What's a good lens for moon photos?

SeaBreeze · Feb 24, 2005

Can anyone suggest a good telephoto lens for moon photography which would allow me to get relatively close while retaining clarity without breaking my pocket book?

I have also considered a 2x teleconverter which might work well with my camera, but I'm curious and more interested in what some of you think about actual lenses for moon shots.

I have a Konica Minolta Z3 which does well enough with it's 12x (420mm) optical zoom for just about everything terrestrial and also does decent moon shots, but I want to get as close as I can to the moon. If I use the 4x digital zoom (ack!) then I can get much closer in the 48x (1680mm or so) range, but as we all know that means I lose clarity and detail.

Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Rogue Monk · Feb 24, 2005

The thing is that even with a 600mm lens you will only fill roughly 15% of the vertical frame. If you're only posting this to the web, then you could crop in and still get a fair sized image.

If you want to fill the frame with the moon (1500mm will get you 50% vertical frame fill), you should look into digiscoping. That means attaching your camera to the back of a telescope. You can usually do this with some sort of a t-adapter. And for that, you'll have to research for your individual camera.

SeaBreeze · Feb 24, 2005

Yeah, I was tossing around the idea of getting a telescope, but didn't want to have to shell out an arm and a leg to get something decent when a lens would probably cost me less (I would think). I don't know, I guess it depends on the lens or telescope I'd be looking at getting.

Would I really need to get an expensive telescope just to get me close enough or would one of those lower end Tasco telescopes work just fine? You know, the ones you see at retail shops (Target and Walmart for example or camera shops) for between 100-300 bucks? Or do you have any specific models that you can suggest?

Thanks by the way for the info.

DocFrankenstein · Feb 24, 2005

I have a 900mm f/8 mirror telescope I got for 60 bucks... so that less than a decent UV filter.

Another 20-25 to attach the camera to it and you should be ok.

Cheers

SeaBreeze · Feb 24, 2005

Sweet! I can certainly handle that price range.

Have any sample shots you took using that combination of equipment?

ksmattfish · Feb 24, 2005

NASA recommends...

a variety of Carl Zeiss lenses (50-250 mm)

Of course, the moon photography they are talking about is while you are on the moon itself

http://www.hasselblad.com/company/HBSpaceItem.asp?secId=584&itemId=534

slow 2 snap · Feb 26, 2005

I use an Olympus OM-1 35mm SLR mounted on a 1200mm f/8 Newton
telescope using eyepiece projection through a 50mm eyepiece (no camera lens is needed).

The telescope is mounted on a simple Dobson mount made from plywood
and the telescope I use is made from parts I got off of ebay.

The total cost for the telescope was about $225.