nothing better to do

[raymo]

I was curious to see how a kit Canon 55-250mm would work on the moon
using both autofocus and image stabilisation, and hand held [nothing to lean against]. Nearest I could get to good exposure was 1/4000th @ f/8, ISO 800.
This is as it came out of the camera, except for huge cropping. The hardest bit was holding the moon over an autofocus point.
raymo

[xelasnave]

Good one Raymo.
I did similar before the eta run.
But I took a few with the old canon. 70 to 300 lens and hand held but I leaned on a post. I went 2000 shutter and 1600 iso did not keep the registsx stacked image however but wasnt bad all things considered.

[leon]

Not a bad effort Raymo, I have seen worse, with using top end equipment.

Leon

[xelasnave]

Well come on Leon you have a go.
We can have a competition and see who can get the best hand held Moon shot if the clouds permit.
Alex

[xelasnave]

Here is mine.
I re stacked them and did all that I could in gimp using the colour adjustments to bring out detail then desaturated the thing to romove the wild pinks and greens.

But the message is for folk to have a go...imagine if either of us used a tripod.
I did not even use a focuser mask just eyeballed it thru the view finder as there is no image display on that old canon...at least that I know of.

Anyways Raymo you clearly are ahead on results.

alex

[ChrisV (Chris)]

Great!

But now anyone will think they can do astrophotography with just a DSLR !!!!!!

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by ChrisV

Great!

But now anyone will think they can do astrophotography with just a DSLR !!!!!!

Well you can or even a mobil phone.I bet you could even use one of those little pin hole cameras.

But you know that and thanks for drawing attention.

Back when the dslr came along it was the ducks gutz.

I wanted one so bad...I used to get cheap digitals and pull them apart and put the insides into little balsa wood boxes with a ep fitting fixed into the arrangement...only did short exposures but it was better than holding a little 2 meg cam at the ep...which is how I started out on the Moon.

Getting my meade lpi was big time...not that it mattered as I had no idea how to ficus it properly and Jupiter shots were terrible looking back.

And then a canon 300d...6 meg..$2200 and $120 for an enormous 1 gig memory card....and my first wide field using auto focus the stars were the size of match heads but heck I had arrived...and when I actually went manual the wide fields started to really look good.

Heck now you can buy a scope mount and a camera for that money.

My next game may be a deep sky hand held...max iso and shutter speed and see what happens...say at 70 mm fl or around that on Orion unless it goes before the clouds give in..Eta maybe.

I have no doubt one could get reasonable results with a static tripod...all this will get folk interested...and when hooked we can then tell them about equatorial mounts that cost more than their car, triplet scopes and cooled cameras.

Fortunately I am still happy to get something anything even if the quality is bad and the clours are off it gives me a buzz and fortunately I am no longer a perfectionist ( a crippling curse in the past) so I can live with less than...

alex

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

I'm surprised you could get anything at 1/4000th - iso 800. Even the moon.

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by jenchris

I'm surprised you could get anything at 1/4000th - iso 800. Even the moon.

When I went out with the camera I thought around 250 would do it but I went faster and faster because of the brightness and it does not surprise me that Raymo got to go so fast.

You should have a go it certainly was fun I thought and it is a nice little challenge that takes little time really.

alex

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Reckon it's ok just to use a 300mm lens sometimes -
I have a really nic moon one somewhere but darned if I can find it - this is three minutes of 30seconds stacked - mount is a skywatcher star adventurer....

[xelasnave]

Good one.
I have a 70 to 300 cheap canon lens that all the recent stuff was done with and although not that flash sure was fun.

I awoke this morning not a cloud in the sky and now....so I decided to go after some birds...we have had black cockies, all sorts of parrotts evne had crows comiing in which is so rare (going to set up a gifting tray now) but sitting outside with the camera no birds.
Even the horses have disappeared.
alex
alex

[raymo]

Thanks for the responses everyone, I didn't think it would generate so much
interest.
Jennifer, even 1/3200th was well over exposed. I always use high shutter speeds on the moon, as I work on the theory that at those speeds the
exposure is over before the mirror and shutter vibrations really get going.
Alex, you'd have to establish some ground rules for your proposed
competition. Mine was a single frame, so would stacking be permitted?
I used image stabilisation, not everyone has that on their particular lens.
Would leaning on something be permitted? and how would that be policed?
Just kidding.
raymo

[xelasnave]

Hi Raymo

Yes we need strict rules that is how humans stuff up something that starts out as fun.

Leaning will be permitted if the item used is a natural material...trees are ok but not wood posts for example..drugs not permitted except maybe a scotch to steady a little.but nothing major to leave the hands tremble free..and how to confirm rules around leaning???..an additional photo must be submitted and time stamped showing the photographer leaning on permitted leaning items and co signed by a witness who has been registered one week in advance with the committee.

Camers are not to be lighter than a particular weight so no advantage gained by using light weight specials with carbon fibre bodies.
Catagories willl be made for various iso and shutter speed.



Probably a competition is not where we should go.

But I may get more serious in so far as to make a focusser mask and at least see what the nikon can do... I would like to see if I could manage Orion for example.

I look at various wide fields that come up with what is for me exceptionally short exposure times when I look back to my hour long plus efforts of a decade ago and say anything must be possible... so I would like to see what you could do with crazy high iso etc... maybe have to use a static tripod...and I looked at a new one...it was $650 and I really dont know who would pay that for what I saw...but it put me off looking at any others..

Hopefully someone will see what you have done and decide that they might just go outside and give it a go.

I have been thinking to take up cloud photography in the hope that clouds may be responsive to reverse psychology ..as it seems whatever I decide to photograph disappears.

At xmas I got a hint I could photograph above the clouds in the distance from here as I could see activity above way in the distance and presumably out to sea...but it occurred to me to get photos of electical disturbances above the clouds but even that prospect has not presented this time...I would love to try getting some sprite like stuff and although it seems one needs a special camera I was inspired by some thing I saw where a chap managed a sprite with a normal camera.

I wonder what is on TV?

alex

[raymo]

Alex, you're a gem; you should have formed a comedy quartet with Billy Connolly, Robin Williams, and Ross Noble; it would be a sellout everywhere it was staged. Scatter gun comedy at its finest. You should write a column in a weekend publication, so everybody goes to work on Monday morning with a smile on their face.
You don't have to pay a fortune to get an adequate tripod. Mine was $65 in Vietnam; photo gear is not particularly cheap there, so it would probably cost about the same if you found one on ebay or elsewhere. It has a bubble level on the tripod itself, and one on the tilt head, and it winds up and down with a handle, and is pretty stable.
Weifeng WT 3650. max. camera platform height 1.75m Quick release for camera. Hook at bottom to attach a steadying weight to.
raymo

[xelasnave]

Thank you for your kind words and suggestion Raymo.
I had the guy in the camera shop at Hornsby set one aside which was on special months ago but forgot to go back...but I think his special on mounts go all year...but they were good so I will get one from him.
alex

[leon]

Alex,I was not having a go at Raymo, far from it, it was more of a compliment on the good result just using a hand held camera,
That is the way i read it.


Leon

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by leon

Alex,I was not having a go at Raymo, far from it, it was more of a compliment on the good result just using a hand held camera,
That is the way i read it.


Leon

Leon I never thought such a thing I would not even suggest it if I thought it and I would not my thoughts are pure.

No I was merely trying to encourage you to have a go.

Its a bit of fun and easy...we could make it more fun by drinking half a bottle of scotch and seeing what we can do.

I am sincerely sorry not to have been clearer my fault entirely I should have been more encouraging.

Alex

[xelasnave]

It is so easy to think one needs everything on side an go for the perfect capture but even when we have reached higher levels we can still use this sort of approach to have a little taste...I am out there tonight with the 80 mm running at 30 seconds and 800 iso mainly because my legs got so bad I had to rest rather than push on and set up the auto guide and given the Moon is up I doubt I can get much longer exposures...anyways thats my excuse for taking a break.
The mozzies are very savage but I have not killed a single one.
I had to use insect spray I hope it doesnt hurt any of the poor little things.
And I knew I should not have used spray it has attacked the plastic on my new head lamp..and is it a little ripper..bright white but has red and a disco function so hopefullt my legs recover and I can do some moves.
All good.
Alex

[xelasnave]

Anyways I am going out for some hand held shots sitting down which is a new division of the hand held competition...like the para Olympics...well for me.
Seems like part of me is in hell...mmm what am I missindont feel it until I stop.
Alex

[raymo]

If it helps at all, I read Leon's post as a compliment, and I read Alex's as
suggesting that Leon joined in and posted a moon pic. Just shows how
people can read things differently.
raymo