Phoenix 500 mm + 2x TC ( 1000 mm ) catadioptric lens, ƒ/8 (fixed), .005s, ISO 500, handheld.

Lots and lots of image processing; overall image was almost full frame, but soft. The detail you see here is a good approximation of the available detail in the full frame. Levels have been pushed to the margins of brightness in the orb to reveal maximum detail. Unsharp mask and sharpen used liberally as well, plus despeckle.

I've done some testing on the lens since this was taken, and the majority of the softness comes from the 2x teleconverter; the Phoenix lens by itself is far sharper, the loss in magnification is more than made up by a gain in detail. I've taken the 2x teleconverter out of my camera bag — that's how much better the Phoenix is by itself.

#moon

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