Does anyone here shoot the moon regularly?

[mkt]

After doing some math, I’m thinking of giving it a try tonight.

The setup: Pentax Q + my wife’s 200mm f/4.5 Minolta MD (plus a Fotodiox adapter), which thanks to the Q’s bonkers 5.6x crop factor, gives me the equivalent of a 1120mm telephoto.

I’m planning to throw it on a tripod and see what kind of detail I can get.

That said, does anyone have any suggested settings? I’ll be using manual focus and probably shooting RAW. Open to any tips from folks who’ve done this before, especially with vintage glass.

 

[fractal]

I used to. Manual focus to infinity, small aperture (f/12), and be careful not to overexpose.

Have fun!

 

[senor_jorge]

After doing some math, I’m thinking of giving it a try tonight.

The setup: Pentax Q + my wife’s 200mm f/4.5 Minolta MD (plus a Fotodiox adapter), which thanks to the Q’s bonkers 5.6x crop factor, gives me the equivalent of a 1120mm telephoto.

I’m planning to throw it on a tripod and see what kind of detail I can get.

That said, does anyone have any suggested settings? I’ll be using manual focus and probably shooting RAW. Open to any tips from folks who’ve done this before, especially with vintage glass.

I usually start with the Loony rule. f11 and shutter speed matching my ISO. With a digital camera I get immediate feedback and adjust as needed. With film I used to bracket some shooting an eclipse to try to make sure I captured something.

 

[senor_jorge]

Good luck if you’re shooting tonight. I’d thought about it but it looks like the weather isn’t going to cooperate here tonight.

 

[mkt]

An update - I picked up a clean Vivitar T-Mount 500mm f8 for $5 at goodwill. All functions seemingly work, and not a spot of fungus or haze on the glass - just a tiny spec of dust that I'm not worried about.

500mm lens + an adapter + Pentax Q's crop factor = 2800mm equivalent. Maybe I'll also try to take photos of airplanes at cruising altitude from my backyard.

 

[thomas998]

An update - I picked up a clean Vivitar T-Mount 500mm f8 for $5 at goodwill. All functions seemingly work, and not a spot of fungus or haze on the glass - just a tiny spec of dust that I'm not worried about.

500mm lens + an adapter + Pentax Q's crop factor = 2800mm equivalent. Maybe I'll also try to take photos of airplanes at cruising altitude from my backyard.

I've done a few shots of the moon by connecting mirrorless camera to old telescopes. The real key for getting a decent shot is making sure the tripod is rock steady, for my telescope I hang weights on the center to make it heavier.... make sure to use a timer so the camera isn't jiggled by your pressing the shutter.... And generally just get the lowest ISO you can while still having the shutter speed up to at least 1/1000 of a second... Your other other big problem is the weather, if you get too much humidity in the air your photos will show it... especially true if you are stuck near a city with light pollution. Winter time has been the best time for shots of the moon for me. Summer has never been my friend unless I have gone up into the mountains.

And make sure to use a good editing software because you are generally going to want to be a little under exposed overall and then use the software to fix it...

Good news is the micro four thirds sensor is probably the best for getting the moon and solar shots... I've tried newer apsc and full frame cameras thinking their better sensors would overcome the drop in crop but I was wrong... having the smaller sensor size is what you want even if it is an older generation sensor.

Good luck with the planes... just be careful shooting at them in the daylight as some have some very shiny flat surfaces that will reflect the sun right into your camera.

 

[mkt]

I've also been thinking that the 500mm lens + crop factor could make for fun shooting of the MK fireworks from the beach at the polynesian.