Photographing the moon...

[stevebb]

....and other far away stuff

Ive been given a Canon EOS 300d by my dad with the standard 18-55m lens and a Sigma 17-125mm (?) lens.

I dont understand all the terminology yet as Im new to DSLR and Ive got photography books on the way to me to learn the basics and more. THese are the books for your interest:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0240519671

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0240515927

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0240514866

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0340869860

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0715311271

from reading the forums for advice i have ordered the following from bristol cameras

Sigma EF 500 DG Super Flashgun
Canon Lens EF-S 60mm f2.8 USM Macro

Ive already got photoshop cs2 and am learning that also.

So, my next requirment is a super zoom type lens for photographing the moon etc - my query is wehther the cheap no brand ebay menses are worth it or should invest more (i.e. garbage in garbage out?)

Would i need a tripod for a big lens also?


Many Thanks

Steve

[stevebb]

Like these that ive seen?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/500mm-1000mm-T...QQcmdZViewItem

[T0MAT01]

Originally Posted by stevebb

Like these that ive seen?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/500mm-1000mm-T...QQcmdZViewItem

f/8 means that it is unlikely to autofocus, so TBH I'd save the money and spend it on something like the SIGMA 70-300mm.

[lmccauley]

Originally Posted by T0MAT01

f/8 means that it is unlikely to autofocus, so TBH I'd save the money and spend it on something like the SIGMA 70-300mm.

That's the lens I used to take this shot tonight:

I had to wait for it to be partially obscured by cloud in order to capture it and the clouds with one exposure. I shot at f/8.0 for 1/4 sec at ISO200. Shooting without the cloud cover would have been 1/200 sec.

Cheers,
Liam

[barongreenback]

Can I just advise you to cancel your order for the second book and third books on your last - Langford's Basic and Advanced Photography. It's really a technical book make for students - the other books on your list are better. It's rather old fashioned, black and white and terribly dull. There's also a large emphasis on film and filters, which don't really apply to digital in the same way.

[Peakoverload]

If you want to photograph the moon so that it fills the whole frame then........you can't. Well you can but it means buying a powerful telescope and an attachment to allow you to use your camera with it.

Even the lens you have seen on Ebay (do NOT buy this by the way) won't get you anywhere near close enough so the best solution is to buy a good zoom lens and just crop the photo in Photoshop. On something as faaaaaarrrrr away as the moon the difference between 300mm and 500mm is minimal so a lens with the focal length of 70-300 will be fine and be very useful for other subjects like wildlife etc. If your budget will stretch to it then the Sigma 50-500 is a very nice lens to have but it is heavy (and therefore a bit harder to handle) and a lot more expensive than a 70-300.

[stevebb]

Originally Posted by barongreenback

Can I just advise you to cancel your order for the second book and third books on your last - Langford's Basic and Advanced Photography. It's really a technical book make for students - the other books on your list are better. It's rather old fashioned, black and white and terribly dull. There's also a large emphasis on film and filters, which don't really apply to digital in the same way.

they were delivered yesterday - TBH I'd like to know the technical stuff about lenses etc so maybe could be bedtime reading. abit like buying a MSDOS book if you want to learn about Vista maybe

[stevebb]

Originally Posted by Peakoverload

If you want to photograph the moon so that it fills the whole frame then........you can't. Well you can but it means buying a powerful telescope and an attachment to allow you to use your camera with it.

Even the lens you have seen on Ebay (do NOT buy this by the way) won't get you anywhere near close enough so the best solution is to buy a good zoom lens and just crop the photo in Photoshop. On something as faaaaaarrrrr away as the moon the difference between 300mm and 500mm is minimal so a lens with the focal length of 70-300 will be fine and be very useful for other subjects like wildlife etc. If your budget will stretch to it then the Sigma 50-500 is a very nice lens to have but it is heavy (and therefore a bit harder to handle) and a lot more expensive than a 70-300.

Thanks for that i will look at prices of that lens now.

[stevebb]

so is it this one:

Sigma Lens 70-300 f4-5.6 DG Macro

or this:

Sigma Lens 70-300mm f4-5.6 APO DG Macro

Thanks

[hutters]

Here's one I did earlier...taken on my 350D with my Sigma 70-300 at full stretch and then cropped. Not as sharp as I would have liked, but didn't have much time to play around with the settings.

a couple more here

[stevebb]

Originally Posted by hutters

Here's one I did earlier...taken on my 350D with my Sigma 70-300 at full stretch and then cropped. Not as sharp as I would have liked, but didn't have much time to play around with the settings.

a couple more here

Thats fantastic mate - just what im after -

[stevebb]

i found that APO means:

APO (APO Lens)
In order to attain the highest quality images, the APO lens has been made using special low-dispersion (SLD) glass and is designed to minimize color aberration.

Is this worth the extra £70 over the non APO Sigman Lens?

Also would any of ther following be suitable:

Canon Lens 75-300 f4-5.6 III USM £149
Canon Lens 75-300 f4-5.6 III £115

Thanks

Steve

[jomike]

I have the Sigma 70-300 APO on my Nikon D50. Is it worth the extra ££ ? I think so. Havn't seen any CA with it yet.
I think the Canon lenses will be the equivalent of the non APO Sigma, but I may be wrong.
No moon shots yet, but you can also do this with the Sigma:

[Soundgeek]

I was able to get this pic with my 350d and 75-300 f4-5.6 III.



1/250 second
f10
ISO 100
@300mm

A lot of people knock the 75-300 lens, and there are better lenses, but when stopped down to f7.1 you can get rather pleasing results.

[stevebb]

[QUOTE=jomike;4051870]I have the Sigma 70-300 APO on my Nikon D50. Is it worth the extra ££ ? I think so. Havn't seen any CA with it yet.
I think the Canon lenses will be the equivalent of the non APO Sigma, but I may be wrong.
No moon shots yet, but you can also do this with the Sigma:

How far away were you from the subject - i like this pic !