Best Hasselblad lens for moon pics?

[bob_the_builder1]

Hi, I want to do some photography of the moon and wondered if anyone could provide feedback on which

would be the best lens to use. Basically I live by the sea and wold like to take a shot one night when it is

dark of the full moon over the sea... In terms of persplective, which lens is going to be best for that. I

have the 80mm for my 500C/M but the moon just comes out like a tiny spec. Should I be looking at

acquiring a 150mm, 180mm or 250mm lens?

[remi_lemarchand]

I think you'd need something a lot longer than that - On my EOS 10D, with a 200 (320 equiv), the moon is still pretty tiny. So I'd say you'd need a 500 or so on the HBlad. You can find the TeleTessar C 500 for cheap, but I don't know how good it is.

[dave_redmann]

If you want to fill the frame with the moon, you need a telescope adapter.

 

On a 35mm camera, to have the moon occupy the full short dimension, you'd need a lens with a focal length of roughly 2000mm. For a 6x6, you'd need more like 5000mm.

[kelly_flanigan1]

Point off two decimal places and your have a slide rule accuracy estimate of the sun or moons size on film. Thus a 80mm lens gives a 0.8mm image; about the size of a mechanical pencil lead!. A 250mm lens would make a 2.5 mm moon; ie about 1/10 inch.

[skygzr]

The size of the moon on the negative (in mm) is the focal length of the lens (in mm) divided by 109. A 250mm lens gets you the same size moon (small) no matter what size film (or sensor) you put behind it.

 

Shooting a full moon in a dark sky is tricky. You'll have to overexpose the moon to pick up any surrounding detail at all. Frequently the most effective shots happen if the sky is not completely dark.

[michaelging]

I think whatever lens that is on the camera that took this photo, is the best lens for moon photography<div></div>

[bob_the_builder1]

I dont want to take a close up of the moon, jus to include it in the frame above the sea...

[tarashnat]

Bob,

 

Here are a few samples of my shots of the moon using various Hasselblad lenses. I would

think that the 250mm would be the minimum lens. If trying to shoot the moon with a sea

image, it all depends on whether you want to overexpose the moon and get the

foreground or if you want detail on the moon. If this wasn't over the sea, I would suggest a

double exposure by shooting the moon with the long lens (250mm or better) and then the

nightscape with the normal lens.

 

Examples of the 500mm Apotessar shooting the moon:

http://homepage.mac.com/tarashnat/astrophoto/MF-00151-11.html

http://homepage.mac.com/tarashnat/astrophoto/MF-00124-12.html

 

Examples of the 350mm Tele-Tessar:

http://homepage.mac.com/tarashnat/astrophoto/MF-00063-06.html

http://homepage.mac.com/tarashnat/astrophoto/MF-00086-09.html

 

Example of the 250mm Sonnar:

http://homepage.mac.com/tarashnat/astrophoto/MF-00077-07.html

 

Example of the 110mm Planar F (for 2000/200 cameras)

http://homepage.mac.com/tarashnat/astrophoto/MF-00262-07.html

 

Example of the 100mm Planar:

http://homepage.mac.com/tarashnat/astrophoto/MF-00086-10.html

 

Taras

[kelly_flanigan1]

The moons apparent diameter can vary by about 13 percent, and lenses are only speced to say 5 percent of the engraved focal length. The nominal target value of a lens design is often not the same as the nameplate value too. Many Leica rangefinder lenses have a target value of about 52mm. Thus often the old 1/100 value is a decent estimate of the sun or moons diameter. Some folks actually plan out a shoot when the moons apparent arc is on the high side too. At one observatory I was at we had a small 8" clark refractor of 96" focal length. One could just get the full moon on a 35mm frame sometimes, and not when the moon was closer to the earth. With partial phases one could always rotate the 35mm slr body so it wiuld fit in the 24x36mm frame. With a short say 50mm to 100mm lens, folks often overexpose the moon, and its diameter on film is abit larger due to flare and blooming. A the observatory we had a nikon f where we filed out the film gate abit more than the nominal 24mm dimension, so we could grab more full moon shots without clipping them.

[bob_the_builder1]

Tara,

 

Thank you! That is just what I am looking for. Very nice images.

 

Antonio

[Rob F.]

And here's one of the moon over the Grand Canyon, with the 250mm Sonnar.<div></div>

[skygzr]

This was taken with a 250mm (if memory serves) on a Hassie: http://www.sierraclub.org/ansel_adams/gallery/halfdome.asp

 

The moon is not yet full so it rose while the sun is up. The full moon always rises very near sunset so your window to record foreground objects is quite narrow.

[bob_the_builder1]

Rob, lovely shot!

 

Kevin, yes that's what I am looking for.

 

250mm it is then!

 

Antonio

[brody_philip]

Attached is a photograph of the moon during a lunar eclipse, 35mm frame, taken with a 500mm mirror lens and a times 2 extender, that is a 1000mm lens, on 100 iso slide film at f/16 and probably at about 1/50 of a second although I've lost the note for the exposure time. Because it is a lunar eclipse the moon is full -you see only the part not shadowed by the earth. The diameter of the moon is about 9mm. Were it a 60 mm frame, and a 1000mm lens the image size on the 120 film would be the same but the field of view proportionately larger. The closest Hasselblad equivalent would be a 350 mm lens with 2x extender or a 500mm lens with a 1.4x extender giving you a 6.3 mm image on an about 60 mm field at f/11. The shorter exposure time the would be needed should give you a better image since the moon will move less during the exposure. I think I have this right. I'm going to try it myself with the 350 x2 lens when I get a chance.

[lauren_macintosh]

Bob the builder:: Everyone miss a very important lens for MOON shots But its A little expensive and THATS the Zeiss 1700mm lens at about 550pounds I Weight?:):)

[romanfedyk]

I have also found that in some instances where I needed the moon to be a little larger in the frame, I attach a teleconverter to the 250MM lens and I get what I think is just the right size. Additionally with any of the Hasselblad lenses I can easily crop the picture in Photoshop, until I get just what I am looking for.

 

Have a great Holiday Season.