Last night's moon

[Mark Bournes]

I shot this last night with my xl1 with the 16x manual lens.
nd 1/16th. f stop 8.
What do you think???

The 2nd clip with the clouds is full auto except the focus which is manual.

Mark
www.sharkvp.com

[Don DesJardin]

Pretty nice for the 16x. Here is one that I got a few years ago with my XL1 in desert near Borrego Springs, California. This is with the Nikon 80-400mm, with it set at about 380mm at 1/60 second. I don't remember what the f stop was. The sun had set over the mountains, but the sky was still blue.

[David Calvin]

Seems so hot as the clouds pass by. Why is that do you think? Is that a knee setting problem or something?

[Per Johan Naesje]

Mark,
I think you will achieve better results if you shoot in manual mode. As I see in your 2nd clip the moon is "burned out" cause the auto-mode can't adjust this in a proper way.
Your first clip is much better, even if the moon got very small with the 16x lense.

I got some nice shoot of the moon last winter, shoot with a xl2 and a huge 300mm sigma lense + 2.0 extender (4680mm)!
http://www.video-film.no/snutter/maane.html
This is a flash-video where I compare the 20x lense + 1.6 extender with the sigma lense.
The text on the website is in norwegian only but you might understand some of it: avstand = distance, lukker = shutter, blender = aperture

enjoy!

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

The moon at night is actually lit by daylight, so you should meter for the moon itself – normally around 125th sec at ISO 100 equivalent. I’ve found that slightly underexposing the original manual settings help provide more detail in the moon’s craters.

Per, the very last few seconds of your clip seems to stop and then start again - maybe the link needs checking? (I can speak Danish and understand Swedish text, so I look forward to taking a closer look at your website).

The Sigma 300mm + 2X looked nice, Per, although there was some very slight tripod/lens shake during the sequences.

Pro level 1.4X and 2X converters can help provide tighter views of the moon than the original 16X and 20X, or 300mm SLR lenses, but I have found that fixed prime SLR lenses without converters provide the sharpest results.

The tripod/camera setups are not the only problem with shake during high-magnification sequences, as the extra connection between a converter (extender) and master lens can sometimes add wobble if the bayonet connection has some free movement.

Without a doubt, the best times to shoot the moon are during clear nights without wind, and from areas of the earth free of too much air pollution.

The best of my moon footage with the XL1s and XL2 have always been taken with either the Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 EDIF or 600mm f/5.6 EDIF lenses (without the 1.4 or 1.6 X converters) during extremely calm and clear nights.

One tip - I first set up the camera/lens/tripod and once I have located the moon in the viewfinder, I gently adjust the tripod head so that the moon is just out of shot to the left of the frame, and then lock up the tripod head solid. I then start the camera tape by using the wireless remote (not touching the camera at all), and watch the moon slowly enter the frame - creeping across the viewfinder until it exits from the right of the frame. This sequence can then be speeded up (if required) in post to move smoothly across the frame during the entire clip.

[Mark Bournes]

Thanks guys, I was just doing it to show the differences. I always shoot in manual mode for everything. As it has been said before, it's the camera operator and not the camera that makes great pictures. I just wanted to show that you should take the time to learn all aspects of your camera and what a difference it can make. Thanks for the replies and suggestions. I know there are a lot of newbies on this site and this kind of stuff helps when they can see visual differences and how we did it.

Mark
www.sharkvp.com

[Don DesJardin]

Thanks Mark. That's what I like about these forums, you think you know everything, but soon find out you don't. And Per, the 300mm that you use seems very sharp. I have several Sigma APO lenses, and most all are as sharp or sharper than my Nikon's.

Here in Southern California we have 2 seasons, FIRE and MUD. In September of 2002 we had brush fires burning all over SoCal, generating a lot very dense smoke. I was on the downside of a big fire and lots of smoke. I went outside and looked at the sun, which was just an orange ball. I noticed some dark spots on the surface and soon realized that they must be sun spots. I set up the camera and rolled some tape. All I could do is adjust the camera to the point where it looked good in the view finder, and this is what I got (see attached). The lens was an 80-400mm Nikon racked all the way out to 400mm.

[Cole McDonald]

nice footage folks...amazing that the XL1 can capture that kind of detail on something that far away...even with optical zoom it still shocks me is this day of HD acquisition.

[Mark Bournes]

Don, Sorry for the firey conditions, but great video of the sun, and spots. You don't see that everyday.

Mark