The crescent moon

[Grandpa Ron]

Luck and a cloudless clear night allowed me to try a shot at the crescent moon.

My Canon T6 Rebel with it 55mm lens did not give very satisfactory results, even with the telephoto converter lens. However a lens adapter and my old 35mm Pentax 210mm zoom, was a great improvement. I do not recall the digital to 35 mm lens factor but I believe it is a bit over 300mm equivalent.

I also discovered that no matter how carefully I push the shutter there was some camera shake. But, a 2 second shutter delay took care of that. The lens was manually focused, set to f22, 1/100th second, ISO 100, 2 second shutter delay.

 

[RonAlv]

Luck and a cloudless clear night allowed me to try a shot at the crescent moon.

My Canon T6 Rebel with it 55mm lens did not give very satisfactory results, even with the telephoto converter lens. However a lens adapter and my old 35mm Pentax 210mm zoom, was a great improvement. I do not recall the digital to 35 mm lens factor but I believe it is a bit over 300mm equivalent.

I also discovered that no matter how carefully I push the shutter there was some camera shake. But, a 2 second shutter delay took care of that. The lens was manually focused, set to f22, 1/100th second, ISO 100, 2 second shutter delay.
View attachment 171415

I tried the same thing last night. I put my camera on a tripod, set a 2 second delay, and triggered my camera through my smart phone. Sony Cameras has the ability to trigger the camera.

 

[RonAlv]

OK, lets try this again.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Ron Alv,

That is a really great shot. Using the phone to trigger the camera make it totally hands free.

I am working on a camera/telescope adapter but I may just buy one. It should give me a bigger image to work with. I might even be able to chase the planets.

 

[Winona]

There is so much detail! Nice.

 

[TCampbell]

Luck and a cloudless clear night allowed me to try a shot at the crescent moon.

My Canon T6 Rebel with it 55mm lens did not give very satisfactory results, even with the telephoto converter lens. However a lens adapter and my old 35mm Pentax 210mm zoom, was a great improvement. I do not recall the digital to 35 mm lens factor but I believe it is a bit over 300mm equivalent.

I also discovered that no matter how carefully I push the shutter there was some camera shake. But, a 2 second shutter delay took care of that. The lens was manually focused, set to f22, 1/100th second, ISO 100, 2 second shutter delay.
View attachment 171415

Focus is a little off -- and that's tough to see through the camera. I typically flip to "live view" mode which will let you magnify the view (it wont change the image the camera captures, but it lets you magnify part of the image) and this lets you refine the focus.

The vibration issue is always tricky. I sometimes even use the 10-second timer instead of the 2-second timer. If the camera has "mirror-up" mode (first button press raises the mirror, second button press takes the exposure) it helps even more because you don't even get the vibration from the mirror-slap.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Campbell,

Yes you are correct even with live view getting a good focus is hard with bi-focals. It also did not help that the zoom lens from my Pentax is over 40 years old and has a small mold blotch on the edge. However, I think I will try the longer delay and the mirror up.

We did have another clear night so I tried a half moon shot.

Thanks for the tips I will try them on the next clear night.

 

[RonAlv]

Ron Alv,

That is a really great shot. Using the phone to trigger the camera make it totally hands free.

I am working on a camera/telescope adapter but I may just buy one. It should give me a bigger image to work with. I might even be able to chase the planets.

This was shot with my Sigma (Bigma) 150-600mm |C lens. I did recently purchase a GH10 Professional Gimbal Head just for this lens, and what a difference it made for this massive lens.

 

[RonAlv]

Shot this last week as well.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

I did a half moon shot with my 300 mm lens a shown below.

As pointed out, nothing beats big glass for this kind of photography, so I cleaned up my old telescope and ordered a camera to scope mount. We will see what improvement that will make.

 

[TCampbell]

I did a half moon shot with my 300 mm lens a shown below.

As pointed out, nothing beats big glass for this kind of photography, so I cleaned up my old telescope and ordered a camera to scope mount. We will see what improvement that will make.

Depending on the scope this might make things either much easier ... or much harder. What type of scope do you have and what is the focal length?

 

[Grandpa Ron]

I have two telescopes. The first is a typical beginners refractor with a 60 mm lens and 700 mm focal length. I can use it as a prime focus lens. The adapter will also allow you to view through an eye piece also. I prefer prime focus. But I have only shot landscapes and it had been cloudy here.

The second is a homemade Dobson/Newtonian with a 6 inch mirror shown below. It has a focal length of 48 " (about 1200 mm). I have not tried it yet. The Dobson's are supposed to need and extension tube or Barlow to focus. I am not sure am ready to tackle that long a lens yet.

You really do not need a "light bucket" to capture the moon.

 

[K9Kirk]

Ron Alv,

That is a really great shot. Using the phone to trigger the camera make it totally hands free.

I am working on a camera/telescope adapter but I may just buy one. It should give me a bigger image to work with. I might even be able to chase the planets.

You may already be aware but there are remote shutter releases for fairly cheap. I got a pretty nice one for $32 and they come cheaper but from what I've seen, with less features.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

I finally bought an adapter to make my telescope a prime lens. As the telephoto folks will tell you it is not so easy as it sounds.

Still if you are patient and use a long delay time or remote shutter release it does work.

This 3/4 moon was shot at 1/20th and an ISO of 200. I do not know the f number that a 60mm dia. 700 mm telescope lens provides. This is "as shot" and cropped square.

Just one more way to have fun with your camera.

 

[K9Kirk]

I finally bought an adapter to make my telescope a prime lens. As the telephoto folks will tell you it is not so easy as it sounds.

Still if you are patient and use a long delay time or remote shutter release it does work.

This 3/4 moon was shot at 1/20th and an ISO of 200. I do not know the f number that a 60mm dia. 700 mm telescope lens provides. This is "as shot" and cropped square.

Just one more way to have fun with your camera.

Not bad but I would be curious to see how it would turn out if set to 1/125 or 1/250 on ISO 100. It seems really soft at the lower setting of 1/20.