heavans Above site once you enter your location you can see a Star Chart for your location for any date or time you desire.

Don

Very nice image of the Moon and Saturn Don. You are now clearly ready to photograph next month's occultation of Saturn which occurs on the morning of 2 March 2007. The timings for Cambridge are 02:39 to 02:54. It will be a grazing occultation for Birmingham and anywhere approximately on a line going from the NW to SE. Anyone south or west of that line will not get an occultation, just a near miss but which is still a good photo opportunity. Anyone to the north or east of that line get the full occultation and hence a chance of getting Saturn partly covered by the Moon.

While here can I also mention that on Saturday 3rd March there will be a total eclipse of the Moon the whole of which is visible from the UK. Sorry Sassan but you only get to see part of the eclipse at moonrise. There are more details at http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html

The timings are
21:30:04 Partial eclipse starts
22:43:49 Total eclipse starts
23:58:01 Total eclipse ends
01:11:46 Partial eclipse ends

These times are GMT or UT

Attached are two images that I took of an occultation of Saturn on 03/11/01

Dave

Thanks Don, great information.

My exact location has a rise to ENE so tonight was a game of patience. I had to go to one end of the garden to get a glimpse when the moon was to the East. Using spot metering 300mm +TC17E II (510mm) and aperture priority at f5.6. I managed to get this one that I am rather pleased with and progress has been made personally. This was also shot handheld.

Very good Foxy. I guess the X is out from its winter rest for this.

Handheld :eek: just goes to show the advantage of VR, and to think I have been slinging an extra 5kg weight from the Slik for increased stability. :D :D

To get Saturn I also draped two 1 Kg bags of sunflower seeds over the scope to damp vibrations.

I am having another look at using the scope ( see if I can improve ). Not nearly as user friendly as using a standard lens though. The scope gives equivalent of 1000mm but with lens + converter I have 400mm. So far image sharpness goes with the lens at 400mm.

Stevie mentioned an upcomming Earth shine event that I will get info on.

Don

The X was brought out of hibernation for this one. Shutter speed in the order of 1/640 at ISO200 using spot metering at 510mm. It would have been possible to handhold without VR, although VR was ON.

I am impressed with sharpness retained using 1.7X TC with the primary lens virtually wide open (f3.3~ish)

Sadly no Saturn in my shot :(

Well this one will sound like a nightmare then :D :D

Another bracket making session today. I was going to look at the scope then thought if Sassan can do a x3 converter job on his 600 why not try two 2x converters on my 80-200. Although it means more elements than I care to think about, I feel it worth a try.

I did a sample shot using a milk container saved from the ring flash job. Takes in Robs bar code test. The full frame shot taken from 20 feet away is attached.

My Slik weighs 6kg but I hung a further 10kgs from it to increase stability for this shot, nearest thing to nailing tripod to the patio. Focusing will be the biggest problem as this combination is f11 wide open.

A few mods later, ie trying to do away with perching a bag of sunflower seeds on top to dampen any shutter vibration, and attaching the riflescope for easy planet aquisition, and thick fog had decended as can be seen from the attached pic of the camera. No chance of a proper trial tonight.

Don

I have heard about people who stack TC's and there is a modification to a TC to allow this. I never really thought quality would result however, the milk bottle pictured is excellent. Even at f11 1/160th at ISO200 should be about the shutter speed required for correct exposure and enough to null any effect of shutter vibration.

The right hand image of the X and stacked TC's really shows the mist of yesterday, hope we have clear skies this week.

There is a photo opportunity this Friday evening when the Moon will plough its way through the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) from around 10.30 GMT to around midnight. The forecast in the UK is not too good but in other parts of the world there may be a good chance.

Dave

Well we missed that event as too much cloud cover.

The next major event which will be visible in the UK is a rare lunar eclipse on the 3rd of March. It will start around 20:18 with max exclpse at 23:21. From a general photography point of view, ie for those without fast lenses or special tracking kit, the period between about 20:18 to 21:30 will probably be the best, as the moon turns through a bright coppery colour to brick red as it passes through the Penumbral shadow. From 21:30 onwards light will diminish as the moon enters the Umbral shadow and turns deep red or rusty in colour before ulimately becoming hard to see at 23:21.

Dave in between almost permenant cloud and dull conditions here I did manage a moon shot 2 days ago ( 21 Feb ) and again early last night. Both taken with a 400mm f5.6 lens.

Don

Hi Don,
Going by those two shots the total eclipse of the Moon should be no problem. I'm also intending to have a go with a 400mm lens on a fixed tripod but with a 1.4x convertor. I have taken a full Moon pic with that arrangement which has come out fine. The total eclipse itself may be problematic as it is darker and will require a longer exposure. It is possible that it may need a tracking mount, we will just have to wait and see. All good fun.

Dave

To answer Foxy's question on where the stacked multiple TC image would be acceptable or not ( A phenomenon that I can sware have read somewhere as something not possible or not to be perform by the manufacturer's recommendation) I did a test tonight. Two of images obtained are added to gallery (Sorry I find it very difficult at times to find the old forum topics, still navigatioin being a problem for me, so left the images for easier approachable gallery. Here are the links.


LINK - 1
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...g&limit=recent

LINK - 2
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...3&limit=recent

Don

I have been looking at photos of a total lunar eclipse I took in 2003 and find that the ratio of the time exposures from full Moon to eclipsed Moon are 1 to 2000.
i.e. I used 1/500 s for the full and 4 s for the eclipsed. All other factors were the same.

The Moon moves relative to us at 15 arc seconds per second. The diameter of the Moon is 0.5 degree which equals 1800 arc seconds. So in each second of exposure with a fixed mount the Moon will move just under 1% of its diameter. I'll leave you to judge whether that would be acceptable or not. It may be worth trying with as high an iso as the camera permits (or use RAW) and possibly stretching the result in photoshop. What I am saying here of course only really applies if you want a detailed red Moon. A small red Moon as part of a scenic shot could be much easier.

This is probably all quite academic as it will be cloudy !!

Dave

I have just seen or forecast through to Friday the 2nd and its grim apart from tomorrow. :( :( I need one clear night to prove if 2x TC will work satisfactorily on my 400 ( it is not recommended for focal lengths greater than 200mm ). Not sure if I can get reasonable results with that, never mind moving into Sassans league. :D

Well done with your pic in the gallery as it shows what we can expect to see if the sky is clear.

Don

Tonights moon taken with 400mm f5.6 and TC201 2x converter. This converter is designed for lenses up to 200mm, and not recommended for the 400 lens so not a bad result. ISO400, lens wide open so effective aperture f11, shutter speed 1/200 to minimise any vibration effects.

Modifications to kit before trying this combination were making a new mounting foot extension for the lens ( see post in lenses forum ), adding a 1.5 kg counterbalance to the Manfrotto 501 head and suspending a 5kg weight off the tripod main boss to keep vibrations to a minimum.

Cloud cover has now come in or I would try a mini comp with Sassan and add my last TC. Not that that could really compete as it would only give 1600mm f22 wide open. :D :D

Don

That looks nice and sharp Don, how are you managing that because it is not easy. How do you plan to cope with the total eclipse because it looks as if you may need a shutter speed of around 10s? Because of that I think I will cheat and use my driven mount. I have also been experimenting this evening and have taken some shots through a 400mm lens plus a 1.4TC. The result as far as I can tell is identical with yours. I also took a shot through my 200mm telescope where there is clearly more detail. Unfortunately, although I could just squeeze tonight's Moon into the field of view, a full Moon is too big, so for the eclipse will use the camera lens.

Dave

Dave,

I only managed a couple of shots before the cloud came in, so picked on the one with highest shutter speed. The intention was to progressivly work my way down the shutter speed range and that would show up the minimum that I could go to. Just been outside and its a bit of a dead duck as quite a bit of general thin cloud as well as thicker stuff. Hey ho, will keep trying if we get any clear skies before Saturday.

As for the eclipse I will just use the 400 and no converter. Less magnification but lots fewer probs in terms of shutter speed.

Don

Well if this one is not successful the next is 21 Feb 2008 and then a 2 year gap.

Dave

Don as you wanted, here are a few images of my set up.

Explanation on last image that are my true practical secrets are in merit order IMHO:
1) Wimberley style gimbel head. The main key to success. When long lens is place right here (At the center of gravity using 3 way adjustments) the set up is virtually weightless. I can use even losely fasten knobs, yet move the point of lens in any direction accurately and with ease. The good thing is where I leave the point of shot, it stays there. If you have worked with the heavy camera/lens, you know how frustrating is when you finally zero in on location you want, and the moment removing you hand off the camera, it sags down with gravity so constantly you need to keep in mind a rough correction factor here, if not using a solid setup (I still have the nightmare of the days or rather nights that I was using my regular tripod).

2) Solid tripod (Make sure recommended carrying weight of tripod is well above the intended weight of you set up. Manufacturers tend to lie well here.

3) Remote shutter release. I use the wired one to exclude the problems specially with IR and battery of wireless ones. Mine is the cheaper one from Hong Kong. Does excellent job.

4) Magnifier for viewfinder. Remember you are not having any focus assistant what so ever. Don't laugh but without this, I definitely bracket my focusing. I have two magnifier. Here is the Nikon DG-2. Seems for once the different manufacturers did not mind to use the same standard of fitting (Unlike their zealously formated other aspects such as bayonet, memory etc). I use the Olympus for when moon is very high in the sky as that one has 90 degree turn and 2 different magnifications (Cons being right to left not corrected and no option to see the viewfinder unmagnified (Checking manual parameters, ISO etc).

5) Mirror lock up that is set from "Custom menu" in Canon.

I don't use any counterbalance weight. My set up as seen is rock steady. The other problem is you need to virtually chase moon with every shot. In about 4 exposure, moon is completely traveled from above to lower frame of my view finder so repeatative repositioning is a must. No if you want to change a parameter, ISO, EV etc, just figure out the efficiency and time. You surely want to have a close communication with higher authorities, as partially cloudy sky means pending disaster and frustrations.

Wish every one especially for resident of Europe a fun picturing total eclipse. We unlucky North Americans especially the west coast residents will have penumbra only from 18:24 or so on March 3rd (Moon rise 17:40) so I'll keep on looking at my cholesterol levels to keep myself un-rusty for the next one to come.

Thanks for those Sassan.

I am just about to step out the door and go to Focus On Imaging Show and will look at your Wimberly head there, also eyepiece magnifier as I totally understand that bit. I am meeting Foxy there so I am sure we will discuss the subject.

Don