Shooting the moon

squizza

squizza

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Okay so I'm struggling with a picture of the moon

I've got a 300mm f4 IS with 1.4x extender. I know I'm not going to gt a fantastic picture but want to give it another go.

What settings should I be using?

Kind regards

Sarah
 
Here is a link to one of mine, you want to try manual, around F13, ISO 200, on a tripod with remote release, then using live view adjust the shutter as needed until you get the right results.

Link
 
Hi Sarah :wave:

With your setup you will get a pretty good shot I reckon, with enough practice!

Tripod, remote shutter lead and mirror lock-up is essential.

Try the mooney rule. Sometimes works........
Full moon - f5.6 shutter speed=ISO, so ISO100, 1/100
or ISO200, 1/200. But if you are using a tripod and remote, you shouldn't need to go above ISO100.

Check this out:
Here's one of mine, but look at the UFO just to the right of the moon :eek:

3906528044_cb42980b77.jpg


Rather off topic, sorry!!
 
Thats awesome Cosmix; I too am struggling to get a super sharp moon shot. Using 40d, 400mm, mirror lock up, remote etc, but still not happening as good as I'd like.
 
Hi Sarah,
The Moon is surprisingly bright (3% reflected sunlight) and at the moment is a Full Moon.
This means that the contrast will be poor compared to one of the other phases.
I would start at 1/250 sec (bracketed) at f8 and make sure you use a tripod and remote release to avoid any vibration (turn IS off on lens). You need to take lots of shots and preferably wait until the Moon is high in the sky to avoid atmospheric disturbance.
Have a look at your first 3 shots and alter speed as necessary.
HTH.
 
Thanks guys, all really appreciated. :)

Here's one I did earlier - will take all advice on board :)

3981595136_680ed4471e.jpg
 
Yes was taken about half hour ago- this pic shouldnt be viewed an bigger than this though! I need a remote trigger.

The weight on my tripod weighed down the tripod head (I think that makes sense) so it kept creeping.
 
Nice job Sarah!
I find under exposing the picture allows you to bring out more detail. Although I haven't seen the moon in a few days with all the clouds :-(
 
squizza said:
Yes was taken about half hour ago- this pic shouldnt be viewed an bigger than this though! I need a remote trigger.

The weight on my tripod weighed down the tripod head (I think that makes sense) so it kept creeping.
Click to expand...
I was out at around the same time tonight, it probably was just the moon moving, it touched my bottom left corner of my center focus point positioned at 14.00, it left the top right corner of the CFP positioned at 20.00, it took only EDIT2min 57seconds.

Here's the shot

3981739928_b7d2d10ace.jpg
 
Here are a couple I took on Saturday night.

One with the D700, ISO400, 1/500th s, f/16. Guestimated based on the sunny f/16 rule of thumb (after all, the Moon is in direct sunlight!). Sigma 150-500 OS @ 500mm, handheld.
3983931946_85d4158b18_o.jpg


and one with the D70, ISO 400, 1/800th s, f/8. Again, Siggy 150-500 OS, handheld at 500mm.
3983931934_3aa43ec3fd_o.jpg


Both shots converted to B&W in PSE1 then cropped and sharpenned - both very close to 100% crops.
 
It's very tricky to get a decent shot of the full or very full moon as there's so little surface contrast. However, you've done a pretty good job there Sarah

In theory, it should be possible to get a reasonable shot handheld, as long as you have IS.

This was handheld at 250mm
IMG_0575.jpg



What will cause you problems, and it does with any lunar imaging, is the atmospherics, known as seeing (assuming the camera, lens etc are all spot on). Use a tripod, and if you have it, use liveview and zoom all the way in... watch the surface boil and you'll see what I mean. This will also show you just how fast the moon actually moves. To counter this, I normally try and take at least 6 shots, and choose from there.
 
Sometimes you just strike lucky. I took this last night, handheld with a 100-400 + 1.4 Extender. 1/100th second, f8 ISO 100

IMG_5409-1.jpg
 
Actually if you want to be surprised try live view, a 100-400 lens with a 2x convertor on a tripod.

Zoom the liveview to 10x for manual focussing, then watch how fast the moon moves - a lot faster than you think!
 
Oh and the moon is a lot brighter than you think.

and if you shoot early eveing whilst it's still low it appears huge.

here's one of mine from earlier:
Moon14.jpg
 
As there is little in the way of shadows to bring out detail when photographing a full moon, try shooting in Raw and then with a bit of judicial pp'ing, bring out the colours that are there.

165.jpg
 
squizza said:
Yes was taken about half hour ago- this pic shouldnt be viewed an bigger than this though! I need a remote trigger.

The weight on my tripod weighed down the tripod head (I think that makes sense) so it kept creeping.
Click to expand...

Iknow what you mean I tried the same with my 100-400 plus the X2
just beenout and bought a new head a Manfrotto 486RC2 ball head I took my kit in and set it up on my Uni-Loc tripod first
 
Scarecrow said:
As there is little in the way of shadows to bring out detail when photographing a full moon, try shooting in Raw and then with a bit of judicial pp'ing, bring out the colours that are there.

165.jpg
Click to expand...

I see no lens detail in EXIF was this on a scope?
 
squizza said:
Okay so I'm struggling with a picture of the moon

I've got a 300mm f4 IS with 1.4x extender. I know I'm not going to gt a fantastic picture but want to give it another go.

What settings should I be using?

Kind regards

Sarah
Click to expand...

i did mine last night using the sunny f16 rule

100 asa...1/125...f 16..or f11
worked ok...my focal length was 380mm..oly c765 camera zoom
 
PerfectSpeed said:
Whoa, that's close :eek:

Great shot (y)
Click to expand...

canon 50D, 100-400mm lens at 400mm with a 2x convertor, manual focus using liveview.

Just really took it as a liveview/manual focus practise, but it came out really well with little crop.
 
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