This is how we did it in the 70s and 80s

[philj]

Moon from last weeks session. I wanted to use the last frames up on some film (Ilford FP4) that  I had in my 1984 Nikon FE slr. (the film was new the camera is 1984 btw)

So I slapped it on the back of the Meade 127EDT I had set up and took a few shots with bracketed exposures.

 

So heres the result, a single exposure. This is what we had to put up with back then and I can tell you now I would have been over the moon (pun intended)  to have got this back in the 70s with my Tasco 10TE and Zenit B.

 

 

 

And for comparison, here is the same shot but taken with the Nikon Df DSLR, similar settings

 

 

An interesting exercise. I think I will stick with the DSLR for lunar

 

OBTW both these are heavily cropped due to the small image scale of the moon on full frame, hence lack of detail

[Pete Presland]

A fine Moon image.  The thought of capturing astronomy images even in the 0's, let alone the 80's would have amazing to me.  It is fantastic that astroimaging was done by amateurs with film all those years ago. I find it frustrating with the digital technology let alone film

[Alien 13]

They where the days... I remember having done a few lunar with film on the end of my Charles Frank 6 inch reflector that it was always a bit hit and miss getting a good shot. The fact that a small frac and DSLR can get better images than the 200 inch Palomar could do with film says it all realy.

Alan

[philj]

Ta guys, yep we are spoilt these days with the affordable hi tech that's around. I used to manually guide the 10TE with Zenit B attached for 5 minutes on M42. Get a cricked neck and end up with a fuzzy photo of little depth and think it was fantastic.

 

Heres a link to the main image from that nights session for another comparison.

 

[Tiny Small]

I prefer the film image. But then I still use film for a lot of stuff. Ilford FP 4 isn't the same as true black and white film though as it's effectively colour film with the colour stripped out. It gives nice results but never as contrasty as some of the proper stuff... though that's almost impossible to get hold of now and even harder to get processed. Last I checked, I was going to have to send it to the states to get done as they are far more slack when it comes to handling silver nitrate

[philj]

6 minutes ago, Tiny Small said:

I prefer the film image. But then I still use film for a lot of stuff. Ilford FP 4 isn't the same as true black and white film though as it's effectively colour film with the colour stripped out. It gives nice results but never as contrasty as some of the proper stuff... though that's almost impossible to get hold of now and even harder to get processed. Last I checked, I was going to have to send it to the states to get done as they are far more slack when it comes to handling silver nitrate

I use film a lot, just got 5 rolls back from the labs the other day. Ilford FP4 is readily available, I have bought it at larger boots stores plus a local camera shop before, (as short a time ago as last year). This roll was from a pack of 10 I bought at the NEC photo show earlier this year.

The lab I use is in Sheffield, no probs on processing, Ive used a couple of others in the UK also, so if you want their details PM me. Boots sell FP4 but will not process BTW

[Tiny Small]

1 minute ago, philj said:

I use film a lot, just got 5 rolls back from the labs the other day. Ilford FP4 is readily available, I have bought it at larger boots stores plus a local camera shop before. This roll was from a pack of 10 I bought at the NEC photo show earlier this year.

The lab I use is in Sheffield, no probs on processing, Ive used a couple of others in the UK also, so if you want their details PM me. Boots sell FP4 but will not process BTW

Do your guys process 6x7? I mostly use either a 645 or an RZ67 proII.

[des anderson]

Now that s stirred a few memory s ,almost makes me feel young again. Des

[Stub Mandrel]

Here's one I prepared earlier - about 35 years ago...

[philj]

1 hour ago, Tiny Small said:

Do your guys process 6x7? I mostly use either a 645 or an RZ67 proII.

They process 120 and 220. I use a Bronica and occassional yashica tlr

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice comparison. Digital imaging really revolutionised astrophotography

[Ouroboros]

1 hour ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

Very nice comparison. Digital imaging really revolutionised astrophotography

It certainly has.  Things seem to be moving so quickly too.  Even in the 5 years or so I've been doing astrophotography the quality of astro images posted has improved significantly. Not my images I hasten to add.

[Aaron F Johnson]

Nice examples...I would go with the dslr myself,...

[hobbit]

On 10/18/2016 at 06:28, Tiny Small said:

Do your guys process 6x7? I mostly use either a 645 or an RZ67 proII.

Not 6x7 but I do take 6x17