Moon Photography

LauraM

LauraM

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Hi,

I use a Nikon D5100 with a variety of lenses.
Last night I thought the moon looked atmospheric so I headed out with my Tripod and Sigma 70-300mm lens to try and get some pictures.

I read online that some recommended settings are...
Lens 200mm +
ISO 100-200
Aperture F/11 - F/16
Shutter Speed 1/250
I played around with these settings. Through the viewfinder it looked great however upon reviewing through the images none of them are usable. The moon either looks over exposed, unfocused or non existent (black screen).

Can anyone suggest how I can improve these images please?
 
Atmospheric how? I don't know where you are but where I am there was a lot of thin high cloud last night and it was a bit misty which could well have turned a photo of the Moon into an apparently overexposed fuzzy blob. But if it was clear for you, did you review each image on the rear screen after taking it? It may have looked good through the viewfinder but if you zoom in on the rear screen and it's not sharp and/or you can't make out details of craters etc then it's not going to be usable, so change the settings till you get something that works. Use iso 100, use a higher shutter speed even though you're using a tripod and you can adjust the aperture to obtain the correct exposure. You don't need a large depth of field for the Moon. How were you focussing? Use autofocus on the centre point only, make sure it looks focussed in the viewfinder and the af isn't hunting, then switch the lens to manual focus (and don't touch the focus ring). Always use a remote release if you have one to avoid touching the camera as you fire the shutter. Remember too that the Earth's atmosphere is between us and the Moon and it isn't always gin clear and stable, and the lower the Moon is in the sky the more atmosphere you're looking through. Even if your exposure and focus is spot on it could still take a dozen or more shots to get one that's really sharp thanks to the atmosphere. There are no definitive camera settings for the Moon, any more than for any other subject. It's all trial and error. I'm assuming you were using the 300mm end of the lens? It's possible that the lens might be slightly 'soft' at 300mm and you might be better backing off slightly to 290 or 280 ish. I don't know what the Sigma lens is like but my Tamron 70-300mm is terrible for zoom creep and wears a charity wristband to prevent it.
 
Geat advice from Jan there.
 
Is it the Lens with optical stabiliser, in which case you need to ensure it is TURNED OFF when mounted on a tripod.

Pete
 
LauraM said:
Last night I thought the moon looked atmospheric
Click to expand...

Was it Anything like this.

Managed this Tonight (Hand held), it is Possible to get somewhere near a Semi decent image.

AutoFocus (IS On).

F4 Shutter Speed 1/100 ISO 800 400mm.


0F2A8154b.jpg
 
Last edited:
seaodyssey said:
Is it the Lens with optical stabiliser, in which case you need to ensure it is TURNED OFF when mounted on a tripod.

Pete
Click to expand...
Why should this be turned off on a tripod? I know not needed, but does it hurt leaving on?
 
The settings you've been given are a ball park at best and possible based on a totally clear sky. The exposure required for the moon will vary significantly depending on atmospheric conditions.

I'd first of all suggest shooting in RAW, if nothing else, so that you can tweak the white balance afterwards. My preference to find a starting point for exposure would be to spot meter off the moon itself. If you do this in manual exposure mode and manual ISO then your camera isn't going to do anything unexpected once you've found your ideal settings. You can use your image preview and the other tools to check your exposure until you're happy and then just leave it there.

As others have said, fixed on a tripod with VR/OS/VC turned off. Most lenses are not razor sharp wide open so I'd suggest stopping it down a little to maybe f/8 and keep the shutter speed at 1/60 or maybe faster (the moon moves quicker than you'd think). The ISO would be the last thing I'd change and I'd just adjust it to give a reasonable exposure, let it be what it needs to be.

Focus might also be best done manually (lens switched to manual). Again, it means that you can set it once and the camera will not then try to refocus between shots. I suspect from your description that may have been happening. If you use live view zoomed right in on the moon, not only will you see how quickly the moon is moving (it's quite interesting to watch!) but you can really fine tune the focus until you're happy it's as sharp as it can be and then just leave it there.

I'm not sure a remote release is needed at shutter speeds like this but it would do no harm. You could always use the built in self timer if it helps.

Hope that helps. There are many other methods that work and some might be much easier but I think the above is pretty fool proof in terms of getting consistent results.
 
AndyG123 said:
Why should this be turned off on a tripod? I know not needed, but does it hurt leaving on?
Click to expand...

Can do. Some lenses will try to compensate for movement that isn't there and introduce motion blur that wouldn't otherwise be there.
 
AndyG123 said:
Why should this be turned off on a tripod? I know not needed, but does it hurt leaving on?
Click to expand...

It's possible that the IS will try to work and will induce vibration (and it's not good for the IS system). I believe some cameras/lenses 'know' when they're on a tripod and turn the IS off for you. I don't know how this works as none of my kit has it. IS on most of my lenses is kept turned off unless I want it on - the only exception being one lens which is never used on the tripod.
 
Prompted by this thread, I thought it was time to have a go myself.

The following seemed to get a reasonable image:

F/8.0
1/80 second
100-400mm + 1.4 convertor
IS off

The image is on another thread:
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/the-moon.666771/

The biggest problem was some blue fringing on the bright side of the moon, perhaps a limitation of the Canon 100-400 lens (MK 1).

Chris
 
I like the shadows on your image Geoff. I'm definitely going to be taking a few more as we get these nice clear skies. Hopefully the OP will be inspired to continue too.

Chris
 
LauraM said:
Hi,

I use a Nikon D5100 with a variety of lenses.
Last night I thought the moon looked atmospheric so I headed out with my Tripod and Sigma 70-300mm lens to try and get some pictures.

I read online that some recommended settings are...
Lens 200mm +
ISO 100-200
Aperture F/11 - F/16
Shutter Speed 1/250
I played around with these settings. Through the viewfinder it looked great however upon reviewing through the images none of them are usable. The moon either looks over exposed, unfocused or non existent (black screen).

Can anyone suggest how I can improve these images please?
Click to expand...
Worth looking at
https://northrup.photo/photographing-the-moon/
 
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