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Mars shot with T3i

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tymevest

tymevest

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Has anyone had any good results shooting the planet Mars with telephoto lenses, not through a telescope? I tried it with 70-300VC lens and 2X TC. It was very hard to focus and on most shots, it looked like a flare or CA on one or both sides of the planet. I retried focusing probably 20-25 times and gave up, since it was 28 degrees outside and my fingers were getting numb. I just didn't have enough focal length and the lens isn't sharp enough with something this small. I measured several and the planet was only 8-10 pixels across at full size. This is the best one at full size from a raw. Definitely no detail, just an orange ball.



It was cold outside and the frost was starting to cover everything but none on the lens. The moon was above and to the right side. I used a lens hood so no light from it got on the lens but the added light could have reflected off the atmosphere. The sky was cloud free but only the brighter stars were visible.

The best of the unedited (except for enlarging to 200%) jpgs is this one. I always seem to get the red glow/flare regardless of the exposure.



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Tymevest
 
Great effort, but you really need a LOT more magnification to capture anything beyond a very small disk. You can try Jupiter, which is a much larger object with more discernible surface detail. With the right exposure at 600mm and optimal viewing conditions, you might just get something you'd be a bit happier with. I've been able to see a little banding on Jupiter at 400mm, but still not a great shot. I think you have to get up to 1200mm or so before you start getting a large enough object in view to start seeing much detail. BTW, you also need the very best possible optics. You would likely need an L lens to deliver the sharpest image at maximum FL.
tymevest said:
Has anyone had any good results shooting the planet Mars with telephoto lenses, not through a telescope? I tried it with 70-300VC lens and 2X TC. It was very hard to focus and on most shots, it looked like a flare or CA on one or both sides of the planet. I retried focusing probably 20-25 times and gave up, since it was 28 degrees outside and my fingers were getting numb. I just didn't have enough focal length and the lens isn't sharp enough with something this small. I measured several and the planet was only 8-10 pixels across at full size. This is the best one at full size from a raw. Definitely no detail, just an orange ball.



It was cold outside and the frost was starting to cover everything but none on the lens. The moon was above and to the right side. I used a lens hood so no light from it got on the lens but the added light could have reflected off the atmosphere. The sky was cloud free but only the brighter stars were visible.

The best of the unedited (except for enlarging to 200%) jpgs is this one. I always seem to get the red glow/flare regardless of the exposure.



--
Tymevest
Click to expand...
 
I wouldn't expect much shooting with a conventional, consumer camera.

But yes, I have tried it myself. And had the same results.
 
Jerry-astro said:
Great effort, but you really need a LOT more magnification to capture anything beyond a very small disk. You can try Jupiter, which is a much larger object with more discernible surface detail. With the right exposure at 600mm and optimal viewing conditions, you might just get something you'd be a bit happier with. I've been able to see a little banding on Jupiter at 400mm, but still not a great shot. I think you have to get up to 1200mm or so before you start getting a large enough object in view to start seeing much detail. BTW, you also need the very best possible optics. You would likely need an L lens to deliver the sharpest image at maximum FL.
Click to expand...
Jerry-astro said:
Jerry-astro said:
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This was just for fun. Never tried Mars yet. It wasn't the best night to shoot with the bright moon not far from Mars in the sky. I did vary the exposure/shutter speed but it didn't seem to help. It would be nice to have the sky clear enough to see the Milky Way. That only seems to happen a few times a year.

The best shot of Jupiter stacked from 3 pictures and at 200%. Tamron 70-300VC with a Kenko MC4 2.0x TC.



This is at 100%.


Jerry-astro said:
Jerry-astro said:
Tymevest
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Click to expand...
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Tymevest
 
Tymeshot
Top shot the last image...one of the moons just going into occultation.

cheers Dave S :)
 
..... just for kicks. I was disappointed by the results, so I never made another Mars attempt again.

Here's a link to the 6400 mm shot (Sigmonster + 8x worth of TCs):

http://www.pbase.com/liquidstone/image/51636156/original
tymevest said:
Has anyone had any good results shooting the planet Mars with telephoto lenses, not through a telescope?
Click to expand...
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Romy



PHILIPPINE WILD BIRDS (Over 260 species captured in habitat, and counting.)
http://www.romyocon.net

Long Lens Imaging (1000 mm and beyond)
http://www.longlens.net
 
Heck of a try nevertheless. I used to hunt Mars with a pretty decent 8" Schmidt Cassegrain scope and just seeing much of any surface detail was very difficult. You do show some in your images, which, considering the stack of glass that got you there, is still pretty amazing.

I still think your moon shots taken with stacked lenses are without question the best I've seen anywhere. You set the standard there.
liquidstone said:
..... just for kicks. I was disappointed by the results, so I never made another Mars attempt again.

Here's a link to the 6400 mm shot (Sigmonster + 8x worth of TCs):

http://www.pbase.com/liquidstone/image/51636156/original
tymevest said:
Has anyone had any good results shooting the planet Mars with telephoto lenses, not through a telescope?
Click to expand...
--
Romy



PHILIPPINE WILD BIRDS (Over 260 species captured in habitat, and counting.)
http://www.romyocon.net

Long Lens Imaging (1000 mm and beyond)
http://www.longlens.net
Click to expand...
 
liquidstone said:
..... just for kicks. I was disappointed by the results, so I never made another Mars attempt again.

Here's a link to the 6400 mm shot (Sigmonster + 8x worth of TCs):

http://www.pbase.com/liquidstone/image/51636156/original
tymevest said:
Has anyone had any good results shooting the planet Mars with telephoto lenses, not through a telescope?
Click to expand...
--
Romy



PHILIPPINE WILD BIRDS (Over 260 species captured in habitat, and counting.)
http://www.romyocon.net

Long Lens Imaging (1000 mm and beyond)
http://www.longlens.net
Click to expand...
Nice work. I enjoyed looking at them all. I've come to the conclusion that better resolution means much much more $$$$$. With my setup, T3i/Tamron 70-300VC, Kenko MC4 1.4x and MC4 2.0x, stacking the TCs doesn't work well. The MC4 versions may not be quite as goof as the Pro version. And they amplify any problems of the lens. Using either TC by itself and enlarging the images in PS to the same size as the stacked picture looks better with more detail. Going backwards, even reducing the stacked (2.8x) image to the size of the 1.4x, the 1.4x still looks better. I'm going to try the Kenko 3X. Probably won't work but it's returnable if it doesn't. The reviews are all the same for TCs. One person gets it, it won't autofocus so it's junk. Another person works with it and gets great results. I'll find out the hard way.
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Tymevest
 
Jerry-astro said:
Heck of a try nevertheless. I used to hunt Mars with a pretty decent 8" Schmidt Cassegrain scope and just seeing much of any surface detail was very difficult. You do show some in your images, which, considering the stack of glass that got you there, is still pretty amazing.

I still think your moon shots taken with stacked lenses are without question the best I've seen anywhere. You set the standard there.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Jerry. Just catching the red planet within the frame of the 350D + 6400 mm was pretty tough. The manual focus was even more challenging, as the slightest touch on the Sigmonster's focus ring throws Mars out of the frame. :)

--
Romy



PHILIPPINE WILD BIRDS (Over 260 species captured in habitat, and counting.)
http://www.romyocon.net

Long Lens Imaging (1000 mm and beyond)
http://www.longlens.net
 
liquidstone said:
Jerry-astro said:
Heck of a try nevertheless. I used to hunt Mars with a pretty decent 8" Schmidt Cassegrain scope and just seeing much of any surface detail was very difficult. You do show some in your images, which, considering the stack of glass that got you there, is still pretty amazing.

I still think your moon shots taken with stacked lenses are without question the best I've seen anywhere. You set the standard there.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Jerry. Just catching the red planet within the frame of the 350D + 6400 mm was pretty tough. The manual focus was even more challenging, as the slightest touch on the Sigmonster's focus ring throws Mars out of the frame. :)
Click to expand...
A red-dot scope on the camera makes it so much easier to frame with a long telephoto lens. At 600mm I had no trouble getting Mars on the LCD even at 5x magnification. Without it, I'd be swinging the camera all over the sky. This is an aluminum mount from Photosolve and a cheap $29 red-dot.





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Tymevest
 
Using my Swarovski birdwatching telescope at 25x magnification fairly fills the eyepiece with a moonshot and delivers quite good result on Jupiter and its moons. Problem is that when i add a camera, (you can buy an adaptor), the earth's or the planet's movement comes into it and for an exposure of any length you'd be surprised how much the old earth moves. You can of course buy an expensive mount that tracks movement but this is getting into expensive stuff and you still won't get very satisfactory shots.
Some great images on the net. Download them......
 
Westkip said:
Using my Swarovski birdwatching telescope at 25x magnification fairly fills the eyepiece with a moonshot and delivers quite good result on Jupiter and its moons. Problem is that when i add a camera, (you can buy an adaptor), the earth's or the planet's movement comes into it and for an exposure of any length you'd be surprised how much the old earth moves. You can of course buy an expensive mount that tracks movement but this is getting into expensive stuff and you still won't get very satisfactory shots.
Some great images on the net. Download them......
Click to expand...
What I do is to get the moon or planet in the lower left hand side of the LCD screen and let it walk up and towards the upper right side (in Ohio). That gives me a couple extra minutes to focus and get a few shots before it moves out of the frame. A geared head would be nice to adjust for the movement. I use a ball head so unlocking it I lose track of the target. The red-dot helps me quickly get it back in the frame again. With anything up to about 300mm, I don't need it unless I'm tracking a moving target.
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Tymevest
 
Interesting tool/approach.

I normally have no problem acquiring a BIF through the VF at 800 mm + 1.3x or 1.6x DSLR sensor.

I have no trouble likewise catching the ISS streaking across the sky with the 7D + 1600 mm.

But 6400 mm + an APS-C sensor is another ball game. This is an equivalent AOV of 10.24 meters focal length on a FF sensor. I'd be interested to see how your solution works at such small AOV.
tymevest said:
A red-dot scope on the camera makes it so much easier to frame with a long telephoto lens. At 600mm I had no trouble getting Mars on the LCD even at 5x magnification. Without it, I'd be swinging the camera all over the sky. This is an aluminum mount from Photosolve and a cheap $29 red-dot.





--
Tymevest
Click to expand...
--
Romy



PHILIPPINE WILD BIRDS (Over 260 species captured in habitat, and counting.)
http://www.romyocon.net

Long Lens Imaging (1000 mm and beyond)
http://www.longlens.net
 
Best planetary imaging/viewing weather is heavy, still, air. Because the planets have discernable discs, they are affected by atmospheric cell movement. On cold clear nights you might find that in a telescope you get image breakdown past 100x. So the best time I have found is actually pre-fog conditions many times. Viewing or imaging Mars during non-conjunction time can be pretty frustrating because the image is small. Due to the orbital time of Mars those conjunctions happen about every other year (odd numbered ones in the last decade or so). Best to stay with Jupiter or Saturn at other times. Different color filters can bring out many features on the planets that can be hard to detect without them. Best thing to image with is a high quality telescope, especially an apochromatic refractor. Think of it as an L lens with the optical focusing group thrown out. And yes you need more magnification but only what the atmosphere is willing to give you.
Kent Gittings
 
liquidstone said:
Interesting tool/approach.

I normally have no problem acquiring a BIF through the VF at 800 mm + 1.3x or 1.6x DSLR sensor.

I have no trouble likewise catching the ISS streaking across the sky with the 7D + 1600 mm.

But 6400 mm + an APS-C sensor is another ball game. This is an equivalent AOV of 10.24 meters focal length on a FF sensor. I'd be interested to see how your solution works at such small AOV.
Click to expand...
liquidstone said:
liquidstone said:
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
I've had these on a couple cameras. The easiest way for BIF is to hold the camera about 18 inches away from your face and keep both eyes open. Position the scope so your dominate eye sees the dot over the target. Like on the picture below, with both eyes open you can see the whole surrounding sky so it's easy to move to frame the subject. By keeping the dot near the center of the scope's lens, the camera will lock focus. It's as quick as pointing your finger at something and shooting when you see the tip of your finger over the target. It's like a spotter scope on a high powered telescope.

This setup is cheap, about $50-$60. Some of these scopes can run $400+. You don't need one that good. This $30 scope gets me on target quickly and is plenty accurate for a camera.
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Tymevest
 
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