Lunar imaging with Nikon D7000

[Mach13]

I'm using BackyardNikon Trial V 2.1.2 With Win 10 with Nikon D7000

 

I am totally new to astro photography

Two questions

1- I notice on one of your videos that under Planetary View (EOS version) there is an "exposure simulation" method . Does that work for Nikon too?  Otherwise not sure how to check exposure before taking the AVI shots. I don't seem to be able to get it to work. Also when in Frame and focus mode and using live view... Live view does not react when trying different exposure options.  It seems the only way to test is to snap images... or am I missing something?

 

2- What would be the best method of getting detailed lunar images for a full disc?

Grateful for your help

Many thanks

[admin]

Exposure Simulation is a Canon feature... sorry.

Some newer Nikon models have a similar feature, but your D7000 is not one of them I believe.

[astroman133]

In 2012 I used a Canon XSi and an early version of BYE to image the moon. I used 5X zoom in Planetary mode to do a lunar capture of a portion of the disk at full resolution. I understand that 5X zoom does not work the same way with Nikons, so this technique will not work for you.

In my case I used BYE to capture an 800 frame video of part of the lunar disk. Then moved the zoom box to a different portion of the disk and repeated. It took 6 captures to get the entire visible disk. Then I used Registax to stack each of the 6 videos and RegiStar to assemble the 6 images into a single image.

The attached image is the result.

[s3igell]

Lunar Imaging is an "Easy but Challenging" task.

The Moon itself is a Dark-colored Rock sitting in Full Sunlight - Exposure Times will need to be 1/1200-1/200 depending on the Lens.

The Moon offers an AMAZING amount of Detail - enough to readily show the effects of Atmospheric Distortion.  This recommends Video / Lucky Imaging.

The Moon is a Large Object in terms of Apparent Angle - meaning you either need a wider Telephoto or a Normal Lens or else you need to address the Moon as a Mosaic project.

 

[Mach13]

8 hours ago, astroman133 said:

In 2012 I used a Canon XSi and an early version of BYE to image the moon. I used 5X zoom in Planetary mode to do a lunar capture of a portion of the disk at full resolution. I understand that 5X zoom does not work the same way with Nikons, so this technique will not work for you.

In my case I used BYE to capture an 800 frame video of part of the lunar disk. Then moved the zoom box to a different portion of the disk and repeated. It took 6 captures to get the entire visible disk. Then I used Registax to stack each of the 6 videos and RegiStar to assemble the 6 images into a single image.

The attached image is the result.

Amazing image...👍   Its the kind of thing I have in mind to aim for... alas I've now checked the planetary mode in BYN for my D7000 and its as you mention...it doesn't work 😪  The X5 shows in live view but hitting record wont produce anything..😔

 

So, if I have it right then, it seems BYN functionality for my D7000 is quite limited. 

 

I guess I should at least be able to get a full disc image in camera when attached to my scope, but not sure what the detail will be.

  Is it possible to stack neff image files, if so what program might do that?

Appreciate all comments todate..👍

[astroman133]

I am not sure. It was my understanding that 5X zoom should work with most Nikon cameras, but it would not be at the full resolution of the sensor as it is with Canon cameras. Perhaps Guylain could comment.

Planetary movies with Nikon are not NEF they are AVI files created from the individual LiveView JPG frames. RegiStax will process AVI files. If you are shooting RAW/NEF lunar images, you do not need to stack, just try a single RAW image at ISO 400 and 1/500th of a second.

For long duration NEF images, you can stack with almost any astro image processing program. Nebulosity, CCDStack, ImagesPlus, and PixInsight all come to mind.