Thought I'd talk about Stacking for Moon shots as there's a few bits of discussion in other threads about getting a better Moon shot
You all know how it improves Macro, but it has a huge impact on Astro work too, but in a different way.
Macro stacking gives you more DoF, but stacking for the Moon is all about contrast, detail and removing noise.
You need slightly different software, I use 'Autostakkert3' which is designed for the job (and free) www.autostakkert.com
Digital sensors don't like black, don't like a lack of contrast and generally generate noise which messes with the quality of the image.
Stacking compares frames, looks for random differences between shots (the noise you don't want) and the consistent detail you want to keep or enhance, like shadow around the craters.
Take some test shots and work out the correct exposure settings, then stick the camera on motordrive, all settings on Manual so they don't change and fire off about 20 frames, all the same
Run them through the software to combine, then you can have a play in Photoshop if you want to mess with the contrast etc
Below is taken with Canon 300mm plus 1.4x and 2x extenders (840mm), plus a crop too
It's a 20 shot stack as above, each frame was 1/800 @f/8 ISO640
Potential for more sharpness with a tripod as you can put the image on the screen and zoom right in on some craters rather than rely on eye in the viewfinder, this was handheld but leaning on top of a fence
You all know how it improves Macro, but it has a huge impact on Astro work too, but in a different way.
Macro stacking gives you more DoF, but stacking for the Moon is all about contrast, detail and removing noise.
You need slightly different software, I use 'Autostakkert3' which is designed for the job (and free) www.autostakkert.com
Digital sensors don't like black, don't like a lack of contrast and generally generate noise which messes with the quality of the image.
Stacking compares frames, looks for random differences between shots (the noise you don't want) and the consistent detail you want to keep or enhance, like shadow around the craters.
Take some test shots and work out the correct exposure settings, then stick the camera on motordrive, all settings on Manual so they don't change and fire off about 20 frames, all the same
Run them through the software to combine, then you can have a play in Photoshop if you want to mess with the contrast etc
Below is taken with Canon 300mm plus 1.4x and 2x extenders (840mm), plus a crop too
It's a 20 shot stack as above, each frame was 1/800 @f/8 ISO640
Potential for more sharpness with a tripod as you can put the image on the screen and zoom right in on some craters rather than rely on eye in the viewfinder, this was handheld but leaning on top of a fence
Attachments
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Autoskakkert3-150x150.png
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