So a week or so ago there was a beautiful lunar halo out, my 50mm Prime couldn't capture the whole thing. My 18-55 couldn't even catch it. I had to go with just a portion of it.
Based on your personal experience, what lens do you think would be useful to catch this the next time it comes around?
I just got a 70-300mm lens, and I'm fairly certain it may not get it, seeing as how at 18mm my lowest zoom couldn't take it in. (Of course, I'll probably try anyway since I'm stubborn...)
Slightly surprised you couldn't capture it with your 18-55mm. A lunar or solar halo forms a line 22 degrees from the moon (or sun), which means that from one side of the halo to the other spans 44 degrees. An 18-55mm lens on a crop-frame camera has a field of view of 45 degrees vertically at 18mm, so you should have been able to fit it in with this lens, although not with much space at the top and bottom edges.
Here's an example of a lunar halo taken at 18mm (not mine):
There is a rarer halo that forms at 46 degrees, but it's only visible around the sun, and only in unusual conditions.
If you want to capture more of a scene you need a super-wide lens, such as the Nikon 10-24mm, Sigma 10-20mm or 8-16mm, or Tokina 11-16mm (and a few others). These will capture a very wide field of view.
Just wow. They look super useful, maybe next semester I'll treat myself to one. I suppose I'll take your word for it about the 18-55, maybe it could have had something to with my vantage point... :D
@abirkill Alexis the above shot was taken tonight with my Nikon 70-300mm, would this be considered a part or a lunar halo? I was just amazed to look up and see this in the sky, except for the crop it is sooc. I am not much on taking night shots or moon shots for that matter, just needed to take my shot for the day! :)
@paign It's a bit hard to see in your original, I bumped up the exposure:
You can see that if the moon was centred, you'd have got pretty much the entire halo in the shot with your current lens.
The ultra-wide lenses are quite expensive, unfortunately. It might be worth considering going second-hand -- lenses go wrong fairly rarely, so as long as you find one without scratches on the glass or lots of damage to the barrel, you can save some money. The Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 is probably the cheapest, and it's still an excellent lens. I sold mine recently for $325, which seems to be the going rate, at least for the Canon version.
@abirkill You have a point there. I may look second-hand or I may just give it another shot. I just think I was annoyed that I couldn't get it the way I wanted it. :C
I appreciate your advice, because I was wondering what my next move should be. :D
Now I suppose I have to work out my settings to where I can effectively wield that lens when it comes back.
@ellimae That's really pretty. There's a halo around it, so I suppose it would count. The colors on the clouds are really nice. :D
And I agree, I'm not too much for night shots, most times. But sometimes, you see something in the sky and it's too nice not to capture.
@ellimae I think this is more likely to be a corona, an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs when light passes through thin cloud.
Although they look similar, they are produced by different processes -- a corona is produced by diffraction of the light, and will vary in size depending on the size of the water droplets the light is passing through (a similar process to that which causes the starburst effects being discussed in another thread at the moment, although one that happens in the atmosphere rather than in the internals of the lens), whereas a halo is produced by refraction of the light, typically as it passes through hexagonal ice crystals in the upper atmosphere, and has a fixed size.
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Here's an example of a lunar halo taken at 18mm (not mine):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/offmyfrontporch/87269512/
There is a rarer halo that forms at 46 degrees, but it's only visible around the sun, and only in unusual conditions.
If you want to capture more of a scene you need a super-wide lens, such as the Nikon 10-24mm, Sigma 10-20mm or 8-16mm, or Tokina 11-16mm (and a few others). These will capture a very wide field of view.
Just wow. They look super useful, maybe next semester I'll treat myself to one. I suppose I'll take your word for it about the 18-55, maybe it could have had something to with my vantage point... :D
@abirkill Alexis the above shot was taken tonight with my Nikon 70-300mm, would this be considered a part or a lunar halo? I was just amazed to look up and see this in the sky, except for the crop it is sooc. I am not much on taking night shots or moon shots for that matter, just needed to take my shot for the day! :)
You can see that if the moon was centred, you'd have got pretty much the entire halo in the shot with your current lens.
The ultra-wide lenses are quite expensive, unfortunately. It might be worth considering going second-hand -- lenses go wrong fairly rarely, so as long as you find one without scratches on the glass or lots of damage to the barrel, you can save some money. The Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 is probably the cheapest, and it's still an excellent lens. I sold mine recently for $325, which seems to be the going rate, at least for the Canon version.
I appreciate your advice, because I was wondering what my next move should be. :D
Now I suppose I have to work out my settings to where I can effectively wield that lens when it comes back.
@ellimae That's really pretty. There's a halo around it, so I suppose it would count. The colors on the clouds are really nice. :D
And I agree, I'm not too much for night shots, most times. But sometimes, you see something in the sky and it's too nice not to capture.
Although they look similar, they are produced by different processes -- a corona is produced by diffraction of the light, and will vary in size depending on the size of the water droplets the light is passing through (a similar process to that which causes the starburst effects being discussed in another thread at the moment, although one that happens in the atmosphere rather than in the internals of the lens), whereas a halo is produced by refraction of the light, typically as it passes through hexagonal ice crystals in the upper atmosphere, and has a fixed size.
Regardless, it's a very cool shot! Well done!
@froggie0628 Yours is really pretty. The portion you can barely see is covered by the trees, that's an awesome idea. :D
@huvesaker That's what I'm thinking, too. Next time there's the right conditons, I'm looking for a corona around the moon. They are really photogenic.