Hand-held moon shot with the new 300/4

[Gary R. Smith]

Took this last night (17 OCT) with the 300/4 Pro lens on the OM-1 with the 1.4 TC between the lens and the body. ISO ended up at 400, shutter was 1/200 and aperture was set to f8. The lens and body cooperate with stabilization, and this was a single exposure.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Impressive!

 

[Gary R. Smith]

Thanks Rob! I have the necessary adapters to attach a camera to a 90mm Meade scope but I doubt that the scope will track with the added weight of a camera. I suspect I'd get a better single shot image. Part of me would like to do astro photography but going down the gear rat hole and s/w learning cycle might take the rest of my life.

 

[Brian Moore]

Wowee! This one makes me waant to howl in appreciation. Very nice indeed, Gary!

 

[Beth Carter]

nicely done, esp. handheld.

 

[Geoff Chaplin]

Thanks Rob! I have the necessary adapters to attach a camera to a 90mm Meade scope but I doubt that the scope will track with the added weight of a camera. I suspect I'd get a better single shot image. Part of me would like to do astro photography but going down the gear rat hole and s/w learning cycle might take the rest of my life.

There is an alternative. You can use $200,000 worth of professional equipment now for very modest rental fees - search for robotic telescopes on Google. The better ones have online free courses in image processing, and writing instructions for your intended target is easy. See my post on the Double Cluster, taken with iTelescope kit.

Even with your camera and a solid tripod you can get great images of star formations and more - exposures of 300/focal length (seconds) show no trails and can be stacked. Free software is available.

 

[Detlef Kuhl]

Yes, impressive. Very good.

 

[Gary R. Smith]

There is an alternative.

Thanks for your reply Geoff! I did a considerable amount of research about a year ago and I think it scared me away...

It comes down to a combination of: cost of new gear, learning curve for new gear and s/w as well as the probability that my lazy old self likely would never haul myself from my Bortle class 7 location outside Portland to a class 2 site and then babysit the number of exposures needed for good integration.

 

[Gary R. Smith]

Yes, impressive. Very good.

Thanks Detlef! I'll likely shoot the moon again after adding the MC-20 to my ever-growing pile of glass. It will be added for birds (not moon shots).