mharvey

Full Moon is tomorrow night, but with the unpredictable weather we've had around here, I decided to shoot some samples tonight - just in case tomorrow doesn't cooperate.
***The darkening at top left is not an exposure problem...it's the small remaining bit of the Earth's shadow, since we're not quite at FULL MOON.

I'm only posting two. This is to simply show that anyone planning to shoot Moon pics should know that, above 2800mm, the lunar image is cropped on that small sensor (Top Photo).
Backing off to 2600mm gives enough "breathing room" to crop for effect (Bottom Photo)...the image will actually fit the frame at 2800mm but I was shooting on a flimsy, hard to handle, tripod and just got frustrated trying to center the image and hit 2800mm at the same time!

Neither of these shots are what I would classify as "keepers". I let the camera do the calculations on "Program". The 3000mm is at 1/200sec f/8...the 2600mm is 1/200sec f/7.1. Both iso100.
I would normally shoot at 1/500sec or faster to help with sharpness when shooting through turbulent "seeing". If the weather cooperates tomorrow night, I will shoot manually and post some (hopefully better) images.
(And have my "real" tripod available!)

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DougS Loc: Central Arkansas

Nice photos. The problem with the tripod may be due to when zoomed in close on the moon, the moon actually moves quite fast. I found this out with a small telescope. Good luck.

mharvey

Thanks for the response, I know what you mean...but no - this was a P.O.S. tripod (I was at a friend's house, using some Walmart masterpiece she had)! :)
I have a heavy-duty Pro tripod and a couple of mediums at home. I'll use one of those tomorrow. Also have several telescopes, including a 28" reflector...you wanna' see the moon move fast, try THAT! Fortunately, it's equipped with digital Go-To and tracking. So, on really still nights (excellent "seeing") it's possible to have whatever object you're observing remain centered even at up to 1,400X! (What is that? Roughly 70,000mm?).
That's as high as the atmospheric turbulence has ever allowed me to go and still retain a bright, decent image...but those are rare nights!

I could mount the camera on one of the scopes and solve vibration and rotational issues completely...but all I'm trying to do is see what the camera is capable of in its' most simplistic form.

agillot

do the same shots when the moon is about 1/4 size , much better .the smaller the crescent , the more contrast / details .

mharvey

Absolutely True. I had originally posted an early phase image (it’s on here somewhere).
Most of the non-astronomical friends I know have a fascination with the FULL Moon, which is why I shot those two.
As you can readily see, HUNDREDS of smaller craters practically disappear when the light during the full phase shines directly on them, as there is no shadow-contrast to make them stand out.
Hundreds more appear as white “dots” because their interior contains brighter material that acts like a mirror and are thus greatly overexposed in the same full sunlight.