| revans |
| (Carpal Tunnel) |
| 07/02/09 03:06 PM |
| Attachment |
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my first moon image...
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Hi all,
I was looking through some old photos and I found the first moon photograph that I took (at least that wasn't overexposed). It is from March 25, 1972 and was taken using a Yashica rangefinder camera with Tri X Pan film, and a 60 mm Sears refractor at FL=900 mm. The camera back was opened, the moon was focused using a piece of opaque ground glass, and then the glass was removed and the film inserted ! Those were the old days... nothing like that now... The telescope is shown and also my projection screen setup that I prepared a few minutes before the solar eclipse of June 10, 1972 (photo taken at about 3pm EST). It is nice to keep journals
In those days I did all of my film developing and printing myself.
Anyway... a little nostalgia for those of us with some grey hair...
Rick
| cpsTN |
| (Pooh-Bah) |
| 07/02/09 06:49 PM |
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Re: my first moon image...
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That is really a find. What I can't believe is that '72 is 37 years ago!
| Carl Kolchak |
| (professor emeritus) |
| 07/02/09 11:01 PM |
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Re: my first moon image...
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Very cool. Nice shot. I was 12. Ahh the good old days!
| revans |
| (Carpal Tunnel) |
| 07/03/09 07:01 AM |
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Re: my first moon image...
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Yes, it is really amazing to see what a few years, some grey hair, and advances in technology can do. The image isn't too bad for a 1972 high school student with a 60 mm refractor... but my images today with a little experience, a 10 inch SCT, and a Lumenera CCD camera are a little better
But I still feel a little nostalgic about the early days... even if the result wasn't much better than the first lunar photo taken by Draper in 1840 (but with a 5 inch refractor ! ).
Rick
| Mare Nectaris |
| (Pooh-Bah) |
| 07/03/09 08:21 AM |
| Attachment |
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Re: my first moon image...
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Rick,
now U opened up a magnificient subject!
Your photo is great!
I also have pretty good documentation ever since I started to observe with binoculars, on the 4th of August 1974 at the age of 11. The first target was the Moon, of course
On the 19th of May 1978 - some four years later, at the age of 15 - I experimented with my father's Exakta Varex VX -camera. Attached is the pic
with details.
My father is now 97, but back then the scope I used was his DIY-project.
Be well!
| Dr Morbius |
| (scholastic sledgehammer) |
| 07/03/09 10:23 AM |
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Re: my first moon image...
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Yes, the good old days!
| Dr Morbius |
| (scholastic sledgehammer) |
| 07/03/09 10:25 AM |
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Re: my first moon image...
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Or were they, considering Goto and digital cameras today?
| kraterkid |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 07/03/09 01:17 PM |
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Re: my first moon image...
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Hi Rick,
Wonderful setup and a very nice shot of the Moon given the technology of the time. Waxing nostalgic myself, I used to use a Polaroid Instrument Camera (these were made for microscopy but I forgot the model number) which had a long plastic body and a nosepiece that slid into the 1.25" focuser of my homemade 6" f/11.3 Newtonian scope. Since there was no way to determine focus directly, I remember having to take several shots to bracket the sharpest. With the cost of Polaroid film at the time being close to $15.00 a cartridge, I used to hate having to do it this way. Still, for a kid in high school, it was a very satisfying pass time! Thanks for bringing that all back to me!
| revans |
| (Carpal Tunnel) |
| 07/03/09 05:32 PM |
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Re: my first moon image...
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Rich,
Do you still have any of those polaroid photos? It would be very interesting to see one posted. Sounds like you had a really advanced telescope especially for those days. A 6 inch scope was way beyond my ability to make or buy. I was very envious of a highschool friend who got a 4.5 inch Newtonian as a present from his parents. We were constantly comparing views from my 60 mm achromatic refractor with his 4.5 inch Newtonian. I always found objects faster, but they always looked better in his scope. But... I remember that another friend's Dad (an engineer) found a WWII vintage German aerial gun camera lens in a flea market. It had a six inch aperture and was an achromat. They built a telescope around it and I have never seen more detail on the moon in any other telescope before or since.... it was absolutely amazing. I'm just guessing now, but judging from what I remember of the tube length, it was probably about F7 or so. It did have some false color fringing around bright objects, but that didn't bother me at all. Imagine the effect of lunar detail visible with a scope like that in the 1970s on someone who had spent hours and hours peering through a 60 mm refractor
A little nostalgia is good... gives us some perspective.Rick
| kraterkid |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 07/04/09 01:29 PM |
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Re: my first moon image...
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Alas, those old Polaroids were lost in the fire that destroyed my home in late October of '07, Rick.
| revans |
| (Carpal Tunnel) |
| 07/05/09 12:15 PM |
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Re: my first moon image...
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Rich,
I'm sorry to hear that the Polaroid images were lost in the fire. I've been lucky to still have most of my early photos. Since I developed and printed them myself, the earliest ones are starting to suffer from my lack of skill. I should reprint more of them but I haven't used my little photo lab setup in a few years now... everything seems to have become digital.
Rick