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Disappointing Lunar Shots
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Jan 21, 2019 12:58:20   #
foxfirerodandgun Loc: Stony Creek, VA
 
We were blessed with clear skies, after a section of thin clouds passed by around 9:30 pm, but it was very cold & windy. However, with the exception of a couple decent shots of the moon before the eclipse began, all of my eclipse shots were very disappointing.

I started manual at ISO 100 - f/11 - 1/250 - focus @ infinity - spot metering - tripod mounted - cable release - live view - VR off, and from there during the eclipse went to ISO 200 & back to 100, from f/5.6 to f/16, from 1/80 to 1/500. With the exception of the pre-eclipse shots, nothing seemed to be anywhere close to being in sharp focus. I was somewhat hobbled because I only had a pan head and not a ball head, which as the moon rose and shifted in the sky, caused me to continually adjust the angle of the tripod/lens until I was actually on my knees in order to see the live view screen.

I suspect that I needed a much better lens than the Nikon 18-300mm - f/3.5-5.6 DX that I was using. Oh well, maybe next time I'll have a better lens and tripod setup, if I am still living. I look forward to seeing other Hoggers efforts.

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Jan 21, 2019 13:08:13   #
PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA
 
I have a ball head. The tripod had to be at maximum height. You still have to constantly adjust. In fact, when the moon was almost directly straight up, I had a devil of a time.

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Jan 21, 2019 13:14:36   #
foxfirerodandgun Loc: Stony Creek, VA
 
PHRubin wrote:
I have a ball head. The tripod had to be at maximum height. You still have to constantly adjust. In fact, when the moon was almost directly srtaight up, I had a devil of a time.


During my last attempts, the front legs were fully extended and the rear leg was completely collapsed and I was on my knees looking at the live view. It wouldn't have taken much to have tipped the whole setup backwards.

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Jan 21, 2019 13:22:39   #
PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA
 
foxfirerodandgun wrote:
During my last attempts, the front legs were fully extended and the rear leg was completely collapsed and I was on my knees looking at the live view. It wouldn't have taken much to have tipped the whole setup backwards.


I never considered shortening 1 leg. Great suggestion for the future!

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Jan 21, 2019 13:24:35   #
Old Timer Loc: Greenfield, In.
 
I had the same problem as it approached full eclipses and the clouds starting coming in, could still see the moon through the clouds but made focus hard to lock and could not see as the camera was all most strait up and it was just about 5 degrees also. I finally gave up about 10 minutes before full eclipse. Here it did not get the red color that I expected even after I quit shooting.
foxfirerodandgun wrote:
During my last attempts, the front legs were fully extended and the rear leg was completely collapsed and I was on my knees looking at the live view. It wouldn't have taken much to have tipped the whole setup backwards.

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Jan 21, 2019 13:34:33   #
Navywife66 Loc: NC
 
foxfirerodandgun wrote:
We were blessed with clear skies, after a section of thin clouds passed by around 9:30 pm, but it was very cold & windy. However, with the exception of a couple decent shots of the moon before the eclipse began, all of my eclipse shots were very disappointing.

I started manual at ISO 100 - f/11 - 1/250 - focus @ infinity - spot metering - tripod mounted - cable release - live view - VR off, and from there during the eclipse went to ISO 200 & back to 100, from f/5.6 to f/16, from 1/80 to 1/500. With the exception of the pre-eclipse shots, nothing seemed to be anywhere close to being in sharp focus. I was somewhat hobbled because I only had a pan head and not a ball head, which as the moon rose and shifted in the sky, caused me to continually adjust the angle of the tripod/lens until I was actually on my knees in order to see the live view screen.

I suspect that I needed a much better lens than the Nikon 18-300mm - f/3.5-5.6 DX that I was using. Oh well, maybe next time I'll have a better lens and tripod setup, if I am still living. I look forward to seeing other Hoggers efforts.
We were blessed with clear skies, after a section ... (show quote)


Yeah it was quite challenge thats for sure! More so than I though it would be but once out there I was determined to get what I was after. I stayed out till about 1:30 and then couldn't take no more. My neck was stiff my back throbbing and toes frozen...I kept having to adjust my setting through out and sometimes the wind would just instantly freeze my fingers while readjusting everything! I just kept telling myself its going to be a long long time before this happens again...My pics were not crystal clear or had the texture I was hoping for but I captured the essence of what I was seeing..You should post some pics I bet there not that bad. We are the worst critics of our own work, or at least I am.

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Jan 21, 2019 14:09:55   #
foxfirerodandgun Loc: Stony Creek, VA
 
PHRubin wrote:
I never considered shortening 1 leg. Great suggestion for the future!


I had purchased this thing based on an ad on Facebook that would mount on a tripod/mono-pod and with the camera attached to it would allow the camera to be pointed straight up while the tripod was level. It came from China and is all metal but I didn't think that I'd need it so I didn't mount it. BIG MISTAKE I think. I can't remember the name of it but the company places ads on FB from time to time. This experience will cause me to try it out soon. I'll post a couple pictures of it later. If it will work with a heavy camera and big lens is yet to be determined but I think that it might.

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Jan 21, 2019 14:14:08   #
foxfirerodandgun Loc: Stony Creek, VA
 
Old Timer wrote:
I had the same problem as it approached full eclipses and the clouds starting coming in, could still see the moon through the clouds but made focus hard to lock and could not see as the camera was all most strait up and it was just about 5 degrees also. I finally gave up about 10 minutes before full eclipse. Here it did not get the red color that I expected even after I quit shooting.


I also gave up when the moon was almost covered @ about 11: +/-. I would come in and warm up a bit then go out again until my hands were almost numb. I actually tried a couple hand held shots just before I called it quits but very por images.

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Jan 21, 2019 14:16:38   #
foxfirerodandgun Loc: Stony Creek, VA
 
Navywife66 wrote:
Yeah it was quite challenge thats for sure! More so than I though it would be but once out there I was determined to get what I was after. I stayed out till about 1:30 and then couldn't take no more. My neck was stiff my back throbbing and toes frozen...I kept having to adjust my setting through out and sometimes the wind would just instantly freeze my fingers while readjusting everything! I just kept telling myself its going to be a long long time before this happens again...My pics were not crystal clear or had the texture I was hoping for but I captured the essence of what I was seeing..You should post some pics I bet there not that bad. We are the worst critics of our own work, or at least I am.
Yeah it was quite challenge thats for sure! More s... (show quote)


I know the feelings you experienced very well. I'll post a couple shots later so everyone can have a good laugh. They are just so out of focus though and I don't know why.

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Jan 21, 2019 14:27:23   #
TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC
 
PHRubin wrote:
I never considered shortening 1 leg. Great suggestion for the future!


if your camera doesn’t have a tilt flip screen or you want a larger image, consider shooting tethered to either a laptop or a tablet (or a smart phone).

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Jan 21, 2019 15:21:14   #
foxfirerodandgun Loc: Stony Creek, VA
 
TriX wrote:
if your camera doesn’t have a tilt flip screen or you want a larger image, consider shooting tethered to either a laptop or a tablet (or a smart phone).


That is very good idea. Not quite sure how I would link the camera (D7200) to a Samsung Galaxy 6 as far as the acceptance of the phone is concerned.

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Jan 21, 2019 17:00:44   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
foxfirerodandgun wrote:
That is very good idea. Not quite sure how I would link the camera (D7200) to a Samsung Galaxy 6 as far as the acceptance of the phone is concerned.


A USB Cable and a copy of QDSLR Dashboard should do what you need it to do. But check with the author of the software if the D7200 is supported.

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Jan 21, 2019 17:05:11   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
foxfirerodandgun wrote:
We were blessed with clear skies, after a section of thin clouds passed by around 9:30 pm, but it was very cold & windy. However, with the exception of a couple decent shots of the moon before the eclipse began, all of my eclipse shots were very disappointing.

I started manual at ISO 100 - f/11 - 1/250 - focus @ infinity - spot metering - tripod mounted - cable release - live view - VR off, and from there during the eclipse went to ISO 200 & back to 100, from f/5.6 to f/16, from 1/80 to 1/500. With the exception of the pre-eclipse shots, nothing seemed to be anywhere close to being in sharp focus. I was somewhat hobbled because I only had a pan head and not a ball head, which as the moon rose and shifted in the sky, caused me to continually adjust the angle of the tripod/lens until I was actually on my knees in order to see the live view screen.

I suspect that I needed a much better lens than the Nikon 18-300mm - f/3.5-5.6 DX that I was using. Oh well, maybe next time I'll have a better lens and tripod setup, if I am still living. I look forward to seeing other Hoggers efforts.
We were blessed with clear skies, after a section ... (show quote)


They are likely out of focus because you diidn't use live view to focus. You can't focus that lens at infinity using a hard stop like the old days with prime lenses. But you should be able to focus on the moon with the magnified live view. Spot metering will give you a grey or middle-toned moon, so you should have added additional exposure to make the moon a little brighter, and you don't need to shoot at F11 especially when your lens is sharper at F8. If using a tripod a cheap tripod and head will work against you. You need a decent tripod and head.

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Jan 22, 2019 00:18:38   #
foxfirerodandgun Loc: Stony Creek, VA
 
I did use live view, spot metering, and my heavy Bogen tripod with cable release. The only head that I had was a Bogen pan head. Often the image in the live view was a fuzzy white ball but when the shot was taken the moon looked OK in live view. I used f/5.6 through f/16 with shutter speeds of 1/80 to 1/500. I'll post several of the better ones tomorrow. Thanks.

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Jan 22, 2019 05:29:56   #
Rogers
 
I find tripod shots difficult when the target is almost straight up, not to mention the cold. Instead I took 150 shots handheld, and even that was difficult to maintain balance on my sloped driveway. Here’s what I got, so I’m braced for laughter and derision. However, the old gals I went to high school with swooned over the shots I posted on Facebook. I’m sure they were using only their phone screens.



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