Moon shots...

oO Stevie Oo

oO Stevie Oo

oO Stevie Oo

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6 Nov 2010
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887
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Behind the camera...
Hi :)

I thought I'd try and get some pics of the moon but I'm struggling,
Trying with 70-300mm but i think it might be time to get a longer lens :/

Below is basicly the best shot I could manage in manual, 1/40s . f/10.0 . ISO 320 . 300 mm, I tried with a wider aperture at first but it didn't seem like it was detecting enough detail, but if I upped the ISO, I was seeing noise (which I hate)

So I ask please, Who takes moon pictures here and what sort of settings do you use?

This is also almost 100% cropped which is why I think a bigger lens is needed.


Moon by Trackslide, on Flickr

Cheers :)
 
The moon is a fascinating photography subject, but I learnt a couple of things when I first started trying to photograph it.

First is it's bright! Second, it's moving quite quickly!

A fast shutter speed takes care of the movement issue, but this is sometimes at odds with the aperture options you have available. Aperture this far from the subject makes no difference, so you're just choosing one that helps you get the right shutter speed for the exposure, and hope that it's above 1/125s or so. If not, then you can use the exposure compensation settings on your camera to get the exposure right.

As a rule of thumb, I use manual, set the lens to it's widest aperture, and then alter the shutter speed until the meter in the viewfinder tells me it's about right. I also use spot metering. Another approach I use is to put the camera into shutter priority and select 1/125s, then let the camera sort out the rest. It usually does a fine job, unless the widest aperture you've got available still isn't wide enough for a decent shutter speed. Likewise, asking for a 1/250s shutter speeds at f5.6 may underexpose the moon somewhat. It really is one of those situations where you can play around and experiment and keep checking what you've got via the LCD. But basically, all the blown moon shots you see are because the shutter speed was too slow... You'll need a good tripod too, and use a remote or the timer function.

It's still difficult, and atmospheric conditions and weather will be a factor. These are the best I've managed so far. The best moon shot I've seen was from V-Spec on this forum. I don't know whether his shot is still on the forum, but have a search.

4076835679_abac2b6674_o.jpg

D300 - 1/125s - Spot Metering - 300mm f2.8 with 2x & 1.4x Stacked Teleconverters (840mm)

4077616806_c9579729b8_o.jpg

Crop
 
Pretty hard to get good shots of the moon without a good lens (see above, 300mm f/2.8 and 1.4x TC + 2x TC isn't exactly what most hobbyists would call affordable or justifiable just to take a good moon shot)

Below my effort of the 'super moon' although it looked normal here in the midlands, D90 and a cheap £80 Tamron 70-300



Super moon March 2011 by Alpherah, on Flickr
 
I must try this again, i took this in May 09, with my first DSLR Nikon D40X..........

moon_may09.jpg


attached to this bad boy :D

meade.jpg


Which is currently sat in my garage in its case.

Great effort Tooks, without a scope!!
 
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light pollution can be a problem,unfortunately the clearest skies ive ever seen in my life are in Australia,bit too far to go for some moon shots !!
Tango
 

The moon by Niall Allen, on Flickr

I took this one with the 70-200F4L and a Kenko x2 TC. I don't know if my TC is soft, or they all are with the x2, but it's not great that's for sure. I hadn't taken any moon shots before, so this is a bit iffy, but it was fun to try something new :)
 
cheers all,

There are some superb examples there so at least I know good shots are possible, If the moon appears tonight (as I cant see it at the moment lol) I'll try again with a wider aperture and faster shutter to see what's what, the viewfinder light meter was a good tip as I didn't use mine due to the moon being so bright against the night sky so thought it wouldn't be applicable so cheers for that :)

keep the cracking shots coming though :)
 
Stevie, your shot is a little soft, I might be wrong but I think it's because you are at the far end of the 70-300mm. A lot of teles are a bit soft at the far end and often stopping down past f/8 actually makes things worse. Try winding out to 270mm and f/8, whilst the image will be a little smaller the crop should look sharper.
 
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