First Quarter Moon Through Canon T5i Live View

My plan was to take a video with my Canon T5i to demonstrate how shaky the camera is on the tripod with and without my 2.5 pound weight. I noticed that without the weight, my shifting body weight on the deck produced more movement - but with the weight, touching the camera produced more movement. Interesting...

Anyway, while I was adjusting the camera and trying to focus on the moon through a thin veil of clouds, I noticed how useful my camera's live view feature is - especially when I used digital zoom to crop in an additional 10x magnification. I adjusted the focus manually after digital zooming, and it was surprisingly good considering I rarely manual focus on anything through the viewfinder.

Waxing quarter moon at 300mm, f/7.1, ISO 100, video mode live view 30 fps, and additional 10x digital zoom

Instagram filter on the photo below lighting up the sky a bit

Moon with Theophilus crater clearly visible (May observing list check!)

This live view observing technique might be useful at outreach events to the public - it's surprisingly clear with just a 300mm telephoto lens, and the large display screen makes it easier for multiple people to view at the same time - or for people who have difficulty looking through an eyepiece. Then again, there's something more authentic about looking down through an eyepiece that makes it more fun. If I wanted to look at the moon on a screen I'd go online.

Next on my list of things I should have already done but haven't done yet: Finally installing my drivers to tether my camera to my laptop to live view on my screen! One of these days...