What is the best lens for moon shots

drodd

drodd

Also loves to mass debate
Messages
5,519
Name
Dawn
Edit My Images
No
Hiya

New to photography, I have recently bought a Canon EOS 1000D kit with EF-S 19-55mm lens

I love taking pictures of the moon, but tonight I have tried take some shots and they haven't been very successful.

Do I need to invest in a more powerful lens?

If so, what are your recommendations, please?

Or am I just not using my camera correctly to get a good shot. I can get an image, but it just looks like a big white eye with a halo around it.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

D :)
 
A longer lens will help you fill the frame more but not do much else, it certainly doesn't have to be an expensive one as you'll be shooting at small apertures.

The main mistake shooting the moon is to over expose which is what it sounds like you've done, especially if you've left the camera on either full or semi- automatic mode which will meter for the big dark thing (the sky) rather than the small bright thing (the moon).

The moon is actually incredibly bright so you want a medium/small aperture and a nice short shutter speed. Put the camera in manual mode and play with the settings until you find one that works.

This shot was taken at f8 1/100s 100ISO at 200mm+1.4xTC and still fairly heavily cropped in Lightroom.
4076393636_6371203f12.jpg


and this one was the same settings/lens but at 1/30s
4039674851_1dff6c8997.jpg



EDIT: having looked at how much these were cropped I'd say that you're really going to struggle with a 55mm lens! There are cheapish 55-200mm and 70-300mm lenses around if you're looking for a longer zoom?
 
Hi Dawn, your kit lens will be hopelessly short for taking moon shots with. You need at least 250mm [ideally >400mm] at the long end to get the moon reasonably large in the viewfinder. But these longer lenses don't come cheap!

The Canon 75-300 is generally looked as a pretty poor lens as it's very soft [and I agree] but here's one I took with it last year on my 450D:

3588326063_16dec35922_o.jpg


Now bear in mind that this is a 100% crop 800 pixels wide of the original image which was 4272 pixels wide and you get an idea of just how little area the moon can take up at 300mm.

The other thing to consider is exposure. The moon is really quite bright against the dark sky and you may need to add some negative exposure compensation to stop the moon from appearing like just a bright white blob.

edit: Peter beat me to it! Again, watch that exposure
 
incapete said:
A longer lens will help you fill the frame more but not do much else, it certainly doesn't have to be an expensive one as you'll be shooting at small apertures.

The main mistake shooting the moon is to over expose which is what it sounds like you've done, especially if you've left the camera on either full or semi- automatic mode which will meter for the big dark thing (the sky) rather than the small bright thing (the moon).

The moon is actually incredibly bright so you want a medium/small aperture and a nice short shutter speed. Put the camera in manual mode and play with the settings until you find one that works.

This shot was taken at f8 1/100s 100ISO at 200mm+1.4xTC and still fairly heavily cropped in Lightroom.
4076393636_6371203f12.jpg


and this one was the same settings/lens but at 1/30s
4039674851_1dff6c8997.jpg



EDIT: having looked at how much these were cropped I'd say that you're really going to struggle with a 55mm lens! There are cheapish 55-200mm and 70-300mm lenses around if you're looking for a longer zoom?
Click to expand...

WOW!!! Those images are impressive and just what I am looking to achieve, thanks for the tips and the info and data. I have only just acquired my cam but am already eager to get a bigger lens to capture such shots.

I can only but dream .....


D ;)
 
hi,i`m new too.
i find a 300mm lens on the m setting is best.
iso at 100 and the f stop at around 5.
 
Deckard said:
Hi Dawn, your kit lens will be hopelessly short for taking moon shots with. You need at least 250mm [ideally >400mm] at the long end to get the moon reasonably large in the viewfinder. But these longer lenses don't come cheap!

The Canon 75-300 is generally looked as a pretty poor lens as it's very soft [and I agree] but here's one I took with it last year on my 450D:

3588326063_16dec35922_o.jpg


Now bear in mind that this is a 100% crop 800 pixels wide of the original image which was 4272 pixels wide and you get an idea of just how little area the moon can take up at 300mm.

The other thing to consider is exposure. The moon is really quite bright against the dark sky and you may need to add some negative exposure compensation to stop the moon from appearing like just a bright white blob.

edit: Peter beat me to it! Again, watch that exposure
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

Believe me in my ameture eyes, that is not poor. I am a moon-gazer (it being my star sign and all) so I have quite an affiliation to the moon. I would be so happy capturing shots like you have provided examples off .... but if I could get a full shot of the moon that would even be better.

OMG I can see I am going to go crazy getting the right equipment for what I want to achieve (which I am sure will burn a hole in the pocket too :LOL:)

But there are things I have to do if I want to get to where I want to be...... granted all in good time.

This forum is fantastic for learning and it peeps like you and other members that make it worthwhile staying up till late at night learning.

Thank you

Dawn
:)
 
drodd said:
WOW!!! Those images are impressive and just what I am looking to achieve, thanks for the tips and the info and data. I have only just acquired my cam but am already eager to get a bigger lens to capture such shots.

I can only but dream .....


D ;)
Click to expand...

drodd said:
Thanks for the info.

Believe me in my ameture eyes, that is not poor. I am a moon-gazer (it being my star sign and all) so I have quite an affiliation to the moon. I would be so happy capturing shots like you have provided examples off .... but if I could get a full shot of the moon that would even be better.

OMG I can see I am going to go crazy getting the right equipment for what I want to achieve (which I am sure will burn a hole in the pocket too :LOL:)

But there are things I have to do if I want to get to where I want to be...... granted all in good time.

This forum is fantastic for learning and it peeps like you and other members that make it worthwhile staying up till late at night learning.

Thank you

Dawn
:)
Click to expand...


Good luck Dawn! Stick with it and I'm sure you'll be taking cracking shots in no time!

Perhaps you can track down another Canon shooter near to you who could lend you a long lens to experiment with?
 
incapete said:
Good luck Dawn! Stick with it and I'm sure you'll be taking cracking shots in no time!

Perhaps you can track down another Canon shooter near to you who could lend you a long lens to experiment with?
Click to expand...

Great idea .... now why didn't I think of that :thinking:

Thanks

D :)
 
powell7 said:
hi,i`m new too.
i find a 300mm lens on the m setting is best.
iso at 100 and the f stop at around 5.
Click to expand...



Thanks, I will consider that,

D :)
 
Gaz81 said:
you could always get an older manual lens?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vivitar-400mm...es_CameraLensesFilters_JN?hash=item2304e0ba40

that would work out at about 640mm on you camera, but you would have to use it manualy (it would also need an adapter).

Would help fill the frame though!
Click to expand...
Good call, forgot about suggesting that. I'm assuming you have a tripod too Dawn? There's little chance of you doing this by hand. You'll need to use either a remote release or the 10s timer as well.
 
Not sure what a compact SLR lens is. I know that it's possible to use old Canon FD mount lenses on an EF mount camera by using an adapter. I also know that Tamron makes an adapter so that their Adaptall series of lenses can be fitted to a Canon EF camera.

It might be worth looking through Ebay for cheap older lenses. I manged to buy a pristine Canon FD 70-210 zoom lens for £27 and it works fine, as long as you don't mind having to do everything manually - which you probably would be anyway for shots of the moon.
 
If you're lucky you can pick up a second hand 100-400 lens cheap, couple that with a TC and you get something like:
Moon14.jpg


The other thing with moon shots is to think about time of day, early evening or moorning when the moon is low in the sky and the sky is dark blue means it's easier to get a more exposed shot if auto exposing (although I'd suggest manual). Also at these times you sometimes get the moon magnified by the atmosphere.

One other point, I used my 100-400 with a 2x tc on my 1.6 crop 50D, on a tripod, used liveview to manually focus, and at 10x zoom the moon tracks really quickly across the sky. You'll be surprised how quickly it moves, so if you try a long exposure you'll get motion blur and just think you haven't focussed right.
 
You should see the shots from chap on here who hooks his camera to a telescope and then a computer to take layers and layers of small sections of the moon to produce huge photos. They are something else....
 
Just adding my 2 cents in.

This was taken back in the summer of 2009.
Lens Nikon 70-200 f2.8 @ f9, 1/160, ISO 800
Nikon TC 1.7
D90

And the image has been cropped for just the moon as well as blacks adjusted in lightroom to get a black skyand not the blue that was there. Was just a quick shot off a tripod just to see more or less what I could get. Hell, it wasn't even a full moon. Gotta check my iphone app for the next one :D

4311409654_b99f4b094f.jpg
 
Would someone please explain why you need a small aperture to take a photograph at 250,000 miles?
MBS
 
I would imagine it's more to do with the brightness of the moon than anything else?
 
Smaller aperture gives a larger DOF, so it is easier to get a sharp image.
 
im also guessing the manual focus would be set to infinity ??

some truly great shots by the way !!! :)
 
I picked up a new 75-300 from the Argos clearance sale a few weeks ago and shot the moon with it just a few days ago.



ISO 160, 1/250th, f9, 280mm

Good tips in this thread so far... learning to meter the moon and the amount of light it reflects is the trick.
 
mbscad said:
Would someone please explain why you need a small aperture to take a photograph at 250,000 miles?
MBS
Click to expand...
You don't.

Most lenses are at their sharpest at around f/5.6 to f/8, so that's the best aperture to use unless there's a good reason not to. In this case there isn't a good reason. There's plenty of light - remember, the bit of the moon you can see is bathed in full sunlight, so you need a "sunny day" exposure rather than a "night" exposure. An aperture of f/8 will give you a shutter speed of around 1/640th or 1/800th at ISO 400, which is fast enough to avoid camera shake.

Two-day-old moon, 9th Feb 2008 - f/8, 1/640th, ISO 400
Canon 350D, 100-400L @ 400mm plus 1.4x Extender
255447670_eBKDs-L.jpg


Remember to set the exposure manually so the camera isn't fooled by the huge expanse of black sky.
 
026.jpg

this is with a sony 75-300 croped by around 50%.this was my first go at taking photos of the moon so please be nice lol.;)
iso of 100,f stop of 5 and on a tripod also on the manual setting.oh and it was almost a full moon which i`m told is harder to take ??
 
I am loving the moon photos and was going to have a try as soon possible. With all the help with set up info hopefully i'll get some sort of image that resembles the moon. So here's hoping for a clear night some time soon.

Simon
 
wrx_dazza said:
im also guessing the manual focus would be set to infinity ??

some truly great shots by the way !!! :)
Click to expand...

That's not strictly true - many lenses will focus past infinity, so if you wind the focus all the way out to the stop, you'll end up with a blurred image.

Also, many people will aim to take a photo when the moon is full. This is not necessarily the best time, as it often leads to a flat looking image due to the lack of features/detail. Taking a shot at any time other than full will reveal lots of texture along the terminator - the bit where the lit side meets the unlit side - due to the shadows being cast by the uneven terrain.

A full moon can have interest added by pushing the saturation levels in PP to bring out the colours that are there, but aren't really obvious unless given a helping hand.

Hope these two shots help demonstrate what I have just typed:

173.jpg


165.jpg
 
drodd said:
Do I need to invest in a more powerful lens?
Click to expand...

Yes. The moon is a *very* long way away :)

I took this video using 800mm + 2x converter + 1.4x converter on a full frame camera:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06SXYrI783U[/YOUTUBE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06SXYrI783U

Note that the video is not speeded up - this is how fast it moves across the sky.

Andrew
 
Thanks for the explanation StewartR.
I was just trying to get people to think about DOF at infinity (well almost).
Fast telescopes usually have a ratio of f4 ish.
 
4158018600_a5378bfc84.jpg


This one was taken hand held with a Sigma 120-400mm ISO 200 1/800sec
and the white balance was set for sunlight.Aperture was f9.
 
drodd said:
Great idea .... now why didn't I think of that :thinking:

Thanks

D :)
Click to expand...

hi, i live up the road/ nearish to accy, and could meet you some time if you wanted to try out my 100-400 ??? (i have a tripod aswell if you dont)
 
If you really want to get the detail and avoid cropping, you want to be aiming for at least 1200mm

I took this on Tuesday with my 600mm Telescope and a 2xTC (Kenko)
IMG_0325.jpg


You can, with care, get good results with only 250mm.. Handheld with my 55-250, lens wide open.
IMG_0621.jpg
 
jgs001 said:
If you really want to get the detail and avoid cropping, you want to be aiming for at least 1200mm

I took this on Tuesday with my 600mm Telescope and a 2xTC (Kenko)
IMG_0325.jpg


You can, with care, get good results with only 250mm.. Handheld with my 55-250, lens wide open.
IMG_0621.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks, I am defo going to need to invest in a stronger lens.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
slicemydrive said:
hi, i live up the road/ nearish to accy, and could meet you some time if you wanted to try out my 100-400 ??? (i have a tripod aswell if you dont)
Click to expand...



Thanks for the offer, I may just take you up on that offer. Now if only I had a stronger lens tonight to take great pics of the moon ....... oh well there will be more full moons in months to come.

Take care

Dawn :)
 
Jack Flash said:
4158018600_a5378bfc84.jpg


This one was taken hand held with a Sigma 120-400mm ISO 200 1/800sec
and the white balance was set for sunlight.Aperture was f9.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the example and spec.

Great pic :)

Dawn
 
scottthehat said:
this was taken with a sigma 150-500mm,
moon.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for the beautiful photo, I think it is definitely time for me to get another lens for my new camera ..... OMG I can see this is going to be very addictive :LOL:

Appreciate the input, cheers!

Dawn :LOL:
 
gaffer said:
Yes. The moon is a *very* long way away :)

I took this video using 800mm + 2x converter + 1.4x converter on a full frame camera:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06SXYrI783U[/YOUTUBE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06SXYrI783U

Note that the video is not speeded up - this is how fast it moves across the sky.

Andrew
Click to expand...

WOW! Andrew that is amazing, I never realised how fast the moon actually moves. This afternoon I noticed the moon rising and I remembered watching your video this morning and remembered how quickly it moved. So it was a mad dash home so that I could capture some shots as the moon rose above the trees in front of the woodland infront of my house. Unforuntaly I am a newbie with very basic equipment (i.e., kit lens 18-55) so was never going to get any great shots. But it has motivated me to get a stronger lens for the next full moon. And I will now never forget how fast it rises, thanks to your video.

Valuable input, thank you.

Dawn :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top