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More than Birds: Superzooms and the Moon (1 Viewer)

AlanFrench

Well-known member
In addition to birds I also enjoy the night sky. Recently I turned my Canon SX50 HS away from birds and toward the Moon. Mounted on a tripod, it does a surprisingly respectable job. I find that underexposing by one stop and doing a little processing helps. Usually I convert the photo to black and white and adjust the lighting. The next step is to work with RAW images.

The attached is last night's five day old Moon. 1/80 @ f/6.5, ISO-200, 215mm focal length (1200mm 35mm equivalent)
 

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Not everyone who photographs birds has a 1200 equiv zoom lens. Mine is a Canon SX60 with 1350, which is more than you need. It gives me an exposure of 1/160. At that speed I do not need a tripod. Here is my first attempt, from 17 Jan. Essentially no tweaking required. Lens Focus:226.6mm, 35mm equiv:1252, Exposure:1/160 sec., F-num:F/6.3, ISO:800
 

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Tonight's six day old Moon (Feb 2), again a tripod mounted Canon SX50 HS, f/6.5 @ 1/125, ISO-200, 215mm focal length (1 stop underexposed). Converted to black and white and some lighting adjustment.

Clear skies, Alan
 

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After doing some research I decided to keep my previous birding and scope setup and save it for astrophotography. Apparently the old Nikon twist-bodies have some long-exposure pluses compared to modern cameras. Combined with well-documented "Photoshop stacking" tricks (and specialized software/plugins), some truly impressive images are possible, full of depth and detail.

I haven't had a chance to try it out for myself, so I only mention it as a technique even someone with a more modern camera might want to consider. Google "astrophotography image stacking" and "astrophotography exposure stacking." The results are just beyond "wow."
 
Not everyone who photographs birds has a 1200 equiv zoom lens. Mine is a Canon SX60 with 1350, which is more than you need. It gives me an exposure of 1/160. At that speed I do not need a tripod. Here is my first attempt, from 17 Jan. Essentially no tweaking required. Lens Focus:226.6mm, 35mm equiv:1252, Exposure:1/160 sec., F-num:F/6.3, ISO:800
Given the slight fuzziness I would ask: were you at full zoom, and without using Digital Zoom or the Digital Teledapter?

If so, go to full zoom then back-off just a bit. The SX60, like many cameras, is just a tad out of focus at max zoom.

If you're already doing that, you're missing out not using a tripod. Hand-held at that zoom requires either a tripod or a shutter speed over 1/400 (and best over 1/650) to really prevent hand-motion blur on the SX60. For astrophotography I would assume high shutter speeds are not the goal.

I would also recommend when shooting something like a full moon with high reflectance that you use the same trick as during the day to use an exposure compensation of -2/3 and use image editing software to rebalance the photo post-process. This will minimize blowing-out the highlight detail. That moon is no different than trying to shoot a Bufflehead or Egret during bright sunlight. |:D|
 
After doing some research I decided to keep my previous birding and scope setup and save it for astrophotography. Apparently the old Nikon twist-bodies have some long-exposure pluses compared to modern cameras. Combined with well-documented "Photoshop stacking" tricks (and specialized software/plugins), some truly impressive images are possible, full of depth and detail.

I haven't had a chance to try it out for myself, so I only mention it as a technique even someone with a more modern camera might want to consider. Google "astrophotography image stacking" and "astrophotography exposure stacking." The results are just beyond "wow."

Yes, with digital photography, image processing software, and tricks like image stacking, today's astrophotographer can do marvelous work. "Damien Peach" is one name to Google to see some of the best examples, and there are others.

My goal here was simplicity and something not requiring a telescope. I was pleasantly surprised with the results. The next step is to use the RAW images I have taken along with all my recent lunar photos. I have a couple of telescope that would be quite suitable - I just lack a camera with an interchangeable lens. (Afocal shots are an alternative - pointing a camera into the eyepiece, but I find them a PITA.)

Clear skies, Alan
 
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