The Lunar Landscape @ 2000mm

[TheFantasticG]

Still trying to figure out this prime focus thing...


#1 - original and uncropped

2011-12-30 - Astrophotography-24.jpg by The Fantastic G, on Flickr


#2 - cropped

2011-12-30 - Astrophotography-8.jpg by The Fantastic G, on Flickr


#3 - cropped

2011-12-30 - Astrophotography-5.jpg by The Fantastic G, on Flickr


#4 - really cropped

2011-12-30 - Astrophotography-25.jpg by The Fantastic G, on Flickr


Still trying to get the hang of it. Thanks for looking.

 

[cgipson1]

cool shots! #2 and #3 are fairly sharp.. keepers! The others are soft...I even checked them out on Flickr

 

[TheFantasticG]

Yup. Thats me learning how to focus the damn thing using the knob on the telescope and the lcd screen zoomed in.

 

[SCraig]

It's difficult and the moon is one of the more difficult. Keep in mind that depth of field is miles deep at that range. The biggest two problems I've found is that mirror movement shakes my telescope and the moon moves a lot faster than people think.

 

[TheFantasticG]

I was doing some pretty short exposures since it was so bright last night. It helps that I Had the telescope on the anti-vib pads, mirror lock up, and using a remote.

 

[SCraig]

I was doing some pretty short exposures since it was so bright last night. It helps that I Had the telescope on the anti-vib pads, mirror lock up, and using a remote.

That's what I do as well, all except for the vibration pads. My telescope tripod's head isn't that solid and when I put the camera on the back end it makes it really touchy. Mirror slap vibrates the tripod for longer than the exposure delay.



This one is probably about as good as any I've managed to get. It's 1/250 @ f/5 (my telescope's aperture) and ISO 800.

 

[Frequency]

One and two are awesome shots

 

[TheFantasticG]

What camera are you using, Craig?

Thanks, Freq.

 

[SCraig]

What camera are you using, Craig?

That one was shot with my D90 and a T-adapter,

 

[TheFantasticG]

Very nice. Never did get the chance to sport my D90 on a scope before I sold it off.

 

[480sparky45 44]

Try stacking multiple images.

 

[SCraig]

Very nice. Never did get the chance to sport my D90 on a scope before I sold it off.

Mine has a MB-D80 grip with 2 batteries so even without a lens it's no lightweight. Most of my other 'scope shots have been with my D60 because it's a lot lighter.

It's fun. I'm certainly not very good at it but I enjoy trying. One of these nights I'm going to stuff everything in the car and go somewhere really dark and see what I can see

 

[SCraig]

Try stacking multiple images.

That would certainly be better. How sensitive is the stacking software to different positions? The moon moves FAST. A few seconds is all you're going to get and the telescope will have to be shifted slightly which is going to make the images slightly different.

 

[TheFantasticG]

I'd have to have the auto guider to try stacking the moon. There's no way I could manually keep that thing in perfect position for a stack.