Moon macro photography

[Jerry van Dijk]

Inspired by the recent moon post and Roger Clarks opinion that there's no better test subject, I thought I'd have a go with my new gear. I'm quite happy with the results, but I'm curious to what the experts (which is you :S3:) think. The 200mm Micro is the longest I've got, so this is a big crop, unsuitable for large prints, but it's just a test. I made one at ISO 1600, but most of the detail was gone.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor Micro 200mm f/4D IF-ED, Bilora Favorit tripod, ISO-100, f/10, 1/25 sec, spot metering.
ACR6.3/CS5, minor tweaks on WB, exposure, clarity, levels, sharpness, NR.

[Roger Clark]

Jerry,

Really excellent capture, especially for such a short focal length. The image is very sharp, showing your lens is very sharp with no chromatic aberration.

Roger

[Jerry van Dijk]

Thanks Roger! I've seen this lens described as "the sharpest Nikon ever made", but that of course is arguable. What I like about this lens is it's versatility. It's a great macro lens with its 1:1 magnification and long working distance, but functions quite well as a telelens too. The downside is its sometimes slow and inaccurate AF when used as a telelens (especially with moving subjects), but MF is very precise (see my image of a flying dragonfly, which was manually focused: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/89861-Migrant-hawker-in-flight) .

[Robert Amoruso]

I am equally impressed - sharpness is superb.