CCD vs Film? Lots of time vs no patience? Alright, this is your place to discuss all the astrophotography what's and what's not. You can discuss about techniques, accessories, cameras, whatever....just make sure you also post some nice photos here too!
This is the first moon shot I took with the C90 I bought from Weixing. Need some help here.
Details are as follows. C90 f/11. 1/125 ISO 100.
I can't seem to get it sharper. It seems soft. Is it a lense problem? I'm using a cheapo tripod without cable release .. Since its at 1/125 i figure no need one. Could it be coz at 1000mm I need a cable release? Or could it be my focusing sucks. It not easy focusing thru the view finder.. heheh.. any tips?
I can't seem to get it sharper. It seems soft. Is it a lense problem? I'm using a cheapo tripod without cable release .. Since its at 1/125 i figure no need one. Could it be coz at 1000mm I need a cable release?
What camera are you using?? If you are using a DSLR, you need at least 1/1000s or use mirror lock-up to prevent the blurriness cause by the mirror vibration. Of course, you'll also need a cable-release to minimize vibration while taking the shot.
Or could it be my focusing sucks. It not easy focusing thru the view finder.. heheh.. any tips?
Focusing is also one of the most difficult part in Astrophotography. You need very good patient to focus accurately... it quite difficult to do that when you are using a non-tracking mount. You can try using a hartmann mask... a mask with three hole on it. When the image is out of focus, you'll see three image of the same object. Once focus, the three image became one. See below: http://www.weasner.com/etx/astrophotogr ... mask2.html
Anyway, if you don't have a tracking mount, I suggest you use at least 1/1000s shutter speed and select the lowest ISO that will produce a image. Take a few of them and use registrax to stack them together to form a sharp image.
Have a nice day.
Yang Weixing "The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance."
for him to get a shutter speed of 1/1000 would require a iso of 800, not sure how that would work.
anyway, the shot looks pretty gd already. to focus, move the edge of the moon to the center of the camera and let the camera try to figure out the rest. take a dozen of shots and choose the one that is the sharpest without any shakes.
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance." 
