Moon 14 June - Nikon D40

[prova]

1 x 1/250 exposure @ ISO200

not able to get it super-crisp like others but I've only had a handful attempts at the Moon so comments welcome.

[Dennis]

That looks very nice to me. I assume it was taken at the prime focus of the Vixen 115S? The shutter speed of 1/250 should be sufficient to minimise the softening effects of any vibrations from mirror slap, so I guess the other main reason for any softness would be focusing.

I have always found it difficult to estimate the best point of focus using the viewfinder of an SLR or DSLR, but find that Remote Live View on the Canon 40D has fixed this.

You could probably crop the image around the lunar disc to avoid the “wasted” black space n the image.

Cheers

Dennis

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Damn nice attempt. I like the subtle colour that has come through.

Definitely crop it a bit, at least then you'll have a larger image of the moon to upload and still keep within the 200K image limit.

[prova]

Thanks guys, so really it comes down to a focus issue getting it nice and crisp?
I'm pleased with this attempt but would like to get it sharper.

*Have also replaced with a cropped version*

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

[Matty P (Matt)]

Nice image, Mark. Well done.

Having a live view function to assist on focusing especially on the Moon would make huge difference.

Keep at it!

[AlexN]

With the focus. what I tend to do, is take a shot, if its a bit soft, rack the focuser in a TINY bit, take another shot etc etc etc... until im left with a sharpness im happy with, then lock the focuser, and start fiddling with ISO/Shutter speeds...

EDIT : what kind of post processing did you run over the image before posting?

Heres your pic + unsharp mask + maximum entropy deconvolution... perhaps a bit sharper on the edge of the dark limb... (resized + recropped to get it to 200k..)

[prova]

Originally Posted by AlexN

With the focus. what I tend to do, is take a shot, if its a bit soft, rack the focuser in a TINY bit, take another shot etc etc etc... until im left with a sharpness im happy with, then lock the focuser, and start fiddling with ISO/Shutter speeds...

EDIT : what kind of post processing did you run over the image before posting?

Heres your pic + unsharp mask + maximum entropy deconvolution... perhaps a bit sharper on the edge of the dark limb... (resized + recropped to get it to 200k..)

thanks Alex, that looks much better .. I'll give it a shot next time

[TrevorW]

Like it well done