Moon 645D 400mm 2x converter (full image)
Last night there were some patches of clear sky and the moon came out. I decided it would be a good opportunity to try out the 400mm telephoto lens and a 2x converter. I experimented with various settings, the shot above was ISO 400, 1/60, F8. It is surprisingly difficult to focus on the moon, you can’t just set the lens to infinity, but need to make micro adjustments. A more significant issue is that as the lens itself is mounted to the tripod, the rear converter and then the camera are hanging mid air. I think I could gain extra stability and sharpness by having the body mounted on a separate tripod, although this will make any changes in angle a pain. (The other option would be a custom double mount but I imagine this would be prohibitively expensive.)
Moon 645D 400mm 2x converter (crop)
One of the other key points about this exercise is that sometimes smaller sensors are very useful. In this case, the advantage of having a large sensor was made redundant by the fact I was unable to fill the frame with the subject and had to crop the image.
It was interesting to see the detail on the moon’s surface, I don’t think I’ve ever really looked at luna craters before. I’m sure with practice I will be able to get better shots, but as a first attempt this one ain’t bad.
And before you ask, the answer’s yes. It’s clearly made of cheese.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 
great great shot! This is something I’m working on. I had a couple of unsuccessful attempts – mainly because I don’t have the right equipment. I need a bigger lens.
Just be aware that a tripod is less help than you think. The moon moves and the earth moves, and fairly rapidly too. So as you go for longer focal lengths, higher resolution and longer exposures (to keep to low iso), movement blur will start to become a limitation for you.
You should look into an equatorial mount – a mount with a motor that slowly rotates the camera to counter the earth rotation. If you don’t want to spend much money (might feel a little tapped out after some recent camera gear purchases ^_^) or if you want a hands-on project you can build a simple “barn door” mount yourself (I’ve been meaning to do it for a long time): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_door_tracker
A nice bit of Wensleydale there!
Nice one Chris! I see the moon and the moon sees me!
Not bad Chris. It would take an awfully long lens to fill the field of that sensor! For a tripod mounted 800mm moving target, not bad at all.
Chris,
Was the the 400 EDIF?
Yes it was the 400 EDIF. Great lens if you can carry it. They were also relatively cheap a few years ago but I think there price will have gone up now the 645D has come out.