It finally happened. I got a clear sky here in Manila. - Page 1

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - It finally happened. I got a clear sky here in Manila.

Posted: 10/2/2017 10:54:47 AM EDT

Ya'll know what that means.

The monster rig got it's first trial run tonight.

First clear sky I've seen since hell, I can't even remember.

I'm processing the pics now. Let's just say that I'm beyond blown the fuck away. Unprocessed I've seen details and craters that I've never imaged before.

...after processing, my mind is fucking blown.

I haven't even tried a stack yet, and I'm still working my way through the pics. I was shooting at 10fps, first with the 2x, then I put the 1.4x in the mix.

Ya'll are gonna love this shit when I get em done.

Edit: If you didn't see the initial post about this..

That's a 400mm f/2.8 > 2x TC > 1.4x TC > D500

If I've done the math right, that's an effective focal length of 1680mm

Posted: 10/2/2017 12:49:35 PM EDT

[#1]

Quick edits

400, 2x, d500

Cropped in:

Near 100%:

400, 2x, 1.4x, d500

Cropped in:

Near 100%

I'll get some more up later.

These have not had any sharpening applied outside of the lightroom defaults.

Posted: 10/2/2017 1:05:25 PM EDT

[#2]

HOLY SHIT those are awesome shots!!

Gave me goosebumps a little.

Can I share them?

Posted: 10/2/2017 1:07:47 PM EDT

[#3]

Damn nice photos

And here I was thinking you worked offshore and it was crew change day ;)

Posted: 10/2/2017 1:09:44 PM EDT

[#4]

Quote History

Quoted:
HOLY SHIT those are awesome shots!!

Gave me goosebumps a little.

Can I share them?

View Quote

Let's hold off on the sharing just now. These are quick edits for the benefit of the photo forum.

Let me see what I can come up with for final images and we'll see what happens.

Posted: 10/2/2017 2:00:33 PM EDT

[#5]

Here's a stack. This is a combination of 29 frames (from an original of 70) from the 400 + 2x + 1.4x + D500

Here's some 100% crops from that stack:

Here's the messed up part. I'm shooting through the smog infested Manila, and my shutter speed was admittedly a bit too slow. I think I can actually do better than this, if I were in a better area.

Even still, I've never imaged details at this level. I am truly floored by what I've accomplished here tonight.

Posted: 10/2/2017 3:05:23 PM EDT

[#6]

Wow, those are awesome!

What do you think the effective f stop was?
Assuming the native 2.8, -2 for the 2x, -1 for the 1.4?
And what ISO?

I love looking at lunar photography.

Posted: 10/2/2017 3:08:31 PM EDT

[#7]

Quote History

Quoted:
Wow, those are awesome!

What do you think the effective f stop was?
Assuming the native 2.8, -2 for the 2x, -1 for the 1.4?
And what ISO?

I love looking at lunar photography.

View Quote

Correct. The max was 8 these were done at f/11

I used iso 400. In hindsight I could have ran that quite a bit higher for the shutter speed and canceled the noise during the stacking process.

Stacking wasn't really part of the plan when I started out though.

Posted: 10/2/2017 3:15:52 PM EDT

[#8]

Very nice photos. I admit I came in to this thread hoping for more photos of your 2 kitties but the photos you posted are pretty amazing.

Posted: 10/2/2017 3:28:06 PM EDT

[#9]

Can you get us a picture of the bottom half of a lunar lander? ;)

Posted: 10/2/2017 8:12:03 PM EDT

[#10]

Thank you Z- awesome stuff.

Posted: 10/2/2017 8:17:51 PM EDT

[#11]

Holy schnakes! Nice work, Zack. Guess I'm going to have to start upping my game!

Posted: 10/3/2017 8:33:52 AM EDT

[#12]

I did a stack of the 400 + 2x, and I did a reprocess of the 400 + 2x + 1.4x to get them to match as close as I could anyway. I did the crops again, close as I could eyeballing it. You be the judge.

moon 2x 14x web by Zack, on Flickr

moon 2x web by Zack, on Flickr

moon 2x 14x crop 1 by Zack, on Flickr

moon 2x crop 1 by Zack, on Flickr

moon 2x 14x crop 2 by Zack, on Flickr

moon 2x crop 2 by Zack, on Flickr

Posted: 10/3/2017 8:48:28 AM EDT

[#13]

Outstanding pictures.

Posted: 10/3/2017 9:14:14 AM EDT

[#14]

Great pictures.

Posted: 10/3/2017 7:38:38 PM EDT

[#15]

Nice, i love that monster mash of a setup.

Personally I like less contrast in lunar shots, but again thats personal. Nice and sharp looking though.

I'm not sure I could live somewhere where i cant see the night sky, I'd go mad, i already live in one of the cloudiest regions of the country

Posted: 10/3/2017 8:09:02 PM EDT

[#16]

Great photos!

Posted: 10/3/2017 8:32:28 PM EDT

[#17]

I'm just going to hang my moon hat up. No way I can compete (not that it's a competition!) with that.

This is probably my best shot from a technical perspective, and it's 2nd fiddle to yours.

DSC_8856-Moon160124 Late by FredMan, on Flickr

Posted: 10/3/2017 9:21:45 PM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:
Nice, i love that monster mash of a setup.

Personally I like less contrast in lunar shots, but again thats personal. Nice and sharp looking though.

I'm not sure I could live somewhere where i cant see the night sky, I'd go mad, i already live in one of the cloudiest regions of the country

View Quote

The contrast in the original images was done for a reason. Helps the details really stick out like the debris trails.

Posted: 10/4/2017 10:18:02 AM EDT

[#19]

Pretty sure those are the nicest shots of the moon that I have ever seen.

Great work !!!

Posted: 10/7/2017 11:34:10 PM EDT

[#20]

Nice work!
You have inspired me to get my telescope out again.
In the past, I have been shooting afocal projection with an old Nikon CP5400 (it works, but not as well as prime), so I just ordered a T-ring and SCT adapter for my Nikon D90 and Celestron 2350mm F10 SCT.
You were thinking "Ha" with your "stack", I know a 2X barlow behind my 2350mm SCT would be ridiculous....

Posted: 10/8/2017 2:46:02 AM EDT

[#21]

Quote History

Quoted:
Nice work!
You have inspired me to get my telescope out again.
In the past, I have been shooting afocal projection with an old Nikon CP5400 (it works, but not as well as prime), so I just ordered a T-ring and SCT adapter for my Nikon D90 and Celestron 2350mm F10 SCT.
You were thinking "Ha" with your "stack", I know a 2X barlow behind my 2350mm SCT would be ridiculous....

View Quote

Yep, if you can get the sky to cooperate, get the stability for that long of a focal length, and put together a decent stack, there's no doubt you can top these images.

Posted: 10/8/2017 2:56:19 AM EDT

[#22]

Thread of the year? Love it. Thank you for posting Zack.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - It finally happened. I got a clear sky here in Manila.

General » Photography & Photoshopping

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