Moon Shot - cheapest way but still practical

my current longest focal length is 200mm on FF.

I want to be able to try shooting the moon (i previously tried with a 200mm + 7D, but it was too hazy due to high ISO, perhaps my PP was wrong? any special instructions on PP?)

anyway, what's the cheapest way of getting a good moonshot but still practical (meaning i can still use it in the future), i don't get out much, so 200mm is already pretty long for me 99% of the time.

options:
1) kenko 2.0 TC (all kenko tc's pro dgx, no canon tc's)
2) kenko 2.0 TC + 1.4 TC
3) kenko 2.0 TC + 2.0 TC (this one is not as practical as 2) )
4) TC's + crop camera
5) new lens with long focal length but no TC (sigma 50-500 or 150-500) this one is not so budget friendly

what will produce better pictures:
5D2 with 21 megapixels cropped
or
600D with 18 megapixels less cropped than the above



i've read this thread
https://photography-on-the.net …?t=1029268&high​light=moon

quality wise, i'm looking for equal to or better than the one here (bigger moon):
https://photography-on-the.net …hp?p=12892578&p​ostcount=1
he used a 300 on crop.

Do you already own a 600D? It's not in your gearlist.

Cheapest improvement for reach would be adding a 2x TC to your body with the highest pixel density and your 200 F/2. In fact I'd be inclined to try a pair of Kenko 2x TCs stacked, especially on such a lens (you can stop it down a bit).

This is a shot i took with a 200mm and a 2xTC so 400mm on a 7D.

Yesterday i bought a m42 set. Convertor EOS to m42, a 500mm f8 lens, a 3xTC and a 2xTC. I didn't have a clear sky at night so can't shoot the moon just yet. 2500mm baby.

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mike cabilangan wrote in post #12950228
my current longest focal length is 200mm on FF.

I want to be able to try shooting the moon (i previously tried with a 200mm + 7D, but it was too hazy due to high ISO, perhaps my PP was wrong? any special instructions on PP?)

I do not understand why you would shoot with your iso cranked up? There is enough light to exposed correctly even on a partial moon.

Armando

Let's go right back to this part:

mike cabilangan wrote in post #12950228
I want to be able to try shooting the moon (i previously tried with a 200mm + 7D, but it was too hazy due to high ISO, perhaps my PP was wrong? any special instructions on PP?)

The moon is bright - it's in direct sunlight. Why are you using a high ISO?

Shoot ISO 400 1/250 F8 in manual mode on a tripod with a 200mm lens. You'll get a good picture. You have to crop in pp.

FstopMiami123 wrote in post #12950334
I do not understand why you would shoot with your iso cranked up? There is enough light to exposed correctly even on a partial moon.

Armando

xarqi wrote in post #12950343
Let's go right back to this part:
The moon is bright - it's in direct sunlight. Why are you using a high ISO?

yes, i know that now that i've read other moon threads. i wasn't planning on shooting the moon at the time (that was a year or two ago), it just so happened that i was on a mountain top and it looked like the moon was a tiny bit closer

phreeky wrote in post #12950268
Do you already own a 600D? It's not in your gearlist.

Cheapest improvement for reach would be adding a 2x TC to your body with the highest pixel density and your 200 F/2. In fact I'd be inclined to try a pair of Kenko 2x TCs stacked, especially on such a lens (you can stop it down a bit).

not yet, but was considering a small crop cam anyway, i could move it up the wishlist if it would give me a better pic with it's 18mp 1.6 crop vs. 21mp FF (with the same lens).

double 2x TC is super tempting, but the 2nd 2x would be totally redundant.

Stan43 wrote in post #12950361
Shoot ISO 400 1/250 F8 in manual mode on a tripod with a 200mm lens. You'll get a good picture. You have to crop in pp.

will try this once i get a tripod that can handle the weight (sold my old tripod, new tripod to arrive tomorrow)

jvk wrote in post #12950278
This is a shot i took with a 200mm and a 2xTC so 400mm on a 7D.

Yesterday i bought a m42 set. Convertor EOS to m42, a 500mm f8 lens, a 3xTC and a 2xTC. I didn't have a clear sky at night so can't shoot the moon just yet. 2500mm baby.

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that's the shot i want to get, but am also curious (but not enough to buy such a set) on what you can get with your new setup

mike cabilangan wrote in post #12950434
not yet, but was considering a small crop cam anyway, i could move it up the wishlist if it would give me a better pic with it's 18mp 1.6 crop vs. 21mp FF.

double 2x TC is super tempting, but the 2nd 2x would be totally redundant.

This is Canon 400 F/5.6, Kenko 1.4x, Tamron 2x, 7D:

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The moon's in bright sunlight, but it reflects only 4% of the light falling on it. This makes it about 2 stops lower than an 18% card in the Sunny-16 rule.... so about f/8 for 1/100 sec at ISO 200 should work fine.

When selecting your iso / aperture / exposure, don't forget that the moon is moving through the sky. Assuming you're using a 7D or similar imaging chip, you can get away with about 1/10 sec for a 500mm, 1/20 sec for a 1000 mm and 1/30 sec for a 1500 mm. A 5D2 will allow slightly longer exposures.

The moon appears to have a disc that's half a degree across. At the image plane, this translates to
200 mm 1.8 mm
500 mm 4.5 mm
1000 mm 9.0 mm
1500 mm 13.5 mm

There is not much colour present in the moon but it has been recorded. Set your camera's white balance to sunlight.

You should use magnified live view to achieve focus manually. It's usually better to focus on a bright star than on the moon itself.

You might find it most effective to record the images using DPP and then process them using Registax (which is free.) Registax will let you improve the image quality by allowing you to discard atmospheric turbulence.

If you're interested, you can join this group on Yahoo

mike cabilangan wrote in post #12950434
it just so happened that i was on a mountain top and it looked like the moon was a tiny bit closer

Love it!

You can look into a lower end telescope with a T-mount converter.

Telescope or mirror lens will be the most cost-effective way to shoot the moon exclusively.

Just keep in mind a crop camera won't get you any closer than a full frame, it will just crop out some of the night sky for you.

n0w0rries wrote in post #12953422
Just keep in mind a crop camera won't get you any closer than a full frame, it will just crop out some of the night sky for you.

For some reason I just can't wrap my head around this concept. I've tried