The Official Shoot the Moon Thread

Inspeqtor wrote in post #18135302
Nice job on both photos Roy!

Agreed. Good detail on the craters.

burnet44 wrote in post #18135080
attempt #597060543903930
cant seem to get things sharp

Hosted photo: posted by burnet44 in
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forum: Astronomy & Celestial

Try to take a picture of a half when it's directly to the south about an hour after sunset. I think the moon looks more interesting when the line of crater shadows is in the middle.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/m86V​dX

burnet44 wrote in post #18135080
attempt #597060543903930
cant seem to get things sharp

Hosted photo: posted by burnet44 in
./showthread.php?p=181​35080&i=i202640903
forum: Astronomy & Celestial

Are you using a tripod?
one shot, mirror lock up, center focus point w/autofocus on the Moon, cable release. macro adjust your lens with the 1.4 attached.

I prefer manual focus and using the magnifier to zoom in for critical focus, and always on a sturdy tripod.

It's hard to get a precise focus on a bright object like the moon or one of the planets. But you don't need any fancy techniques or equipment, either. I've learned that I can get a very sharp focus by doing it in stages. First, get a preliminary focus as best you can on a bright object, like the moon. When you get it as close as you can, move to a star, and repeat the focus. Then move to a dim star, and zoom in with live view to magnify the dim star and focus on it. Really dim stars won't show up in live view unless they are in precise focus and the live view zoomed in, so you have to work your way from bright to dim to get them so you can even see them in live view.

Once you have a dim star focused, leave the focus ring alone. Everything in space is at infinity. You can move the camera to the moon, or anything else in space, and it will all be in focus, too.

I can't believe a really high-end camera like the Canon EOS 7D Mark II doesn't have an articulated LCD screen. I tried to use a Nikon D40 for star shots, but breaking my neck trying to see the viewfinder and the LCD screen was making everything hard to do. I even tried to attach a mirror under the screen so I could get into a position where I could see the screen to see if I had it in focus. It didn't have live view, though, so all I could do was see the results of the shot. The fully-articulated screen was the primary reason I bought a Nikon D5200, and I've never regretted it. I can point the camera straight up, and still see the screen to focus in live view without any effort.

I'm in total agreement with your entire assessment. Getting a really stable tripod made the most difference in being able to focus without having the object race around all over the place while I tried to focus. Now, I use a video tripod with fluid-dampened head. I can focus with my setup at 850mm without ANY jiggle while I focus.

The Moon in its last quarter... 25 degrees above the eastern horizon.

Roy A. Rust wrote in post #18137371
The fully-articulated screen was the primary reason I bought a Nikon D5200, and I've never regretted it. I can point the camera straight up, and still see the screen to focus in live view without any effort.

The first time I had an articulating screen was when I bought my current Canon 60D. Now that I have it and have used it, I will never again own a camera without it! I love my articulating LCD screen!

I am also amazed Canon does not put it on all their high end bodies.

Roy A. Rust wrote in post #18137425
The Moon in its last quarter... 25 degrees above the eastern horizon.

Hosted photo: posted by Roy A. Rust in
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forum: Astronomy & Celestial

Nice!!!!!!

Took this picture this morning at 3:55AM

Nice and sharp

Capn Jack wrote in post #18140297
Nice and sharp

Thank you

Check you out

Nice work dude... how you finding the support bracket?

<tuffty/>

tuffty wrote in post #18140974
Check you out

Nice work dude... how you finding the support bracket?

<tuffty/>

The support bracket for me was a waist of money. I got a new much better tripod to really make a world of difference.