RETURN to AlphaUniverse.com
Jump to content
Welcome To Our Community!

Discuss, share & explore photography, video, vlogging and making the most of your gear.

Blood Super Moon - Could it be better?


Steve-0

Recommended Posts

1115i262AC06A849FC7BB.jpg.d61266f304057a1ae432f43a4c0591e1.jpg

I took a lot of pictures of the "blood super moon" - aka the lunar exclipse in May 2021.

I was on the island of Saipan and had a great view of the event but I'm disappointed with the photos.

I was using my A6000 on  a tripod with a SEL55210 maxed out at 210 mm.  I tried a lot of different settings and this was probably the best one. Settings for this shot were: ƒ/6.3 1/3 210mm ISO400. 

 

Still, it never looked like the manual focus was perfect. I used the peaking focus and it seemed to be correct. Could this picture have been better or do I simply need a longer lens to get this sort of shot? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 6
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Looking at your shutter speed of 1/3rd sec. leads me to believe that you had some vibration when tripping the shutter with your 210mm. My suggestion for future attempts would be to either use a cable release or use shutter-timer at 5 seconds for a lens that long. Also was there any wind that evening? All these factors can lead to slight blurring. I do a lot of night work and have experienced all of these issues...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Don...There was little or no wind but and I actually was using the remote shutter app. I guess my real question is if it's possible to get a nice sharp picture of the moon with manual focus and the 210mm lens. Anyone have a good example?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking at your shutter speed of 1/3rd sec. leads me to believe that you had some vibration when tripping the shutter with your 210mm. My suggestion for future attempts would be to either use a cable release or use shutter-timer at 5 seconds for a lens that long. Also was there any wind that evening? All these factors can lead to slight blurring. I do a lot of night work and have experienced all of these issues...

I'd love a tutorial on this. Is there a way to really lock down a long lens for long exposure shots? It seems wind is my nemesis! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, the moon actually moves quite fast. I've used the good old "Focal Length vs Shutter Speed Rule" to capture moon photos in the past. Since you were at 210mm, the minimum shutter speed would be 1/320s (210 x 1.5 [APS-C crop factor] = 315 > round up to 320) to compensate for movement. If you keep it at Auto ISO, then the camera will compensate for exposure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Don...There was little or no wind but and I actually was using the remote shutter app. I guess my real question is if it's possible to get a nice sharp picture of the moon with manual focus and the 210mm lens. Anyone have a good example?

It's possible even with no wind, there is still vibration from just standing near the tripod. I'm a heavy guy so I try to stay 10 feet away in addition to using the remote shutter app. You might be able to do manual focus, however you may need a star tracker, or pump up the ISO and increase the shutter speed the moon moves fast at a magnified focal length.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

  • Trending Content

  • Featured Products

  • Topics

×
×
  • Create New...