Moon by me

[Ralph]

When I can't sleep I will head outside and get a shot or 2 of the moon. Not all work sadly but I think this one has.

• ILCE-7M2
• 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS | Contemporary 020
• 322.5 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 800

 

[dschuffert]

Great shot!

 

[Jeff A]

I agree, great shot but, I have question. I shot the moon for the first time myself this week. We even used the same lens. So tell me, why is YOUR moon white and MY moon is orange? A newbie wants to know.

• ILCE-7M3
• 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS | Contemporary 020
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/10
• 1/100 sec
• ISO 100

 

[Ralph]

Thanks so much Dschuffert I appreciate it a lot.
Jeff I am not one to ask this as I am Mr Basic as anything. I don't understand a lot about the workings and stuff.
But this isn't what you want to hear.
The only thing I can think of is that you could have some sort of UV filter on your lens .
This is the only thing I can think of as I have looked at both our settings which are not that far from each other.
And I use my camera to shot the moon without changing anything from the way I shoot throughout the day.
I have heard some change up some setting's for night use but I leave mine as is for everything .
And only move the Shutter speed and ISO from time to time.
I hope this can help. But I do hope some one with more tech can give you a better answer.

 

[garuda]

.... So tell me, why is YOUR moon white and MY moon is orange? A newbie wants to know.

Jeff, our moon was outsourced to be made in China to keep costs down and therefore is not quite as pristine as the Australian moon. The Aussies made their moon from more pure lunar dust.
Actually I think it's because the sun is mostly shining on the side opposite of what we are seeing in the U.S. thus not nearly as bright (white).

 

[Jeff A]

Jeff, our moon was outsourced to be made in China to keep costs down and therefore is not quite as pristine as the Australian moon. The Aussies made their moon from more pure lunar dust.
Actually I think it's because the sun is mostly shining on the side opposite of what we are seeing in the U.S. thus not nearly as bright (white).

Why am I just finding this out now? Thanks Mike!

 

[AlphaWorld]

The other question is what white balance did you use? You can get a orange cast by setting your white balance too high. I believe the right one to use is around daylight - that worked for me.

 

[Astrnmrtom]

2X on daylight white balance. It IS reflected sunlight after all.

When I first started doing solar imaging in the early 2Ks, I tried doing everything "right" and was disappointed with the results. Then on a whim I started experimenting with all my exposure settings. I even tried a color filters that were wrong for the wavelength I was imaging in (h-alpha, monochrome, red). That's when I got my first good image. Although conventional wisdom said a pale blue filter to image a red Sun was silly, what it did do was dim down the image and correct for too long of an exposure. That's when I learned what looked good in the viewfinder wasn't good in the final image. To get a good exposure I had to set the camera to an exposure that looked way too dark. It was a breakthrough. That's why I always suggest beginners in astrophotography try a bunch of various settings including ones that you may feel are "wrong" because that's how you discover what works best.

One other thing to note is the moon will be redder the closer it is to the horizon which can mess with your white balance. The air is more turbulent there too. You can "cheat" and set the camera to B&W or mono in a pinch. The problem with that is the moon does have some subtle color variation across the surface and you'll loose that detail although It's usually only seen at fairly high power.

Here's one of my first attempts with the a6000. 1/500sec, ISO 320. Shot through a 94mm f/7 Refractor (658mm focal length) Cropped.

• ILCE-6000
• 1/500 sec
• ISO 320