Last night I realized that since the moonset was 4:02PM, I could go do a MW and not wait for the full dark moon on the 17th. This was strictly a learning trip with no intention of getting a great MW. As it turns out, my spot is not a good MW location. Too much light pollution from Utah Valley and also from incessant vehicle travel as you see. But it does afford a place where I can get a MW and I did.
I used my 11-24 f4 lens at 11, 14, 16 and 19 mm. 19 was supposed to be 20. All images at IS03200 and 30 seconds with long exposure NR turned on. Processing is minimal and just enough to show the potential. I used Topaz AI with NR reduced to 0.10 and Sharpness also at 0.10 and detail at 0. Other settings mushed up shadows in the foreground. The sky noise was very acceptable at these levels.
I started with an 11mm horizontal but saw that vertical was called for. I tried a longer exposure for foreground detail but it did not work too well and my camera moved making a blend problematical.
I can now see why this is getting late in the season for MW shots and in fact part of this lesson was to learn something about where and when the MW is best seen and to learn some planning using some of the aps I have loaded. I have a lot more to learn.
My conclusion is that for vertical MW shots, any of these focal lengths could work with the 11 being the most problematical because it needs to be tilted so radically and includes too much foreground with bad distortions. The 11-24 is a fairly suitable night lens and I will probably wait until I can test it on a Canon 5R with better noise before I buy a special lens. Looks like MW season is over until next spring anyway.
Comments and corrections to my conclusions most encouraged.
11mm horizontal
11mm vertical
14mm vertical
16mm vertical
19mm vertical
I used my 11-24 f4 lens at 11, 14, 16 and 19 mm. 19 was supposed to be 20. All images at IS03200 and 30 seconds with long exposure NR turned on. Processing is minimal and just enough to show the potential. I used Topaz AI with NR reduced to 0.10 and Sharpness also at 0.10 and detail at 0. Other settings mushed up shadows in the foreground. The sky noise was very acceptable at these levels.
I started with an 11mm horizontal but saw that vertical was called for. I tried a longer exposure for foreground detail but it did not work too well and my camera moved making a blend problematical.
I can now see why this is getting late in the season for MW shots and in fact part of this lesson was to learn something about where and when the MW is best seen and to learn some planning using some of the aps I have loaded. I have a lot more to learn.
My conclusion is that for vertical MW shots, any of these focal lengths could work with the 11 being the most problematical because it needs to be tilted so radically and includes too much foreground with bad distortions. The 11-24 is a fairly suitable night lens and I will probably wait until I can test it on a Canon 5R with better noise before I buy a special lens. Looks like MW season is over until next spring anyway.
Comments and corrections to my conclusions most encouraged.
11mm horizontal
11mm vertical
14mm vertical
16mm vertical
19mm vertical
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