First Attempt with DSLR

[astromackem]

I had a first attempt at the Moon with my DSLR attached using a T-ring.

Was ok but not that impressed with the results. The image wasnt sharp around the edges and I couldnt grab enough detail.

Could this be caused by slight vibration I noticed while taking the shot?

Also if there is no eyepiece attached how am I getting a zoomed in shot?

Any tips or thoughts?

Thanks

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Hi, have you tried using the built-in camera timer to give any vibration time to die down? Either that or a remote shutter cable could do the trick.

[Leveye]

Use your live view zoomed in to focus if your cameras has that feature. Use the timer on the camera or a remote shutter trigger to reduce any vibration. I get pretty good single exposures using ISO 100 and anywhere from 160th to 250th of a second. You'll have to experiment. Have fun!

[astromackem]

Use your live view zoomed in to focus if your cameras has that feature. Use the timer on the camera or a remote shutter trigger to reduce any vibration. I get pretty good single exposures using ISO 100 and anywhere from 160th to 250th of a second. You'll have to experiment. Have fun!

Cheers. Will have a play. Is it possible to get nice and sharp shots or would the seeing have to be good?

[paul mc c]

This was with a dob and dslr..seeing wasnt great but good focus is important.You are getting a zoomed in shot because your scope becomes a big lens.

[laudropb]

The problem with single shots of the Moon is that the seeing is seldom steady enough to get sharp images. Try taking a video and stacking the best of the images.

[Herra Kuulapaa]

I'm guessing Paul's moon image is stacked

[astromackem]

moon.jpgThis was with a dob and dslr..seeing wasnt great but good focus is important.You are getting a zoomed in shot because your scope becomes a big lens.

As the camera is attached only to the scope. What is the actual magnification?

[Uranium235]

Try to forget about "magnification", that has no meaning in astrophotography. Think of it more as a fixed focal length telephoto lens, the focal length of your scope is 1200mm - which is moderately long (my scopes are 650 and 349mm respectively).

[paul mc c]

I'm guessing Paul's moon image is stacked

No it is a single shot,that is why i posted it up,you can get nice images with your set up.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Achieving good focus is very hard. The only way to improve is to practice.

Cracking single image Paul, BTW

[Stub Mandrel]

This is a single frame from the eclipse with a DSLR on my 150PL (which is the same focal length as your scope). You should be able to get comparable results on a good clear night.

Best results come from stacking several images taken with the moon when it isn't full, as in eth shot below absolutely NOTHING is in shadow so contrast is very low.

I use mirror lock and a remote shutter control to minimise vibration. The mount was tracking, but that's just to keep the moon in frame, the short exposures for lunar shots don't need tracking to be sharp.

As has been suggested, if you don't have a remote, use the self-timer to reduce vibration.

Another critical element is being in focus - look at bhatinov masks, it's easy to make one out of a black plastic folder using a template printed off from one of several websites.

Also, around her at least, the moon has been really hazy and the seeing poor (the moon looks like it is under running water) and that has limited how sharp images can be.

[cjdawson]

The get the best sharp image with a DSLR there are a few tricks that you can use.

1. make sure that you are using a cable release.  The best kind are known as intervalometers and you can pick one up cheaply from amazon or ebay.  Here's a like to a quick search that I just did

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_8?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=intervalometer&sprefix=intervalometer%2Caps%2C163&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aintervalometer&oqid=1445978228

I actually have 2 of these, but at the price I would not recommend getting one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-Camera-Remote-Control-TC-80N3/dp/B00007EEA8/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1445978282&sr=8-8&keywords=intervalometer+canon

I modded one of them so that I can use it with my Canon 70D.

This will mean that you don't get camera shake from your hand when you take the photo.

2. In your camera settings there should be a feature called mirror lock, turn that on.

Now, for a Canon what this will do is change how the camera works.   It's now a three click process.

Press 1 of the shutter will activate the mirror lock.

Press 2 and hold will then start taking the photo, if you are using the bulb setting, the shot will end when you release the button.   If it's not bulb, the camera will end the shot as normal.

Ending the shot will bring the mirror back down, so the next press is the mirror lock.

3. You can make the whole process a 2 click process like before, but with a 2 second delay.

In your camera settings you can activate a 2 second counddown timer.

What will happen now, is when you press the shutter button, the mirror lock will trigger and the timer will start counting down.

When the timer hits 0, the shutter is triggered to start taking the photo.  Again, the photo will end on either the camera setting, or when you release the shutter button.

4. Using the intervalometer, you can set it to take time lapse.  Just allow 2 seconds for the built in countdown from the camera.

hmm.  I think I should make a You Tube video of this sometime.

[Stub Mandrel]

> 4. Using the intervalometer, you can set it to take time lapse.  Just allow 2 seconds for the built in countdown from the camera.

If you have a crummy old camera like a D10, allow ~10 seconds for the image to be put on the CF card or otherwise a queue will build up and then the camera will become unresponsive every ten or so frames while it untangles itself.

[cjdawson]

> 4. Using the intervalometer, you can set it to take time lapse.  Just allow 2 seconds for the built in countdown from the camera.

If you have a crummy old camera like a D10, allow ~10 seconds for the image to be put on the CF card or otherwise a queue will build up and then the camera will become unresponsive every ten or so frames while it untangles itself.

The gap between the frames, needs to be long enough to allow not only for the image to be written, but also to allow the camera electronics to cool off a bit as well.  I typically wait 5 seconds between frames on both my 30D and 70D.  This is enough for me as I'm using class 10 cards.  10 seconds between frames is ok too.

[des anderson]

For a single shot image,its good.A lot of detail on the terminator,bit soft on the limb,still a very good first try.Des

[Astrosurf]

I'd made a 2-hole Hartmann mask which I used the first time for the lunar eclipse and I was very happy at how well it performed, especially as my eyesight is pants! It creates two images of the Moon which start to come together as you focus. Then you ensure they're both aligned and you're in focus.

Alexxx

[cjdawson]

I'd made a 2-hole Hartmann mask which I used the first time for the lunar eclipse and I was very happy at how well it performed, especially as my eyesight is pants! It creates two images of the Moon which start to come together as you focus. Then you ensure they're both aligned and you're in focus.

Alexxx

I made a hartmann mask when I first got into astro photography and ended up getting frustrated, as whilst it got my close to perfect focus, there was still a slight deadzone around the perfect focal point.   When I first saw a Batinov Mask and the explaination of how it worked, I immediately saw the benefit and bought one.  Since then my Hartmann hasn't been used and I have no intention of going back to it.  I like how the Batinov gives a 6 pointed star when the focus is perfect.  Also I love that there is alot more light entering the scope, so you get a much brighter image too.

[Stub Mandrel]

This is why I love a Bhatinov mask, and you can reduce the exposure for the final tweaks:

You start to get a feel for how far to turn the focuser for a given error so closing in of focus can be quite fast, even with my rig that doesn't have live view.

[glowingturnip]

use 'bahtinov grabber' software (http://www.njnoordhoek.com/) with a bahtinov mask, and you'll get critical focus very quickly every time - I'd swear by it.

Trouble is bahtinov masks don't work with the moon or planets, they need a point light source.  For the moon, I just look closely at my image, try to spot the smallest crater I possibly can, and watch how it winks in and out as I slowly rotate the focuser each way.  Seems to work.

[Astrosurf]

I made a hartmann mask when I first got into astro photography and ended up getting frustrated, as whilst it got my close to perfect focus, there was still a slight deadzone around the perfect focal point.   When I first saw a Batinov Mask and the explaination of how it worked, I immediately saw the benefit and bought one.  Since then my Hartmann hasn't been used and I have no intention of going back to it.  I like how the Batinov gives a 6 pointed star when the focus is perfect.  Also I love that there is alot more light entering the scope, so you get a much brighter image too.

I love the B Mask too, and use it on stars, but I use the H Mask on the Moon. I do admit it's a bit tricky, but it's much better than leaving it to my dodgy old eyes!