Moon at 700mm

[Johnny9s]

Thought I would try a little experiment tonight. I attached my 1.4x teleconverter to my 80ED telescope. I had to slightly unlock the TC to get my camera to shoot. I think it turned out quite well. Now to try it on some deep space objects.

Here is a 100% crop.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/2925463789_bbb2e4f28a_o.jpg

John

[macroshooter1970]

that turned out very nice

[Celestron]

Very nice John ! Focus seems right on and craters are tack sharp ! WTG !

[Nighthound]

Wow John, great scale and detail. The detail all the way to the rim says the exposure is right on. Very well done.

[Chet]

Very nice John, love the detail. A little fill flash would bring out the back side a bit more, might wanna try it out next time. ;)

[acchildress]

Well it didn't work. All I can see is this nice great big detailed shot of the moon.

[siuleung]

I have an old screwmount 400mm lens, and even with a 2x converter, mirror lock, and f/11, I can't get anything this good. Since this section opened up, I've been nothing but impressed and confused.

[markjpcs]

Very nice moon shot!

What are the exposure/processing details?

[Johnny9s]

Exposure Time = 1/125 second
ISO Speed Ratings = 100
Focused using LiveView at 10x
Shot in RAW and processed in CS3. Just cropped and sharpened.

[Bumgardnern]

Thats awesome. Very nice and Sharp.

[yagimax]

That 100% crop turned out really well.

[joelham]

WOW john such detail!!! how'd you attactch a TC to a telescope.

[disneydork06]

wow

[Adrena1in]

how'd you attactch a TC to a telescope.
You can get adapters to attach a camera to a scope, to use the scope like a telephoto lens. The TC just goes between the two.

Lovely shot, I really must get my 1.4x TC back off my dad, (or buy a new 2x or 3x one for myself), and give this a try. Getting nowhere with my Barlows, and I've heard TCs give slightly better results anyway.

[Fabian9931]

nice shot. but i have a question. how do people get to shoot exp for 139 seconds or whatever. mine only goes to 30 sec. can someone help out?

[Nighthound]

nice shot. but i have a question. how do people get to shoot exp for 139 seconds or whatever. mine only goes to 30 sec. can someone help out?

I'm not familiar with the XTi but I imagine it has a "Bulb" mode. By setting to Bulb and by using your camera delay timer or better yet a remote switch/cable you can avoid causing vibration and take advantage of the extended exposure times.

[Fabian9931]

I'm not familiar with the XTi but I imagine it has a "Bulb" mode. By setting to Bulb and by using your camera delay timer or better yet a remote switch/cable you can avoid causing vibration and take advantage of the extended exposure times.


i do have my pocket wizards to trigger my xti, but your saying set it to bulb mode and hit the shutter button, then what? hit it again to stop it?

[Johnny9s]

You will most likely have to hold the shutter button until you reach the desired exposure. I have the canon timer remote which lets me set the time of exposure and number of frames to shoot. I just set it up and leave the camera to do its thing.

[Nighthound]

I apologize, I wasn't thinking clearly. Yes, you will need a remote cable in order to end a "Bulb" exposure without introducing vibration.

[Fabian9931]

I apologize, I wasn't thinking clearly. Yes, you will need a remote cable in order to end a "Bulb" exposure without introducing vibration.

ok so you have to hold the shutter? or press and press again to stop it?

[Microcosm]

ok so you have to hold the shutter? or press and press again to stop it?
I have the Canon RC-1 remote to trip the shutter on my XTi. In bulb, I click it once and wait. Once I'm done, I click the remote it again. It can go on for as long as you would like, no need to hold down the shutter.

and WOW that's an awesome moon photo.

[ArcticShooter]

ok so you have to hold the shutter? or press and press again to stop it?

Most wired release cables enable you to lock by sliding the release button upwards and down again to release.

[ArcticShooter]

I have the Canon RC-1 remote to trip the shutter on my XTi. In bulb, I click it once and wait. Once I'm done, I click the remote it again. It can go on for as long as you would like, no need to hold down the shutter.

and WOW that's an awesome moon photo.

It really annoys me that the 40D don't have this option!
So now I just have an RC-1 sitting there...

[tkoutdoor]

For those talking about really long shutter speeds... That doesn't work on the moon unless you have an equatorial mount for your camera that turns it at the speed/angle of the moon's path. The moon actually is moving pretty fast and you get a long fuzzy streak instead of a super detailed picture. You may all know this, but it sounds like some of you might not. Having said that... Can anyone tell me where to get a useful equatorial mount for a good price that doesn't require me to be a rocket scientist to use it?

Oh Yeah! That moon shot looks quite nice. It makes me wanna get out my tripod and cable again! I've picked up a 100-400L this year and a TC that will autofocus with it on a non 1D body so I've been wanting to try it. Maybe tomorrow night if it's clear enough.

[Desertraptor]

Awesome detail
Well done

[Nighthound]

For those talking about really long shutter speeds... That doesn't work on the moon unless you have an equatorial mount for your camera that turns it at the speed/angle of the moon's path. The moon actually is moving pretty fast and you get a long fuzzy streak instead of a super detailed picture. You may all know this, but it sounds like some of you might not. Having said that... Can anyone tell me where to get a useful equatorial mount for a good price that doesn't require me to be a rocket scientist to use it?

Oh Yeah! That moon shot looks quite nice. It makes me wanna get out my tripod and cable again! I've picked up a 100-400L this year and a TC that will autofocus with it on a non 1D body so I've been wanting to try it. Maybe tomorrow night if it's clear enough.

Yes, tracking is essential for long exposure work and a nice German Equatorial mount would be an excellent choice for the job. The Moon however doesn't require long exposures so Lunar photos are attainable without tracking. My first Equatorial mount didn't have the tracking feature(hand controller/data base), only the motors but I was able to do very well with on the Moon even at very high focal lengths, just a pain having to constantly re center the image between shots.

As far as a mount choice, what are you planning to mount on it? This will help to narrow the selection by know your optical weight range. Total gear weight should stay between 1/2 and 2/3 of the actual manufacturer weight limits when using them for photography.

All GEMs require some set up knowledge, i.e balance/level, polar alignment and possibly drift alignment if you're stretching your exposure times. The GoTo feature or database and pointing software available with many mounts seems complicated at first but is actually user friendly and a great tool for getting quickly to objects if your time is limited each night. Locating objects by poking around or star hopping can be frustrating and eat up a lot of valuable exposure time so GoTo is worth the extra investment for astrophotography. I know how intimidating the computer mounts can be but after a few times going through the set up routine it'll become far less difficult.

[tkoutdoor]

Yes, tracking is essential for long exposure work and a nice German Equatorial mount would be an excellent choice for the job. The Moon however doesn't require long exposures so Lunar photos are attainable without tracking. My first Equatorial mount didn't have the tracking feature(hand controller/data base), only the motors but I was able to do very well with on the Moon even at very high focal lengths, just a pain having to constantly re center the image between shots.

As far as a mount choice, what are you planning to mount on it? This will help to narrow the selection by know your optical weight range. Total gear weight should stay between 1/2 and 2/3 of the actual manufacturer weight limits when using them for photography.

All GEMs require some set up knowledge, i.e balance/level, polar alignment and possibly drift alignment if you're stretching your exposure times. The GoTo feature or database and pointing software available with many mounts seems complicated at first but is actually user friendly and a great tool for getting quickly to objects if your time is limited each night. Locating objects by poking around or star hopping can be frustrating and eat up a lot of valuable exposure time so GoTo is worth the extra investment for astrophotography. I know how intimidating the computer mounts can be but after a few times going through the set up routine it'll become far less difficult.

Well, I've found that I can get shots of the moon without long exposures as well. I can't remember my settings, but I remember that I even had to bump up the ISO to 400 or 800 to get it to be fast enough to not blur. My 5D has not yet been used for Astrophotography and it's the first time I've had a camera with spot metering (none on the 10D or 20D). I've had to hunt and peck with Manual mode previously, but with spot metering I should be able to get to an ideal exposure pretty quickly now, even if I just use that info to go back to M mode.

Of course as you've mentioned constant re-adjustment of the tripod is necessary. I'd like to do an equatorial mount so I don't have to adjust so often and so I can get my ISO down to 100 for maximum noise control and clarity. This should also in theory make it much less frustrating to use a longer focal length since it can stay in proximity of the moon, so I expect that what I would put on it would become larger than what I have now. I hear something about stacking exposures to work out the noise is a method used in AP so maybe the ISO 100 isn't that relevant. I'd like to hear more about that if you want to mention it, or send me a link to somewhere that talks about it.

Currently I have a 100-400 and both 1.4x and 2x teleconverters. Typically my 2x does not give very satisfying results so the 1.4 may be the most I can do with my current setup. I have a 5D and a 20D that I would use and if my job (Construction Management) survives this down cycle I'll most likely be buying the 50D.

Astrophotography is not a driving interest for me yet, but it's enough of an interest that I'm willing to take small steps forward with my equipment. I'd like to have a budget of $500 or less for a telescope that can give me better images than what I can currently get with my L glass and extenders. That's not counting the GEM, and I assume I will need adapters that don't come with the telescope. I don't care to get fanatical about a GEM when it comes to price, but I also want to get well beyond a DIY angled platform with screws that one adjusts every 60 seconds or so. A computer guidance system would be nice, but it's not something I'd want to do right off "if" it can be added separately later. I don't mind selling my equipment and starting over with better stuff when I get that far along as long as I'm buying at a good price point to begin with and most of the depreciation is gone. Or if it's just not that expensive to start with.

Once I get into this I'm sure I'll be game to do some serious attempts at astrophotography as my interest is likely to develop progressively over the years. I don't mind buying used things if one can know they will work well or are easily serviced, but if there are a few stellar performers (unforeseen pun!) in the market that are new I'd be happy with that too. I know that sometimes the old faithful models could be the best value and that sometimes they are overlooked by someone who only sees the latest greatest as acceptable. I just want to make good budget choices and avoid the new salesman hype. Sort of like buying the 5D Mk1 as a starting point instead of a 5D MkII. A good budget choice in a quality arena that still produces excellent IQ.

I would consider starting with a telescope without a GEM instead of a GEM for use with my 100-400 etc. if it was less expensive than the GEM. I'd just fuss with the bare telescope for the things I can easily identify in the sky until I'm ready to put out more money. I presume that the moon might be all I could get with the 100-400 so the telescope might be the more logical place to start. I'm not absolutely committed to one or the other if one makes more sense as a solid economical first step. Ohh, one other thing. I do have an interest in having a setup I can backpack with (even if I get another setup later) so if there is something out there than can do that that's light enough and small enough for that I'd be interested in that to start with so long as IQ isn't overly compromised.

Thanks for the info so far and I appreciate the feedback.
Tim

[Jpiano]

WOW!!!

[M5Man]

Brill shot ..... :)

[Adrena1in]

how do people get to shoot exp for 139 seconds or whatever. mine only goes to 30 sec.

I have a Canon EOS 450D DSLR, and it has a shutter setting called "Bulb". This is the same for lots of similar types of camera. "Bulb" means that when you press the shutter button, it stays open until you release the shutter button, so the exposure-time is pretty much unlimited.

[tkoutdoor]

I have a Canon EOS 450D DSLR, and it has a shutter setting called "Bulb". This is the same for lots of similar types of camera. "Bulb" means that when you press the shutter button, it stays open until you release the shutter button, so the exposure-time is pretty much unlimited.Yeah, this is true with an external power supply to your camera. Another limit besides you pressing the shutter release again is how long the battery will last. If the battery dies in mid-exposure you have another defacto limit. This isn't completely irrelevant as some people like to shoot star trails etc. for long periods and they can run into this.

[ZGMF-X20A]

Wow

[Adrena1in]

Another limit besides you pressing the shutter release again is how long the battery will last.

Yes, that's why I said "pretty much" unlimited. I fortunately do have an external power supply for my 450D...battery ran out surprisingly quickly otherwise.

[pops77]

Wow!!!! Very nice!!!

[amd is the best]

Wow, that is an incredible photo!

[black_z]

Awesome detail!

[Fad2blk]

wow, that is a great shot. Very cool.

[A.Christopher]

That shot is breathtaking! Excellent job!

[Johnny9s]

Thanks for all the kind comments. Hopefully the skies will clear again one day and I will get to shoot again.

John

[disc_lover]

very nice ! I love the detail

[Ryan.]

Very detailed, nice!

[photo9999]

Wow, great shot!

[Celestron]

nice shot. but i have a question. how do people get to shoot exp for 139 seconds or whatever. mine only goes to 30 sec. can someone help out?

They use the "Bulb" setting and a Remote Switch (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Remote-Switch-RS60-E3/dp/B00004WCID/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1224631910&sr=8-1) to hold the shutter open for a length of time . Different cameras use different ones so depends which camera you have .

[danpass]

Great shot. I can see the Apollo 11 landing site



:mrgreen:

[Becca]

This is possibly the best moon photo I've ever seen on here! I love it!

[KaseyK]

great shot

[ThomGascoigne]

Thats a real beauty! Good work