Tonight's Moon in Farnborough

[RachelC]

Finally had a chance to image the Moon tonight before bed time.

Dslr, single image sharpened and cropped.

Fstop 8.0, ISO 1600 and exposure was 1/250.

[Carole]

Very nice Rachel

Carole

[RachelC]

Thank you Carole. I am getting to grips with sharpening my focus on live view!!

[Kenny]

Well done Rachel.

[JohnP]

Looks good Rachel - what lens did you use? John

[RachelC]

Thank you Kenny and John.

I used a Canon lens at 250mm. Hence heavy cropping of the image.

Many thanks
Rachel

[JohnP]

Hi Rachel, I have a 85-250mm canon zoom I also took a few pics of moon on Monday night with it/ dslr. tripod, 1/125sec, f10 ISO 200 - for closeups 600mm + is definitely recommended. Actually you can get some nice details with careful focusing & the 250mm. Below is link to one of the 250mm pics straight out camera (jpeg).. Just use the live view X10 & focus on feature on terminator. Use timer delay 2 or 10 secs) & mirror lift if you have it to minimise vibration.

Cheers,  John

http://jpastronomy.co.uk/graphics/web/_MG_6967.JPG

[Mike]

Not bad Rachel for a start. It is a tad out of focus but you'll fix that with practise.

Fstop 8.0, ISO 1600 and exposure was 1/250.

Firstly, ISO 1600 is way too high for the moon. The moon is uber bright so use the LOWEST ISO setting you have so the image has the least amount of noise as possible. Then crank the F ratio up to a medium setting that gives you a nice image with a nice histogram without using long exposures this will increase sharpness also, especially if you are using a stock lens. Not critical if you have high quality glass. If your camera has mirror lock then use that, if not then take the picture with a remote or using the timer so you are not introducing vibrations by pressing the shutter button.

When focusing, use live view and then zoom in on the live view image as much as you can whilst looking at a high contrast object, e.g. one of those craters on the lower left edge would be perfect. Spend plenty of time getting the focus just right, don't rush it.

Once you are getting nice clean in focus images then start to look into taking multiple images and stacking them.

Pictures of the full moon or near full moon are never great as it has little contrast at that phase. Wait till it is a crescent then do some more pics, they will be much better looking.

Mike

[Kenny]

Really good advice Mike. A good reminder for myself also. Thanks.

[RachelC]

Thank you both for your advice and I have noted what you have said.

John
Your image is great. I do use a tripod but not the timer. I am still finding the live view focus so sensitive and a tiny touch throws it out of whack! And I have very little patience. I will focus on the terminator with the settings you have suggested. Question – what is mirror lift?
I will try again when the clouds go away.

Mike
Thank you as well for taking the time to reply with good advice also.
I will definitely bring the ISO down and adjust the f number accordingly when imaging the bright moon. I don't know if I am using a stock lens. Again, like John has mentioned, I don't know if I have a mirror lock...how will I know?
I do have an internal timer on the camera and a good sturdy tripod.
I will practice using the advice you have both given me regarding focus and settings and try not to get frustrated!! I do tend to rush it as I don't have the patience...

Carole and I had a go at stacking my moon pics. Will post it in a mo 
And next time I get a chance to take photos of the moon, I will have another go at multiple images to stack.

I agree with you about the brightness of the moon,  so beautiful to see but difficult to get any decent detail. I will await the crescent.
Thank you both again
Rachel

[Kenny]

Your camera has mirror lock. Menu - Custom Functions - Mirror Lockup - Enable.

[RachelC]

Ah, thanks Kenny.

I have only had the camera a couple of years...much like my Star Adventurer 

[Mike]

I do tend to rush it as I don't have the patience...

Patience is one thing you most definitely need to have or you will fail. For every image you see by the core astrophotographers on this forum there will be at least another 10 they have done that you never get to see due to things that have gone pear-shaped at some point during the process. Many hours are wasted. Many images end up being confined to the bin due to some kind of technical issue or user error.

You have to keep soldiering on.

[RachelC]

Thanks Mike

Yeah, this hobby is going to teach me patience for sure. I do look back and see my improvement but it is a steep learning curve.

But with lots of help and advice I receive from society members, I will definitely get better!

I love the comment about the wasted images going pear-shaped. You should see some of the rubbish pics I have taken. Yes, a lot of time wasted. But I have kept them all to see my progress.

I will keep at it as it is good fun... most of the time lol