Camera Labs

Shot a couple ..dozens shots of the moon last night - almost full moon
but not quite, supposed to be Full tonight but no luck - too cloudy.

My first few was too blurry after i zoomed in.

Took me awhile to realised I was the one shaking though I had the camera on the tripod. So i set it to timer mode which was slightly more viewable but no way near comparable to shots from Bob or Gordon.

Comments ?

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Nikon D7000 and a bunch of Nikkors

Hi David,

Nice shot. I guess this was with your 55-200VR zoomed to 200mm. Did you allow the camera's autofocus to do its stuff or was this manual focus? My early experience suggests that autofocus isn't always the best option. Even if it gets the lens to the correct focus it might induce some wobbles of the camera on the tripod. If you can lock your mirror up that also helps reduce wobbles although at 200mm that may be overkill. Manual focus is the way to go, ideally by taking a series of trial shots and examining the magnified image on the camera's LCD to allow you to get the focus spot on.

I look forward to some more shots as you are able. The full moon can appear rather bland as you don't get those exaggerated shadows from the crater rims and mountain ranges from the oblique lighting near the terminator. Those shadows will shortly be reappearing though it will mean a few late night sessions as the moon wanes.

Bob.

P.S. The link behind you image appears to be broken. Clicking it produces a new page in my browser but nothing loads.

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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.

Thanks Bob,

Yes - all manual focus zoomed to 200mm.
The manual focusing may not be spot on for me since i have 2 bad eyes and squinting in the dark only makes things worse.

I have tested the link - seems okay on my safari browser.

Try This

Thanks for your time.

I'll try to remember to use the LCD more often.

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Nikon D7000 and a bunch of Nikkors

Hi David,

Thanks for the new link. I think you meant to type http://www.flickr.com/photos/14066734@N07/1433457692 rather than http://www.flickr.com/photos/14066734@N07/1433457692//url.

Anyway, I was able to have a look at the original and check out the EXIF data (using a Firefox Add-on). With an exposure of just 1/400th of a second you should have frozen out any seeing problems caused by atmospheric turbulence. Looking at a magnified copy of your 100% crop shows that you've got the focus virtually pixel perfect as well. Not easy to do. Good work.

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.

Thanks Bob for your kind words !
Huhh.. pixel perfect ? Lady luck must have been with me at the time

I was out a moment ago trying another go since the Full moon is now out at 'high noon' but clouds are making focusing difficult. Since abandoned.

Patience is the key- skill requirement for this field !

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Nikon D7000 and a bunch of Nikkors

Hi David, nice shots! As Bob says though, the full moon has very flat lighting without any shadows, so try also taking some during the other phases...