Well with clouds scudding across the sky and a fair wind I did manage a shot with 400 plus two 2x converters tonight.

One of the converters is a bit like coke bottle glass so not expecting great things. Image converted to B&W to get rid of a shed load of CA.:eek:

2 pics attatched. One is full frame and the other a crop. ISO 500 at 1/100 sec, effective aperture f22.

Sassan, we did not see a Wimberly type head at the show, so for now I will take solice in the fact that at GB £499 its cost equals the value of my 400mm lens. Interesting concept from your pics though ....................... I feel a workshop job comming on if I upgrade the 400 as it only weighs 1200g, hence the counterbalance I mentioned which is to take care of the camera weight.

Don

I set my alarm last night and was pleasantly surprised that it was clear and so I had a go at the occultation. The results are below. Some playing around in Photoshop was necessary as the Moon is so much brighter than Saturn.

These were taken with a 20Da at the prime focus of a Vixen VC200L telescope. Time exposure 1/100 s.

Dave

Wow Dave,those are great,with Saturn underneath,brill.

Dave I have never hated you this much! (You know my mixed up sensations that makes "Hat" a proportional value of excellent in logarithmic number of n power....).

Simply stunning. Very well done and keep up the excellent work.

Note: Your announcements of events has always been a great asset to the forum. Thank you for excellent job you do.

shoot the moon
 

I just dropped in to night to see if i could sus out the eclipse tomorow night and i have enjoyed this exelent thread. I have been shooting the moon hand held for ages with my wee Kodak cx6230 and bird spotting scope. Its brilliant practice to develop a steady hand for the birds Heres a shot i took the other night through the cloud. I did give it a slight tint with the kodak and a crop

Hats off to you Dave ................ BRILLIANT

I was going for a lower res job but ...... you've guessed it ..... cloud :( :(

Forecast for tomorrow is fair so fingers crossed.

Don

Well done Dafi. :) For a 2mp compact I am impressed.
Its good to see others joining in. Best wishes for tomorrow night.

Don

Anyone seen the eclipse thats happening NOW :D

Thats been a realy enjoyable night. My first proper eclipse with no cloud. I managed a couple of shots but couldnt get near getting an exposure when i wanted to catch the fantastic colours. Briliant and chalenging night though

superb to watch the eclipse on a clear night... here's my best shot of the red moon and a sequence of it going into shadow.

Taken with my 400D and Sigma 500 f4.5 on top of Manfrotto 055 legs and 501 head.

Very good postie,

I have just been looking at the composite on BF.

Don

Very nice and well presented.

Dave

Sassan,

I understand your set up, but what shutter speed were you using? The surface of the moon would have mooved past quickly in your view finder; this must have been your bigest challange or did you have a tracking device as used on some telescopes?

No Jonathan I didn't use any tracking device. As you mentioned the moon does move extremely quick at this magnification. To give you an estimate, for every 4 fast shots I take, a repositioning is a must (Moon has moved out of view finder).
The effective diaphragm, considering I started with wide open 600mm's of F/4.5 would be 1/3 higher for FD to EOS adapter, 2x2x3 for the 3 extenders, and 1.6 for digital factor, so something like 27 lower F which is translated to something like F/107.
____________________________________________
How I reach to this F number? Well
Fstop = Focal length / maximum diameter of lens
so my magnification is:
(600 + 33%) x 1.6 x 2 x 2 x 3
or
14285mm lens
Now apply formula:
F = 14285mm / 133mm
F = 107
____________________________________________

My main secrete or rather luck is the good sensor of Canon that can take a reasonable (Within the limitations) picture at ISO 1600.

If you check the EXIF, I had ISO 1600 for 1/15 seconds. This is at F/67 (If my calculation is right). I have tried lower shutter speed even close to 1 second with various degree of success to not show motion artifact. Also I tried one or two F stop lower from lens but not much to speak about. Well all I can say is I am personally impressed and had a fun in this trial. By the way now that we got to this discussion, let me just talk little like Archimedes:
"Give me a level point and with adding few more billions extender, I may let you walk to the moon literary with my tele tube..." :)
Ahhh not felt good like this in a long time.
Well truly speaking after learning about the problems builder had to erect the London's Eye in the side of Thames river, I really start to appreciate Archimedes' wisdom even more...:)

Exposing the moon
 

I find the best exposure for the moon is ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/125. Bracket exposures and keep the equipment rock steady.

To get good detail of craters, do not take a full moon as there ae no cast shadows. Use the longest focal length you have.

See attachment

Best regards to all

That really is a wonderful shot Jonathan,the shadows really add 3d to it. Your settings are very helpful,I did`nt realize how bright the moon actually is.

Here`s my feeble attempt;

Here is a shot of the moon from the night before last that shows a fair amount of surface detail.

400mm AIS lens 1/80 sec at f8 ISO200

A bit of a heavy crop but my shot with the 2 x converter is too soft. :(

Don

Sassan,

I managed to pick up a used DG-2 eyepiece magnifier but now have to wait for the eyepiece adaptor to arrive.
Now I just need to find a decent 1.4 converter that will work with my 400mm f5.6 AIS lens. A look at Andys lens comparison suggests I need an old 500mm to go with it on the basis that a 500 is a lot more portable than a 600. :rolleyes:

Don

Hi guys,

You have to look at this site!!!!! Its the best I have seen of the moon using camera lenses as compared to telescopes; these moon shots were taken stacking TC converters one on top another using a Sigma 300-800 f/5.6 lens. Romy is a very good and interesting photographer and I think a lot can be learnt from him........ http://www.pbase.com/liquidstone/moon_shots

Regards

Jonathan

WOW

Thanks for that Jonathan. The first few I have looked at are amazing. Now bookmarked.

Don

Keeping the thread going while I wait for my 1.4 converter.

Two pics of this evenings moon. One with 400mm and the other with 400 plus 2x converter.

Don

Nice sharp pics Don.

I too saw the moon last night but it was softened by poor visibility, hoping for clear skies.

I have to sneak them in when I can as I'll never compete with the razor blade sharpness of your 300 and tc. :p :) Still it provides me with a challenge. ;)

Hoping for great things from the Kenco 1.4 when I get it. TC 201 only really works fairly well on near subjects with the 400.

Jonathans link has also got me going.

Don

Saturn is very close to the moon and I have just managed to get a shot.

Excellent stuff. Earlier in the evening the Moon passes right across Saturn.

Dave

Well done Christine. I only managed 4 frames in between the clouds, one posted in the Astro thread.

Don

Thanks Dave, Don you have the best photo, its really close to the moon.

Clouds drove me mad as after the posted shot I thought I would add the 2x Nikon converter to the new Kenko's ( a touch of Sassan here ) to give a focal length of 2240mm. But by the time the clouds had moved, so had Saturn, so I could not get them both in shot. :(

Don

Full moon tomorrow and another on the 30th. Stevie has just advised that that will be a ' blue moon ' . Not literally, but apparently two full moons in one month is rare enough to generate the expression - Once In A Blue Moon.

Don

Don you gave it for free. I was going to ask a queeze as to what a blue moon means.
Well hope to see some pictures from all over the world of this blue moon.

The original expression was due to the actual blue shade the moon achieved during the Krakatoa eruption. There was so much stuff ejected into the atmosphere that moon light was coloured...

Thanks for info.
As I was watching the moon for short time (Limited time due to my schedulle otherwise moon was so beautiful with partly cloudy sky), it really looked blue... May be due to stuff in LA's air we smoke happily everyday:)