Luna

This is the first time I use my Sigma 80-400mm with 2x teleconverter

to hunt the moon. Please give honest comments, helping me to grow.

Thank you very much. Regards.

It looks out of focus or maybe just soft. Are you able to sharpen?

 

 

Just looking briefly at the shooting details, you would have been better off shooting at a smaller aperture so as to give you a slightly larger DOF (say f/22 of there abouts as this will help you find the focus more easily - i'm assuming with the converter you lost the AF?), and at a much smaller iso (iso100 would be best). This will probably result in about a 10-15s exposure, but i always like to take a few at shorter and longer speeds. Its also worthwhile shooting in RAW, and in manual mode with a cable release or with it set on a timer (this will eliminate the blur associated with pressing the shutter). This is all assuming you have a tripod as well. (By the way, my first lot of moons went into the trash!)

Nathan,

 

Thank you for your suggestions.

 

In your suggestion, the exposure time would be 10 sec or longer. As the moon would move over the sky in a considerable speed (at least in the view finder of a 800mm lens camera), are you suggesting me to use a mount (tripod) for astronomical observation, which can automatically offset the motion due to the Earth rotation?

 

You know, I am an amateur in astro-photography, and I don't have an astro-mount. Do you have further advice for me?

 

I am eager to see your moon or other astro-photos.

 

Regards.

John,

 

My estimate of the time of exposure was way off - sorry :(

 

In saying this though, it will vary depending on where you are shooting from (city or country), the fullness of the moon (amount of emitted light), and the focal length (amount of light source being observed). As to the tripod, I just use a normal tripod because the exposures are short enough.

 

Anyhow, I liked your shot and hope you can replicate it again a little sharper in the future. I have attatched a similar photo which hasn't been tampered with apart from a crop in accordance with the rule of thirds.

 

:)

Thank you very much for your detailed explanation and your moon photo.

 

I shall try again next time when I have a chance again.

 

Do feel free to browse my portfolio and leave your comments here.

 

^^