Second attempt at photographing the moon

Bruce Williams · #1 (**permalink**) 22-04-2010, 10:34 PM

...well to be honest this is really my third attempt. I tried photographing the moon on 16th April when it was just a slim crescent - however the results were very disappointing.

Camera: Nikon D300 with Sigma 150-500mm OS lens set at 500mm. Settings: ISO200, 1/320s at f/9. I used autofocus and shot RAW.

Camera was on a tripod and this time I remembered to lock the mirror up and use cable release. PP in Adobe Camera Raw and CS3. The image has been reduced by about 40% for uploading to Image Library.

Suggestions always welcome:

Bruce

Tormentil · #2 (**permalink**) 22-04-2010, 11:38 PM

Nice one, Bruce.

Stinky Bob · #3 (**permalink**) 23-04-2010, 07:02 AM

That's a great shot, if there was a category below beginner then I am in it and I was wondering why you locked the mirror up!

pressld2 · #4 (**permalink**) 23-04-2010, 07:48 AM

It looks very crisp Bruce. Did you remember to switch off the IS? It's always best not to use it when tripod mounted otherwise the IS is trying to compensate for non-existent lens movements which results in a very slight softening of the final image. Not that there's any evidence of that in this shot - very crisp!

Dave P.

Bruce Williams · #5 (**permalink**) 23-04-2010, 08:33 AM

Cheers Ben

.

Thanks Bob. The mirror on a DSLR is used to reflect the image upwards so that it can be seen through the viewfinder (via a prism). Unfortunately the mirror blocks the light from reaching the sensor so it has to be flipped up immediately prior to the shutter firing. When the camera is tripod mounted the mirror can induce vibration as it flips up - just at the worst possible time - because the shutter fires immediately after the mirror flips. This could result in a tiny amount of blur softening the photographic image. By locking the mirror up (after first framing and focusing your subject) the photographer can allow time (a few seconds) for any vibration to die down before firing the shutter using a cable release.

Thanks for the good advice Dave. In this instance I did remember to switch off image stabilisation although I have forgotten in the past. As I'm new to this type of photography I wrote myself a check list of camera settings that I'll use and modify until I feel confident that I won't overlook something.

Next step is to try shooting a large number of frames and stacking them via Registax (I'm gonna have to learn how to use this softwre first though

).

Bruce

Stinky Bob · #6 (**permalink**) 23-04-2010, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Williams

Cheers Ben

.

Thanks Bob. The mirror on a DSLR is used to reflect the image upwards so that it can be seen through the viewfinder (via a prism). Unfortunately the mirror blocks the light from reaching the sensor so it has to be flipped up immediately prior to the shutter firing. When the camera is tripod mounted the mirror can induce vibration as it flips up - just at the worst possible time - because the shutter fires immediately after the mirror flips. This could result in a tiny amount of blur softening the photographic image. By locking the mirror up (after first framing and focusing your subject) the photographer can allow time (a few seconds) for any vibration to die down before firing the shutter using a cable release.

Bruce

Ahh right thanks Bruce -

Red Squirrel · #7 (**permalink**) 24-04-2010, 07:26 PM

That's a great picture Bruce. I'm always trying to get a better shot of the moon but mine aren't as good as yours.
As a matter of interest why did you shoot auto focus and not manual?

Bruce Williams · #8 (**permalink**) 24-04-2010, 08:12 PM

Hi Red Squirrel - Thanks for your nice comments.

I used a mix of manual and auto on my first attempt at shooting the moon a few weeks back (27th March) and to be honest the autofocus shots turned out as sharp as the manual focussed ones - see this posting: First go at photographing the moon

This time I took around 100 shots altogether using auto about 90% of the time. In fact I only took a few manually focused shots to see if it might result in sharper images - and it didn't.

As yet I haven't tried using the D300's liveview feature to manually focus. It provides a useful magnification feature so could be worth a try next time.

I took a look at your moon shots in the Image Library. The image you posted in Jan shows a lot of good detail. I see you were using a Canon EOS 50D - what lens were you using?

Bruce

Red Squirrel · #9 (**permalink**) 25-04-2010, 06:46 PM

Do you know it never entered my head to use auto focus Bruce.

I will certainly try it next time. I use the live view but I don't have a very steady hand. Thanks for the tip.
I used a Canon 100- 400 4.5- 5.6.

Bruce Williams · #10 (**permalink**) 26-04-2010, 03:11 PM

Hi Red Squirrel - You mention not having a very steady hand.....

You may already do this RS, however just in case....I strongly recommend using a tripod and a cable (or remote) release for shooting the moon. If you don't have a cable or remote you might try using your camera's self timer. This eliminates blur cased by vibration when the shutter button is pressed.

Bruce