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Lens recos for EOS 2000D to see the craters on the moon

Timmysherman6
Apprentice

I was wondering if somebody can tell me what kind of lens to buy that so powerful where I can see craters on the moon

10 REPLIES 10

stevet1
Authority
Authority

Timmysherman6,

There's an article here:

https://www.better-digital-photo-tips.com/lens-for-moon-photography.html 

That I thought was pretty good about shooting moon photography. In general, I think he suggests a lens between 300mm and 600mm in focal length.

Steve Thomas

Thank you very much for the tip

kvbarkley
VIP
VIP

The most popular choice around here are the Sigma/Tamron 150-600's

IMG_3678.JPG

Great choices.  

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Waddizzle
Legend
Legend

The most important thing you need is a good tripod with a good tripod head.  Most budget tripods can support most lightweight gear when the camera is level. The center of gravity of the camera/lens rig is centered over the tripod.  

Telephoto lenses can be considerably heavier than a typical camera kit lens.  Capturing photos of the Moon requires you to point the rig towards the sky.  Doing so moves the CoG off center with the tripod legs.  

This is where budget tripod legs and heads break down.  You point the camera at the Moon, and everything shifts as you tighten the head to lock the rig in position.  Many times the shift (it’s called backlash) can be so severe that the Moon is no longer in the frame.  

I believe this shot was taken with my T5 and the EF 75-300mm kit lens.  I used a $200 Induro tripod kit and the built in shutter delay timer.  

IMG_0043.jpeg

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kvbarkley
VIP
VIP

You can use my solar eclipse calculations to see exactly how large the moon will be in pixels on your sensor, Your 200D is identical to my T6S in that regard:

https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/EOS-DSLR-Mirrorless-Cameras/Getting-prepared-for-the-eclipse/td-p...

The upshot is that the moon is about 0.5 degrees, and a 600mm lens on your camera is 2.1 degrees. (The image I posted is full frame on my APS-C T6S, which is equivalent to your 2000D.)

800mm is 1.6 degrees

1200 is 1.05 degrees

2400 is .525 degrees, which will fill the sensor.

You will need to figure out your cost vs resolution tradeoff.

But I would say that at above 800mm, you might as well as get a telescope.

justadude
Mentor
Mentor

Better yet, if you have, or have access to a telescope, get an adapter for your camera to mount on to where the telescope would normally go.  The camera replaces the eyepiece.  This image was taken with a Canon EOS RP mounted to an Orion SkyView Pro 100mm ED EQ refractor.  FYI... the 100mm refers to the diameter of the telescope, not the focal length.  The focal length is 900mm F/9 for 1/200 second.  Normally I do this on a cloudless night, but the effect of finding a break in the clouds turned out pretty cool.  

 

Canon RP and Orion SkyView Pro.jpg


Gary

Digital: Canon: R6 Mk ll, R8, RP, 60D, various lenses
Film: (still using) Pentax: Spotmatic, K1000, K1000 SE, PZ-70, Miranda: DR, Zenit: 12XP, Kodak: Retina Automatic II, Duaflex III

nice shot 🙂

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

“Death Star approaching!”

Fantastic shot!

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"The right mouse button is your friend."
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