Camera Labs

Would Mirror lock up, help reduce vibration for lunar {or any high power} photography?
I watched Gordons Lunar shoot video,dont think he mentioned mirror lock up.

Thanks for any help.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwfli ... adanbrood/

Hi TZ2,

I would say yes. The chances are you are working at a very long focal length and that, unless you are fortunate enough to have a telescope and mounting built like a tank, the movement of the mirror may cause unwanted vibration. I can turn the question around and ask why wouldn't you use mirror lockup as it only takes a few seconds to set up. You also need to use either a remote release or the camera's timer as well, as pressing the shutter button by hand is a non-starter.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Hi Bob and thankyou for your reply.
Ive only just bought my first DSLR {Nikon D40} and Im very much a novice at photography and a complete novice at astrophotography.

I will be using a 560mmFL TeleVue Oracle 3 APO telescope on a very sturdy Alt Az tripod.
I will definately take your advice about the self timer.

I realize THE most important factor is the seeing conditions at the time.

My question was probably very basic but as explained Im new to all this and I wanted to get the best advice.

Thankyou.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwfli ... adanbrood/

I tried with and without lockup, and haven't been able to detect a difference on my set up. Seeing conditions are very much limiting for me I would comment that continuous shooting gives slightly worse results. I do suspect in that case the vibrations do build up between shots.

I do echo the recommendation of the remote release. It's faster than using the timer, and if you get a generic one off ebay it costs practically nothing.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Thanks Popo.
I think Nikon do one for about £15 might go with that one.

Ive been into astronomy for about 30 years and I know how patient you have to be.
Might give a blue sky shot a try.
Ive found that dawn time is consistantly the steadiest for seeing conditions.

Thanks.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwfli ... adanbrood/

Let me know how you get on as im interested in gettign into this!

Good luck

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Nikon D80
18-55mm VR
Slik Tripod

Yeah if you shoot Nikon definitely get the $15 remote. I've used it many times for many different purposes and it's been really handy. It was so cheap that I couldn't justify not buying it.

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I've never tried dawn. My ideal time to wake up is when the sun starts to move down.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Dawn is generally considered by most amateur astromers {actual observers} to be the best time.

Are you a Vampire?

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwfli ... adanbrood/

Nope, just a night person with a day job

With the days getting longer again, I don't think I'm going to get much of a chance to try this...

_________________
Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

In your more experienced opinions... is a summer night sky better then a winter night sky for photographs?

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Nikon D80
18-55mm VR
Slik Tripod

Winter skies are obviously darker longer and some of the big constellations are out like Orion.

The Moon tends to be quite low in the Summer months, particularly full moons.

You sometimes find the best seeing conditions {steadiest atmospheres} are when night and day temperatures are as equal as possible.

The main thing about Astronomy is patience as you"re always at the mercy of the weather and the seeing conditions but,if its clear and seeing is unsteady for high powered lunar viewing it will usualy be fine for low power wide angle shots of clusters and nebulae and glaxies etc.

Deep sky fans hate the moon as it washes out all the faint detail in nebulae etc.

A very good site to join if youre interested in Astrophotography would be www.cloudynights.com

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwfli ... adanbrood/

Thanks for you help. and for the link i will have a look now . starting to get excited about the astro photography. It never crossed my mind when i first got my camera, but now i think it will be priority for me once i get organized.

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Nikon D80
18-55mm VR
Slik Tripod

Just bought the little Nikon remote,its excellent.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwfli ... adanbrood/

Hi TZ2,

I have been experimenting on Moon for quite sometime. I use my 6 inch Newtonian attached to my Canon400D. However the scopes alt-az mount is not quite sturdy, even then I am able to get some sharp images of the moon using both the remote and mirror lock up at the same time.

Here is an image that i took (its a stack though..)





But sometimes, even the smallest disturbance like jumping or running beside the scope while in eye-piece projection method def shows the vibration through view finder...

Just a suggestion if you donot have a solid mount for ur scope and cam:

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/ ... 56-mt2.jpg
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/ ... 52-mt1.jpg

I have a similar construction where the refractor + cam are tightly attached on a tough wooden plank, which is then mounted on my tripod. This works cool.

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Phani Kumar

60mm Refractor,
150mm Newtanion Reflector,
18-55 mm Kit Lens, 55-250mm, M42 MC Helios 77M-4 50mm F1.8
Canon 400D.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phani_astronomy/