Photographing the Moon

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by Stephen Fox

If anyone is interested in having an attempt of photographing the moon. The weather forecast tonight in the United Kingdom is for clear skies, low humidity and the moon will be showing in the first quarter stage (almost half moon).

Thin high cloud here. Through the scope it gets quite soft by 50x. I'll give it a go tomorrow.

Don

[Saphire]

Well I had a go. The first one was done with 1/200s, F8, ISO 100 MLU.
2nd one 1/250s, F8, ISO 400, MLU. I probably should wait untill its dark but couldn't resist trying.

[John]

Originally Posted by Saphire

Well I had a go. The first one was done with 1/200s, F8, ISO 100 MLU.
2nd one 1/250s, F8, ISO 400, MLU. I probably should wait untill its dark but couldn't resist trying.

They seem nice and sharp to me. Which lens and focal length?

John.

[Saphire]

Sorry John I forgot it ls in attachments. its was a Sigma 170-500mm. 400mm.

[Canis Vulpes]

Originally Posted by Saphire

Thanks Stephen, I will have to give it a go and see if I can get better shots than I already have. The good weather is down to me I ordered it for the wedding Sunday.

Glad you are giving it a go and thanks for the weather dancing you have been doing, it seems to have paid off

Here is my second real attempt, 680mm f6.7 (lens f4) 1/160 ISO400. As the subject was smaller then my previous attempt I had problems with focus and metering. At one point I set ISO 1600 and showed a huge difference, from 1/400 to 1/1600. I may fool around with the spot metering circle size in my camera or use manual exposure in future. Image taken between 21:15 and 21:30. Interesting how the view differs from Saphire's shot taken at roughly the same time even though we live approx 50 miles East/West of each other.

I now seem to have reasonable sharpness and I shall pursue to moon another time using approx 500mm focal length.

[Leif]

Originally Posted by Saphire

Well I had a go. The first one was done with 1/200s, F8, ISO 100 MLU.
2nd one 1/250s, F8, ISO 400, MLU. I probably should wait untill its dark but couldn't resist trying.

Good images. I was tempted to take out the bins and scope last night, and drive to a dark area, but laziness prevailed. At 10pm it was still not dark. I suppose that is not surprising since we are close to the Summer Solstice. At least we do not live in Finland. Sadly clear nights are a rarity here in Southern England, though I have noticed that the mornings are often cloud free. Maybe a weather wonk can explain why.

Leif

[robski]

Yes the south has seen a bit of a nuclear winter with all the cloud cover for the past few weeks. I can't believe that in a few weeks time the evenings will start to draw in again. New wildlife seems to taken a hit with this cold period. But today makes up for it. Lets hope we get a clear sky to night and I see if I can get a crack at it.

[prostie1200]

Took this one at 2100 tonight - bit of cloud but quite pleased with it.

D70 - TC1.7 + afs300 f4 ISO 200 f26 at 1/125

[Don Hoey]

I have just been dragged out to try a D2X version, but after setting everything up the current moon is a NO GO. With the scope I am limited to f13, and at ISO800 that is 1/8th sec. Will have to wait until its brighter. Also it is quite low so is suffering from atmospheric haze.

Don

[Don Hoey]

Finally just about bright enough last night, at 1/80 sec at f13 at ISO800 taken through my Nikon ED82A scope with the D2X. When using the scope I am limited to a single aperture of f13 which is seriously limiting as well as being on my diffraction boundry.

As I am still waiting for my remote, I cobbled something up to allow use of a cable release. I have remade it today, and will post a pic tomorrow when the paint is dry.

Don