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HS25 --- an even better Saturn and a megaMoon ...
- Thread starter Kim Letkeman
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Kim Letkeman
Forum Pro
I preformed quite a lot of processing ... balancing contrast and local contrast delicately to resolve the rings and planet almost separately. I played with vibrance and saturation controls to dial up the color a bit, without changing the hue at all.
Meaning that I performed only global changes without touching colour balance. So this is what the D7000 was able to capture on the sensor, which I think it pretty ok.
I think I need to buy a telescope to have more fun than this ...
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Kim Letkeman
Forum Pro
It is a very good camera, no question. I am also finding that the HS25 is surprisingly good, which tells me that the HS30 is even better with its RAW capabilities ... i.e. it is the F770 with better controls and possibly a better lens. But it does not fit in a purse or pocket.
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Billx08
Forum Pro
Your D7000 did better than ok but cameras have more fight in them as the Moon Maid's latest photo shows. But you'd also need a big lens and a TC or two, so a telescope might be more cost effective.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=41434113
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=41434343Better than expected, considering it wasn't even 20deg. above the horizon. Usually I won't bother photographing it that low in the sky.Nice moon. One can see you got problems with turbulence, there are softer regions on the lunar surface, others are sharper. Typical
October will be better.
alexisgreat
Veteran Member
I was hoping you would read this message before you started testing the F550 vs the HS25....... besides noise, the other thing we can differentiate based on sensors is dynamic range. According to Eric (the guy that runs the French site on the HS series cameras), it seems as though the HS30 has about 0.5 stop more DR at ISO 100 for each step of the DR ladder. Based on other reviews I've seen, it seems like this DR advantage increases as you go up the ISO scale, until it reaches 2 full stops of more DR by the time each camera is at ISO 1600! The advantage lessens after that, back down to 1 stop by ISO 3200. I was wondering if you could confirm this in your tests. Also, it seems as though the HS30 EXR DR mode is better than using any of the semimanual or manual modes with DR 400 (for example M size DR 400 on A priority) I was wondering if you could confirm this also, and if you noticed the same behavior with the F550?
Based on your testing so far, what have you noticed as the best settings for higher ISO (800 and above?) With the HS20 Im using A priority M size DR 400, Provia Mid color, Standard tone, Low Noise Reduction and Soft Sharpening. Is there any benefit to using M size DR100 for lower noise levels at higher ISO or would you stick with M size DR400? Thanks, Kim.
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Based on your testing so far, what have you noticed as the best settings for higher ISO (800 and above?) With the HS20 Im using A priority M size DR 400, Provia Mid color, Standard tone, Low Noise Reduction and Soft Sharpening. Is there any benefit to using M size DR100 for lower noise levels at higher ISO or would you stick with M size DR400? Thanks, Kim.
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alexisgreat
Veteran Member
If you would like to do some afocal astrophotography with the HS25/30 Im going to suggest you get a telescope that takes 2" eyepieces.....many refractors take these as well as SCT with 2" diagonals. Agena even makes two eyepieces that have 57mm threads, so you could fit that right onto the lens with a 58mm-57mm step down ring. I tried doing afocal with a 1.25" eyepiece and you need to keep the lens at wide angle, the more you extend it to zoom the smaller the image gets haha......
And even at full wide, the best you can do is cover about 5 megapixels of the camera's 16 megapixels with 1.25" eyepieces. I could do a lot better with my 7 year old Olympus C-7070 which not only covered all of its 7 megapixels, but allowed me to zoom in 4x more to boot. I think the HS series would do fine though with 2" eyepieces. Another reason I stick to refractors or SCT is because I really want to use correct image diagonals.
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And even at full wide, the best you can do is cover about 5 megapixels of the camera's 16 megapixels with 1.25" eyepieces. I could do a lot better with my 7 year old Olympus C-7070 which not only covered all of its 7 megapixels, but allowed me to zoom in 4x more to boot. I think the HS series would do fine though with 2" eyepieces. Another reason I stick to refractors or SCT is because I really want to use correct image diagonals.
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http://Alex_the_GREAT.photoshop.com
Kim Letkeman
Forum Pro
And they say money can't buy happinessYour D7000 did better than ok but cameras have more fight in them as the Moon Maid's latest photo shows. But you'd also need a big lens and a TC or two, so a telescope might be more cost effective.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=41434113
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=41434343Better than expected, considering it wasn't even 20deg. above the horizon. Usually I won't bother photographing it that low in the sky.Nice moon. One can see you got problems with turbulence, there are softer regions on the lunar surface, others are sharper. Typical
October will be better.
I would love to shoot the D800E and all that glass ...--
http://kimletkeman.blogspot.com
alexisgreat
Veteran Member
Kim, I noticed on your site you mentioned the HS25 had a tele focal length of 687mm, did you measure this using the moon's diameter in pixels? If so I wanted to see if the angular diameter in pixels with the HS25 at full optical zoom is any different than it is with the HS20. With the HS20 I measured an angular diameter of the full moon going from top to bottom (not left to right) of approx 943 pixels (it seemed to vary a bit, but that was the average.) Was it about the same with the HS25?
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http://Alex_the_GREAT.photoshop.com
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alexisgreat
Veteran Member
ISO 1600 at M size is very good but, looking at the DPR swatches, it looks like they tested the F550 at L size default settings, so maybe at L size ISO 800 is as high as you want to go?
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http://Alex_the_GREAT.photoshop.com
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http://Alex_the_GREAT.photoshop.com
Kim Letkeman
Forum Pro
For focal length, I'm using 5.45 (1/2" sensor crop factor) time 126mm (focal length of lens at maz zoom.)
We all know that Fuji left the original HS10 lens on the body, and it is market at 720mm. But they changed the sensor from 1/2.3" to 1/2" ...
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http://kimletkeman.blogspot.com
We all know that Fuji left the original HS10 lens on the body, and it is market at 720mm. But they changed the sensor from 1/2.3" to 1/2" ...
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http://kimletkeman.blogspot.com
Kim Letkeman
Forum Pro
I shoot in M size and the moon is around 664 pixels from top to bottom.
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alexisgreat
Veteran Member
Oh okay, I was going to ask you next if you found M size DR 400 better for the moon and Saturn than L size DR 100. I use M size DR 400 for most of my shots but use L size DR 100 when I need extra resolution (like at the Tele end for very small subjects or for macro shots in really good light.)
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http://Alex_the_GREAT.photoshop.com
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alexisgreat
Veteran Member
Looks like our numbers line up extremely well....... 664 pixels multiplied by the sq.rt. of 2 (the difference in each dimension when doubling the resolution)= 942.88 pixels (round to 943), which matches my number exactly
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http://Alex_the_GREAT.photoshop.com
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http://Alex_the_GREAT.photoshop.com
jcmarfilph
Veteran Member
X-S1 might be the only camera you need. Way cheaper than those expensive bodies and lenses.And they say money can't buy happinessYour D7000 did better than ok but cameras have more fight in them as the Moon Maid's latest photo shows. But you'd also need a big lens and a TC or two, so a telescope might be more cost effective.
http://actionphotosbymarianne.com/TestIm/DSC_0253m.jpg
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=41434113
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=41434343Better than expected, considering it wasn't even 20deg. above the horizon. Usually I won't bother photographing it that low in the sky.Nice moon. One can see you got problems with turbulence, there are softer regions on the lunar surface, others are sharper. Typical
October will be better.
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http://kimletkeman.blogspot.com
-=[ Joms ]=-
alexisgreat
Veteran Member
Hopefully we can get some good astroshots! I'm going to wait until the moon clears some obstructions to my SE (the side effect of living so close to the city) and do some imaging around 3 AM or so, but here is a snapshot from Starry Night of where all the players are, as of approximately 2 hrs ago
and
from the other night
and last night
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and
from the other night
and last night
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Billx08
Forum Pro
You won't convince Kim with photos like that one. It's not only grossly inferior to the Moon Maid's photo, it's not as good as what Kim can get with his D7000. Your XS-1 photo shows much less detail, has much less clarity, has the murky/low contrast look of Fuji's long zoom photos, and has pretty bad blue CA on the lower right border of the moon. These are only screen captures. If the original images were compared, the XS-1 would look even worse by comparison. For what it promises, the XS-1 is overpriced. It is however, cheaper than the pro bodies and lenses, but they're bought by the best photographers because they excel at performance and image quality. Fuji's X cameras pay less attention to those attributes than they do to how they look and feel. You may stroke your Fujis before placing them lovingly in their cases or drawers at night, but if you value image quality you probably dream of of a 400mm f/2.8 on a D800, even if you aren't able to remember those dreams. Compare these photos. If the crops won't expand, compare the originals.X-S1 might be the only camera you need. Way cheaper than those expensive bodies and lenses.And they say money can't buy happinessYour D7000 did better than ok but cameras have more fight in them as the Moon Maid's latest photo shows. But you'd also need a big lens and a TC or two, so a telescope might be more cost effective.
http://actionphotosbymarianne.com/TestIm/DSC_0253m.jpg
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=41434113
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=41434343Better than expected, considering it wasn't even 20deg. above the horizon. Usually I won't bother photographing it that low in the sky.Nice moon. One can see you got problems with turbulence, there are softer regions on the lunar surface, others are sharper. Typical
October will be better.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7203/6822420956_02b6db4ea5_b.jpg
At least this time you couldn't cheat by shooting a moon closeup.
alexisgreat
Veteran Member
Augustin Man
Forum Pro
Thank you very much for the advice, although it wasn't addressed to me: I know that besides the experiments I have to learn a lot in order to get decent shots, because that's all I could hope about the "writing with light" that's at the same time technique and art!
All the best,
Augustin
Kim Letkeman
Forum Pro
Yes, photography is one of those crafts that requires both technical skills and artistic talent (to at least a minimal level) in order to get satisfactory results.
This forum is a gear head forum, but a lot of the commentary is about composition and lighting, which is really artistic in scope.
If you are interested in some of the classics (a limited set, I admit), I've listed my favourites here: http://kimletkeman.blogspot.ca/2010/04/my-favorite-ie-best-photography-books.html
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http://kimletkeman.blogspot.com
alexisgreat
Veteran Member
if you look up in the southern and western skies from west to south you can see the very bright star capella, the very bright star procyon and the planets mars and saturn and the very bright star spica, in my constellation virgo
capella and venus are between W and NW procyon is between W and SW mars is SW saturn and spica are between S and SE
and the very bright stars pollux is in the west and regulus in the SW very close to mars
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capella and venus are between W and NW procyon is between W and SW mars is SW saturn and spica are between S and SE
and the very bright stars pollux is in the west and regulus in the SW very close to mars
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http://Alex_the_GREAT.photoshop.com
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