PART I – The Moon –
I have always had a keen interest in photographing the moon since my first point & shoot camera. I have tried all manner of camera & lens combination to try and capture as much detail as possible. Even trying a point & shoot through binoculars. About a year ago I picked up a second hand telescope with built in motorised star tracking. After a bit of research I found I could buy a special adapter to attach my DLSR and use it as a camera lens. The telescope is then transformed into a camera lens with a focal length equivalent to about 400mm on my full frame Canon 5D mk2 body.
Here is what it looks like with my DSLR attached:
It took me well over a year to finally get around to actually taking a few pictures with this setup. After playing about trying to focus on a clear full moon I decided to use a method known as [eyepiece projection] You simply take the telescope eyepiece (in my case I used a 25mm eyepiece) and you insert the eyepiece inside the adapter tube. You can then use the telescope’s focus mechanism on your subject and compose the shot as normal. I found that using the video or live preview screen helped save my back while setting up the initial shot.
This is the output from using this method:
Pretty impressive for a cheap telescope.
Settings for the shot
Canon 5D mk2 + Meade ETX90 telescope
1/160 @ ISO 50
I hope to try more shots during the warmer summer months where I can photograph star trails & make timelapse recordings while the camera is tethered to a laptop.
Shooting the stars and optimal settings, lessons learned etc…
This page has the following sub pages.
Nice work, Dan. I’ve made several half arsed attempts at capturing the moon. You seem to be doing quite nicely. Looking forward to part 2.
Amazing work Dan,
Looks great and the quality/detail is spot on!