DSLR Lens

[John Wick]

Hi 

Apologies if this is a stupid question. Looking for a lens for my 6D that I can use for lunar images. I understand that I need at least 400mm focal length? I don't want to venture down the scopes route yet, I do possess a Samyang 135mm F2, but guess I need something more substantial for moon shots? 

 

Thanks in advance. 

[DaveL59]

Are you looking to fill the frame or just get decent enough magnification that you can crop?

You could try adding a 2x teleconverter into the train or even 2 of. I tried that some time ago with my old Pentacon-6/M42 Zeiss Sonnar 180mm F2.8 & 2 of 2x TC and it did surprisingly well, tho the entire assembly was somewhat bulky.

The longest lens I have is a 150-600mm Tamron which on my APS-C sensor Sony A77ii gives an effective 900mm but the moon doesn't fill the frame, not really done much other than a couple pot-shots at the moon handheld which isn't the best with a long heavy lens. The 100-400 Minolta APO lens likewise doesn't fill the frame but did OK, easier to handle. Both aren't exactly fast at F6.7 max aperture fully extended but then the moon is bright enough to run smaller apertures anyway.

hope that helps.

oh, in my case I wasn't stacking or taking video, just single shot pics.

Edited October 27, 2022 by DaveL59

[Alien 13]

A full frame camera complicates things a little as there are fewer lenses/scopes that can cover the sensor without severe vignetting, I have however had reasonable results with a Canon 70-200 f/4 L  lens and a X2 Kenko teleconverter which makes a handy hand held option on my 80D, it even autofocuses too.

For full disc I find my Mak gives superb results but still vignettes even with an APS-C sensor.

Alan

 

[John Wick]

I have no objections to cropping into the image. Just thought I would try something new during the month when the moon would cause issues with other areas of astrophotography. 

[Alien 13]

This was a quick and dirty hand held effort with my Canon 70-200 and TC, cropped as you would expect but starting to show some details.

Alan

[DaveL59]

here a recent shot during that heatwave with the Tammy at 600mm, handheld and of course cropped.

a daylight (evening) shot earlier in Aug, a bit heat hazy, noted the blotches which turned out to be on the mirror and sensor. The above was more to test I'd got the sensor cleaned well enough.

The 180mm Zeiss, taken Dec-2020

With x2 TC

Can't find the one I took with 2x x2TC's tho.

Edited October 27, 2022 by DaveL59

[ollypenrice]

This was with a Canon 250D and the 100-400 L series zoom, hand held but braced against the side of the house and simply autofocused. Cropped heavily as it is here, it nicely fills the frame of the PC at full size (1:1).

Olly

[Alien 13]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

This was with a Canon 250D and the 100-400 L series zoom, hand held but braced against the side of the house and simply autofocused. Cropped heavily as it is here, it nicely fills the frame of the PC at full size (1:1).

Olly

You should do more Olly, a lens is ideal for Luna together with some foreground interest.

Alan

[ollypenrice]

3 hours ago, Alien 13 said:

You should do more Olly, a lens is ideal for Luna together with some foreground interest.

Alan

I must say that I thought the lens could hardly have done better. It was one of the first things I did with it, having bought it second hand. And, yes, I should do a bit more like it with foreground interest, as you say.

Olly

Edited October 28, 2022 by ollypenrice
Clarification