Newbie

[Visionary]

After an extraordinarily protracted period of aimless stuffing around, I finally managed to get my scope outside tonight with the Nikon attached.
The photos were taken at Prime focus with an exposure (I think) of around 1/25 @ ISO 320 Nikon 7200 Williams Optical Zenithstar 71 Apo doublet. The only piece of equipment that reflects my skill levels was the $15 Ebay x5 Barlow that I inadvertantly placed into the optical train.... I will blame the Barlow!
Clear the gear cries out for kinder treatment, driving a F1 car though a School Zone comes to mind.
In any case, I am sticking with my defence, they are my first shots.

[raymo]

Where are the images David?
raymo

[Visionary]

Raymo, I cannot see how to add the images. I haqve just hosed down the patio in hope of cooling it a little for tonight.
How do I add the images?

[Somnium]

if you scroll down in there is an an "additional options" section, go to manage attachments and then upload

[Visionary]

Cheers

[raymo]

David, firstly, DSLRs are not the camera of choice for lunar work, owing to the mirror and shutter vibrations that slightly blur the image. This can
be reduced by using the highest possible shutter speed your scope's
aperture will allow, using whatever ISO that demands, [probably around 1000 or 1600]. A very high shutter speed allows the shutter to open and close before the vibrations get underway.
raymo

[Visionary]

Cheers, beginnings are always difficult. If tomorrow is good I will be out again with a higher shutter speed and ISO. I shot this at about 125 with an ISO of 100. I thought, erroneously that a long exposure and low ISO was best, as in terrestrial photography. That was tonights effort, a little horrid so no post

[Somnium]

don't get discouraged, it is all about learning from each shot, if you only posted images that were perfect, you would never post images. each shot is a learning opportunity. not a bad effort for your first attempt.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup:Those are a pretty good effort for first attempt , my advice is grab a better 3x GSO ( minimum ) barlow , as I see it all the problems with these are induced by that E/bay 5x barlow as the scope and camera are of good quality .

Raymo , I find my iStar 127mm f8 achromat and Sony alpha DSLR take awesome luna shots , the larger one is at 2000mm using a 2x TV powermate , and the smaller one is native 1000mm not to much wrong with these I think .
The 3rd shot is probably my best , this is only cropped and resized , taken with the above gear at 1000mm .

They are untouched .

Visionary , I hope this gives you something to shoot for ( :D pun intended ) as shooting the moon is very satisfying .
Focus is the hardest part I find , but with todays cameras we just shoot , focus , shoot focus , over and over , taking notes and measurements on the focuser and after a while you will learn the point of best focus , it is not as hard as it sounds , also don't use the cameras screen as they all look good when seen on the small camera screen , download into your computer and view them on the big screen and you will see subtle differences in each shot , best of all just enjoy it .

Brian.

[raymo]

Brian, I didn't say that lunar work cannot or should not be done with a DSLR, I have some good stuff I have obtained with my 1100D. I said
that it is not the camera of choice, most of the best lunar images being
captured with video stacking, as I am sure you are aware.
raymo

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: All good mate , I would love to see a few of yours .
Brian.

[raymo]

Hi Brian, here is an early image of a half moon, and three of my first
attempts at eyepiece projection using the Seben 8-24mm zoom. [ it
screws directly into the camera's T-ring].
The first one is best at 50 or 75% screen, and the others seem to be best viewed at 75 or 100% screen. All single frames with the 1100D.
I think they're quite good for DSLR still images, but not nearly as good
as many video results seen around the forum. I must also point out that I only dabble in lunar occasionally.
raymo

Sorry David, I think we are hijacking your thread.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: Those are very good Raymo , its amazing what can be acheaved with basic gear these days .
I an sure David wont mind the hi-jacking :lol: , I only hope it gives him some inspiration .
Brian.

[jenchris]

Well early in the piece about 21.3.2010....I wanted to see what my 8" Meade could do and made up a piece of wood that my point and shoot would attach to my scope - basically a coaxial two sized hole and an elastic band
I took a few quick snaps and thought - well that seems to work and then went on to buy my first DSLR.
This is about the 5th exposure. I boosted the contrast slightly but didn't know how to do anything else and didn't have photoshop.

[raymo]

Very nice Jennifer, shows the benefit of your scope's greater focal length,
not having to use lots of glass to achieve that image scale.
raymo