Tips on Night Sky Photography using Aug 30, 2023 Super Blue Moon

[gdlewen]

This is one try--maybe not the best but it takes time to poke through the files and I'm not sure these are worth it: there's a lot that's going wrong, I think. The contrast just could not be improved. Unlike storm chasing, however, "There's always next month."

Two-Day Old Moon
Settings: ISO6400, 1/100s shutter, 200mm, f/6.3.

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[Rick Schmidt]

You really need a faster shutter speed to stop any camera movement, and I don't see why you need such a high ISO. Try some at ISO 800. There is nothing wrong with your image, except I bet you can't enlarge it very much before it falls apart, grain wise.

 

[gdlewen]

You really need a faster shutter speed to stop any camera movement, and I don't see why you need such a high ISO. Try some at ISO 800. There is nothing wrong with your image, except I bet you can't enlarge it very much before it falls apart, grain wise.

Thanks for the tips. I did try ISO800 with 1/320s shutter speed, but those were even less clear--pretty sure thin cirrostratus was the culprit. Not as noisy, of course, as the higher ISO images, but no better detail.

I feel fairly certain a shutter speed in the range 1/100s to 1/500s is OK--the Z6 has a 5-axis IBIS (In-Body-Image-Stabilization) VR feature which should make hand-held moon shots possible. This is what I'd like to reproduce, a hand-held Z6 image of the moon (link below); the OP did not give his settings, so it's a bit of trial and error to get it similar....

https://external-preview.redd.it/FH-NNNUtk4FwkrZ3VczW8ixdI9Jby0TqXVwSNd6DZVg.jpg?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=26e0d5ea4627b0daf299bc29ebbb2b0946ebd62a

www.reddit.com

But not tonight. Too much cloud cover.

 

[James K]

I do like the 2-day moon image.

I tried last night, but there was thin high cloud (wasn't that noticeable til you really looked & saw yeah there is something there).. basically made all images look out of focus (when viewed on the computer..looked fine on the little camera screen). ... Sounds like maybe same as you had Sunday/cirrostratus

Went out & did some experimenting tonight...Even though these appear like it was dark, I actually did it at that point after sunset where its still partially light out.

Main trial here was to do alittle playing with the camera's manual settings, these were:
f4.2, f5.6, f6.8 .. shutter is the default of 1/60 (you cant set both a manual f-setting & shutter setting simultaneously)
in some ways, I like the 5.6 best - seems to bring out a bit more detail, but the 4.6 color-wize is a little better (especially along the edge of the lighted side - with the higher f's it gets a bit of a greenish line there - pretty obvious in the 6.8).
I shoulda done one with full-auto as a comparison

I tried looking at the reddit link, but the photo wont show there...

 

[gdlewen]

Went out & did some experimenting tonight...Even though these appear like it was dark, I actually did it at that point after sunset where its still partially light out.

Main trial here was to do alittle playing with the camera's manual settings, these were:
f4.2, f5.6, f6.8 .. shutter is the default of 1/60 (you cant set both a manual f-setting & shutter setting simultaneously)
in some ways, I like the 5.6 best - ....

Yes--what you are getting is more what I am expecting to see, weather permitting. Not just cloudy skies but tomorrow in KS there is potential for severe weather...ENH risk posted on the Day 2 Convective Outlook. That gets priority. (We will see.)

The reddit image was--admittedly by the poster--heavily processed to sharpen the image, so we should consider that. By the way--just for the benefit of those who could not get to the reddit image, I re-post it here and note that the photographer credit is in the reddit link in my post above. It looks nice--especially for hand-held, no tripod--and I think your photos will sharpen up well if you decide to try it.

 

[James K]

Yep.. I saw the SPC outlooks .. like probably everyone here, check those regularly.

That reddit image is pretty impressive. Deff would be cool to some degree duplicate it.
Shocked they didn't use a tripod. I pretty much have to. .lol.
Looks like around 3/4 moon, wonder is something in that range is ideal size?

 

[gdlewen]

Yep.. I saw the SPC outlooks .. like probably everyone here, check those regularly.

That reddit image is pretty impressive. Deff would be cool to some degree duplicate it.
Shocked they didn't use a tripod. I pretty much have to. .lol.
Looks like around 3/4 moon, wonder is something in that range is ideal size?

The reddit OP started off with the statement (words to the effect) that he wanted to see if he could get a good hand-held moon shot with the Z6. The Z6 body has a five-axis accelerometer vibration reduction system (pitch, roll, yaw, ±z) that so far I have had a hard time defeating. I still use a tripod, though. Can't help myself.

And yes--I am trying to get one as good, or better, as the reddit image. I tend to agree with you that something 1/2-3/4 phase is probably the best phase to shoot, to get those shadows of craters, but I am obsessed with the getting the youngest moon possible.