Tamron 55BB Moon Shot + Comparisons

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Over at the Sigma 600 thread that's running right now, there have been some outstanding shots of the moon taken by both a very excellent Sigma 600 and an always excellent Tamron 500. Well, I've been meaning for some time now to take a moon shot with both my Tamron and Sigma mirrors and I decided that, if I were going to this amount of trouble, I'd go ahead and toss in a shot taken by my Century Precision Optics Tele Athenar II (aka CPO) 500mm f/5.6 as well. The CPO is a proven lens. I've posted moon shots here I've taken with it in the past. But the ones I posted previously were taken using my 10.1mp EOS XS DSLR, whereas this time I'm getting to use my 24.3mp NEX 7. I'm expecting improved resolution because of this new camera.

A few comments about the images. Because of the much higher sensor resolution with the NEX 7, I didn't want to post 100% crops because they would simply be too big. So these crops are roughly 70% of their actual size. I have done nothing else to these images in post.

Okay, first let me explain that I've known for some time that my Sigma 600 has a problem -- not sure if it can be corrected or if i should just chalk it up to a not-so-good copy. One thing that makes me think it might be an adjustment is when I look at the edge of this image, it just looks out of focus. Anyway, here's a moon shot taken with the Sigma:

Next comes the Tamron. One thing that I find annoying about the 55BB is its lack of a tripod mount. It was really difficult finding best focus and even then I took three different photos, hoping one would be optimally sharp. As it turns out, though, they were all very close to each other -- there was essentially no difference.

Last is the CPO 500's photo. Because of its tripod mount, I found it much easier to use than the Tamron. The following photo was taken at 1/125 second at f/11. Honestly, I was expecting to see a bit more of a difference between the CPO and the Tamron, but there is essentially no difference in resolution recorded between the two lenses. What I was able to determine was the CPO's contrast was just slightly better, and that was really the only difference I could find between the two. Anyway, here's the CPO's photo:

Now, having written all that, I'm not one of these people who thinks one should never apply sharpening to their images. Sharpening is nothing more than increasing the contrast of edges found in an image. You're not introducing anything that isn't there, unless you go overboard, and then you'll be introducing noise. So when I look at the images from the Tamron and the CPO, to me they look just a little soft. And I don't think I'm going to be able to get anything sharper out of these lenses, whether because of the lenses or the sensor. So it's at times like this that I will try applying some mild sharpening to see what sort of results I get. And that's what I did. Here's the Tamron's image with a bit of unsharp masking added as well as a bit of contrast added. I applied the same amount of sharpening to the CPO and I couldn't tell a difference between the two sharpened images, especially after adding a bit of contrast to the Tamron's.

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

The first one looks like movement,but you know your lens better than I. The CPO has a yellowish tinge around the edge while the Tamron does not.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

It definitely wasn't movement. I had the self-timer set to trip the shutter and there was no wind.

Yeah, I think my CPO's elements are beginning to yellow slightly. I did some color correction to the raw files of its images before converting the raw images to jpg, but obviously it didn't get rid of it entirely. Of course, the best way to eliminate it is to convert the images to gray scale. But that tiny bit of yellow fringing doesn't bother me. Neither does the even tinier bit of green fringing with the Tamron bother me.

CuriousOne · Joined: 31 Dec 2013 Posts: 669 Location: Home

I'll re-post my Five stars 500/8 photo from Sigma thread:

1/40, ISO 100, F11, Sony A77mkII

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Thanks for the explanation re the tiny color differences.Shame if your sigma lens is a dud copy or just has an issue.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

CuriousOne · Joined: 31 Dec 2013 Posts: 669 Location: Home

Yes, this is the el cheapo T-mount lens. But as said in Sigma tread, I've picked the best one from 4 of them!

It should be noted that I've meet them in two optical designs - ones that have rear element close to T-mount and ones that have approx 7-8cm of empty space between rear element and t-mount.

Camera is Sony SLT A77mkII, or ILCA-77M2, whenever name you like.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Yeah, those cheapo 400mm and 500mm T-mount telephotos actually have a very good reputation for sharpness. I know the 400mm I have is certainly sharp. Drawbacks are that they're rather slow and usually have a rather distant minimum focus.

The ones that have an element close to the mount -- that element is probably an optical flat. They are used in an optical design for reducing the minimum focusing distance and/or reducing optical aberrations.

WNG555 · Joined: 18 Dec 2014 Posts: 784 Location: Arrid-Zone-A, USA

Great new thread for the Tamron and Moon, Michael!

I can see what you mean about the CPO and Tamron, very close in resolution. Too bad about your Sigma. There is a similar red bottom, blue top aberration seen in your image, as I get from my sample. But my images are more focused.
Might be worth tinkering with to see if it can be corrected.

Found this website about re-collimating mirror telescopes.

http://www.mira.org/ascc/pages/lectures/collim.htm

I also tweak the contrast and sharpness of my shots. They benefit from doing so, since I can't get SOOC results like that Five Star.

My Tamron utilizes a Fotasy Adaptall-2 to NEX adapter. I can mount a generic Canon A tripod collar to it and it makes for a great stable tripod mounting. I put a thick rubber band over the adapter to match the diameter. It's a worth while combo if you own several Adaptall-2 lenses w/o suitable tripod mounts.

We had poor atmospheric conditions Thursday night with a layer of haze, probably smog or smoke. But I did get a few shots early last night before the haze returned. Here's one from my Tamron for the thread...

DSC06412a_Tamron SP 55BB by wNG 555, on Flickr

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Great shot with the Tamron, WNG -- Tycho's unveiled now and its rays are becoming more pronounced in this shot. I was thinking about getting out there tonight also, but it started raining a while ago with no sign of let-up in sight.

Thanks for the link on checking collimation. That page is actually mis-labeled. Its title implies that it's gonna show you how to collimate. It doesn't. It just shows you how to check to see if the collimation is accurate. Well, it's a start, I guess. But my experience with lenses -- and this includes a type I Tamron -- is there is no possible adjustment that can be made. Everything is locked in at the factory. But I'll go ahead and take a look. Who knows, maybe the Sigma will have something in the rear of its assembly that allows for adjustment.

I'll let you know if I find out anything.

BeardsAreBest · Joined: 09 May 2014 Posts: 286 Location: Australia

YES!!
getting some sweet results from the tamron.
Hmmmm think i'd like to have a go of one of these. Smile

WNG555 · Joined: 18 Dec 2014 Posts: 784 Location: Arrid-Zone-A, USA

Thanks to both!
I think it's my best Moon shot to date.

But the fun has been shut down temporarily due to Monsoon season. It began dramatically with a 40+mph dust storm on Saturday.
There is so much stuff in the air that the Moon looks to be surrounded in an amber haze.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

The full moon will occur on July 2 at 02:19 UTC (GMT). Where I'm located it'll be at 10:19 pm CDT. I'm hoping for clear skies.

I also plan to shoot the moon the day before and/or after because I like the shadow details better on those days.

I plan to drag out an assortment of lenses for this event. For sure, I'll be using my Tamron 55BB. But I'll also be using my CPO 500mm f/5.6 and I might also drag out my CPO 650mm f/6.8. Also on my list are my Tamron 31A 200-500 f/5.6 and my Tamron 60B 300mm f/2.8 with a Tamron 01F 2x teleconverter, which will give me a 600mm f/5.6.

I don't really have any long lenses in other mounts anymore -- my dearly missed Canon nFD 400mm f/4.5 was stolen a couple of years ago and I've never replaced it. I do have a few good zooms that reach out to 300mm and perhaps with a good teleconverter they may render acceptable images. I dunno. Something to try out though, maybe.

I'll be using one camera for all of this -- my Sony NEX 7.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

WNG555 · Joined: 18 Dec 2014 Posts: 784 Location: Arrid-Zone-A, USA

Although the following was posted in the Sigma 600mm f/8 Mirror thread, I thought it was relevant to this thread enough to copy it and paste it here. For 55BB users...

tb_a · Expire: 2019-08-28

kryss · Expire: 2017-09-18

Nice shots folks,I have been planning to try my Sigma mirror,Tamron 55b c/w Canon collar and Tamron 31a +200f but we haven't had any clear enough nights due to smoke from forest fires and overcast skies,will post when able. Sad

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Thanks for reposting the link and that fantastic moon shot! I gotta get out tonight. A couple nights ago, there was a beautiful crescent moon that I discovered while I was out running errands, but it was too close to the horizon for me to do anything about it. According to the moon phase calendar, tonigh's moon should be half, so it should also be an interesting shot. I hope the skies are clear.

I have several lenses set out to try out for moon shots, ranging from 200mm with a 2x, up to 600mm -- the Sigma and also my Tamron 300mm f/2.8 with a 2x, which gives me a 600mm f/5.6.

I'm gonna have to order one of those tripod mounts, too. I reckon that, with enough wraps of inner tube, I can get it to work with my NEX adapter.

kryss · Expire: 2017-09-18

Michael.. it is amazing how much Photography gear to make things work you can find in Home Depot. Laughing

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

True enough. I was watching an old movie the other day and there was a guy who was an astronomer in it. In one shot, there he was, standing next to a Newtonian telescope, which was sitting atop an equatorial mount. Made out of pipe! Just straght sections with a couple reducers, two t-fittings, a flange, and one 45 degree union, which was the key component. Which immediately got me to thinking. I don't own an equatorial mount anymore, but I could put together one made out of pipe for less than $20 probably, after seeing that old movie. I just dug through the movies I've recently watched at Netflx and found it: The Man from Planet X -- a pretty corny movie, but worth watching just for the shot of the equatorial mount made from pipe. I captured a shot of it. Here it is:

The way it looks to be set up, though, it doesn't look like it can be rotated, which it would have to be at both T-fittings to be any use. It isn't rotated in the film, which leads me to believe it's just a prop. Still, something to think about . . .

CuriousOne · Joined: 31 Dec 2013 Posts: 669 Location: Home

My Sigma 600/8 mirror is ready for shooting, along with 1.4x APO teleconverter, but we're having too hot summer hasy air....

WNG555 · Joined: 18 Dec 2014 Posts: 784 Location: Arrid-Zone-A, USA

kryss · Expire: 2017-09-18

WNG555....great shots,times like this I wish I didn't live in the City with all the light pollution. Sad

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

kryss, I used to have an assortment of telescopes, ranging from a 4" APO Celestron refractor to a 10" Cave Newtonian. At the time I was living in the Los Angeles area with all its light pollution. One thing I learned about "seeing" under those sorts of conditions was that light pollution rarely affects planetary observation. There were many occasions where I was able to view Jupiter and its four Galilean moons as well as Saturn. I was even able to view the Andromeda galaxy -- you just had to know where to look.

So you might go ahead and give it a try. You might be surprised at the level of detail you can make out.

Here's a shot I took under heavily light polluted skies here in Houston of Jupiter and its four Galilean moons. It's a 100% crop. Canon EOS XS, ISO 800, Century 650mm f/6.8.

I'll admit to having a bit of Photoshopping done. The farthest out moon was very dim and not easy to make out. So I asked my daughter, who is a Photoshop expert, if she could bring out just that moon a bit more, which she did without affecting the rest of the photo. So, it may not be totally realistic, but I think it looks much better this way.

kryss · Expire: 2017-09-18

Very nice Michael however at this Latitude(Calgary Alberta)very few clear nights,forest fires and the Rockies don't help and more clear skies in late fall and winter anywhere from -10 to -30 C. Great shot.