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Photographing Eclipse of Moon - tips please
Simon - 3/3/07 at 08:13 PM

Peeps, at the moment we have a crystal clear sky, and if it stays that way for another 3 hours, we may be seeing an eclipse of the moon.

And I want to try photo'ing it, with a digital camera.

I know that there's a few pro's on here, so has anyone got some tips, please

Long exposure - how long etc etc

Thanks

Simon


tegwin - 3/3/07 at 08:26 PM

Its impossible to give much advice without knowing what kind of camera you have....

I have a canon 400D DSLR setup with a 400mm lens...

Run that in manual mode and adjust the exposure time so that the image is under exposed slightly so you dont just get a white orbe...

Im using a tripod....


davie h - 3/3/07 at 08:28 PM

what time is happening at


worX - 3/3/07 at 08:32 PM

sorry to jump in, I didn;t know it was going on, and can also see (?) a clear sky, so am now thinking I might also take a pic.
I have a Nikon D50 DSLR with 300mm lens, with tripod & monopod, but have been REALLY lazy since getting it, and not bothered to learn any settings at all, bar knowing what the pics on the dial mean ie, auto macro sports etc. any tips for me would be greatly appreciated! I've just read your post Tegwin, what would be the best exposure timing?
cheers,
Steve.


Simon - 3/3/07 at 08:33 PM

Fuji S7000 - SLR type digi. Reading blurb at mo

About 10.30 onwards from what I gather.

ATB

Simon


Guinness - 3/3/07 at 08:35 PM

KEY TIMES FOR ECLIPSE
Moon enters penumbra: 2018
Moon enters umbra: 2130
Totality begins: 2244
Mid-eclipse: 2321
Totality ends: 2358
Moon leave umbra: 0111
Moon leaves penumbra: 0224
(All times are in GMT)

Nicked from the Beeb.

Leaning out of my attic window.

Mike


Simon - 3/3/07 at 08:36 PM

Mike,

You just beat me to it

Good photgraphing everyone. Let's see peeps results on here

If it's any help, here's the 20.00 hrs sat photo

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/satpics/latest_uk_ir.html

ATB

Simon

[Edited on 3/3/07 by Simon]


smart51 - 3/3/07 at 08:55 PM

I have found that a 1200mm lens with 35mm camera fills the frams with a small border all round. You might struggle with this. A 300mm lens will give a fairly small image of the moon.

The moon is very bright (when not eclipsed) 1/125s F11 with 100ASA film. Partial moons are not as bright. Don't rely on your camera for exposure because it will take a picture of the black sky. Your moon will come out as a featureless white blob.

For eclipsed moon It will be less bright. My suggestion, take a few trial shots early in the night to see how they come out and bracket your exposure massively. You should be able to get good shadow in the craters and plenty of detail if you expose right.

Use a tripod.


martyn_16v - 3/3/07 at 09:06 PM

As has been said, use a tripod and also put the camera on self timer to stop it shaking as you press the shutter release.


robinbastd - 3/3/07 at 11:17 PM

Moon, what bloody moon?

We've been robbed!


mookaloid - 3/3/07 at 11:39 PM

Just tried it with my OlympusC750 UZ on something that looks as if it might be night mode......

And a tripod Rescued attachment moon.JPG
Rescued attachment moon.JPG


BenB - 3/3/07 at 11:42 PM

Very nice the moon looks too!!! I was foolishly waiting for it to get blotted out until I found out it wasn't total!!! Still, it looks mightily strange!!!


Wadders - 3/3/07 at 11:55 PM

Here it is earlier ( about 9.30)

Description
Description


Simon - 4/3/07 at 12:03 AM

I tried and failed miserably!

Nowhere near enough zoom-zoom!

Just got a blurred brown dot.

ATB

Simon


alister667 - 4/3/07 at 02:07 AM

My effort.



Taken about 10:30pm using a Fuji S5600 and a tripod.
Cracking wee camera for £125!
(Mind you I paid £145 for it a couple of months ago!)

BTW, Wadders what camera/lens are you using? That's a mighty detailed pic of the moon!



[Edited on 4/3/07 by alister667]


JoelP - 4/3/07 at 07:55 AM

quote:
Originally posted by BenB
Very nice the moon looks too!!! I was foolishly waiting for it to get blotted out until I found out it wasn't total!!! Still, it looks mightily strange!!!


I believe it was total, thats as good as lunar eclipses get.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6411991.stm


smart51 - 4/3/07 at 09:21 AM

quote:
Originally posted by BenB
I was foolishly waiting for it to get blotted out until I found out it wasn't total!!!


It was a total eclipse. The red colour you can see is light that was difdracted through the earths atmosphere and bent round to light up the moon. The red/brown colour is due to atmospheric pollution mostly.


Wadders - 4/3/07 at 10:43 AM

Nice shot Alistair, wish i'd waited till the colour changed, but i got bored, and cold

Camera is a canon dslr, 70-200 zoom @ 200mm plus 1.4 teleconverter. Still not enough focal length by a long way, i cropped my image in photoshop and applied a fair bit of unsharp mask to get an acceptable image.

Al.




Originally posted by alister667
My effort.



Taken about 10:30pm using a Fuji S5600 and a tripod.
Cracking wee camera for £125!
(Mind you I paid £145 for it a couple of months ago!)

BTW, Wadders what camera/lens are you using? That's a mighty detailed pic of the moon!



[Edited on 4/3/07 by alister667]