KathyNS wrote: ↑Sat May 18, 2019 7:08 pm
Larry 1969 wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2019 10:25 pm
So, I always start with lunar photos because the moon is easy to find and track. Do you think it best to take video of the moon vs photos?
For the Moon, definitely shoot video. It is super bright, so you can push the frame rate as high as your camera and computer will take. High frame rates cut through poor seeing, and give you lots of frames to choose from.
I'll disagree with Kathy -- just this one time. ;-)
The moon is actually a very easy exposure because of its brightness. There's an exposure guideline referred to as the "Looney 11 Rule". This rule says that IF you use
f/11, you can get a correct exposure of the moon by setting the shutter speed to the inverse of the ISO. E.g. at ISO 100, you would use 1/100th sec. At ISO 200, then use 1/200th sec, etc. BUT this only works at
f/11. You can "trade" stops of exposure if using some other focal ratio.
For example, if you have the SkyWatcher 10"
f/4.7
DOB, then that's roughly 2.5 stops more light ... so you can compensate by setting the shutter speed 2.5 times shorter (e.g.
f/4.7, ISO 100, and instead of 1/100th ... you would set a shutter speed to about 1/600th sec. (I think the camera increments in 1/3rd stops ... not 1/2 stops ... but being off by that small fraction wont harm the exposure.)
Anyway, at such a fast shutter speed you wont need to worry about tracking (tracking is a big issue in long exposures). This would let you get a pretty decent exposure in just one shot and it wouldn't require much in the way of post processing (a little contrast adjustment and maybe a little sharpening and you're pretty much there.)
You can do video... but video works best with a camera that can collect non-lossy frames and your Canon camera is not able to do this. It also works better at a high frame rate and your Canon camera wont be capable of a particularly high frame rate.
Also, video requires post processing (AutoStakkert2 or Registax ... but those prefer .
AVI files and your Canon wont produce those. PIPP can be used to convert the Canon movie files into other formats such as
AVI but it can't get around the lossy nature of the input files ... which sort of defeats the point of using video.
There are some nice astrophotography
CMOS imaging cameras that are great for planetary imaging. Some entry models are roughly around $150 USD (well.. with all these new tariffs maybe the prices will change) and up. These cameras usually have much smaller imaging chips so depending not he scope they may not be able to capture the entire moon (but planets aren't a problem because their angular size is very tiny). Going in that direction (video) can and will net better results (Kathy isn't wrong) but it will require a bit more effort. It's a learning curve. For this reason, I'd start with the simple single-frame photo using the Looney 11 rule ... and then start working your way up as you gain experience.
Clear Skies,
Tim
