New respect for moon shots

January 11th, 2011
Does anyone have any tips to get a nice crisp moon shot. I tried today but just got sparkle.....no detail.

My set up was: a tripod, remote, D5000, 70-300Nikon VRII and NO LUCK. Tips?

The photos below are from Mac Eugenio and are what I was trying to capture.



January 11th, 2011
@mattyb wow.. thanks for feautring my photos... hahahhaha

what a great lens u have tehre.. i have used only a 200mm VR lens... it has to be at least 300mm to capture the moon, i just worked out what i've got hahah


it's just a matter of mixing your aperture to shutter speed... a VR lens is very helpful and a tripod.. ^__^ a lil faster shutter speed and low aperture... watch out for the exposure too... ^__^
January 11th, 2011
You have skills. I will play around again this week after this snow storm passes that we are having tomorrow. Do you keep the VR turned on? I have read in some places to turn it off when you are using a tripod to minimize motor shake. Any truth to that in real practice? Low aperature......how low? I see you used 16.....is that pretty standard? I tried 11, but I just got sparkle with no detail. Thanks for the tips and your photos are amazing.......you're a great inspiration.
January 11th, 2011
I took this pic hand held, 250 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec. The tip someone gave me for moon pics is set the shutter speed to 1/125 and play around with the aperture to get the exposure right (so you have to be in manual mode). If you get no details, then it's probably overexposed. Try a faster shutter speed and/or a lower aperture (higher f number).



And about the image stabilizer (I use canon, but I guess what VR is with Nikon?), yes turn it off when you use a tripod. I experienced it myself, it can definitely create a shake.

January 11th, 2011
Most of the moon shots you see that really dazzle are a result of a composite image containing a few exposures or through a telescope so it can really zoom in to get a better exposure. (or very sharp glass) The moon, as simple as it seems, is quite difficult to shoot because of its brightness. After all, it is just reflected sunlight.

If you want to get a better idea of what works, check out this post over at POTN: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=803791

There are hundreds of moon pics, and many people share their equipment and settings so you can get an idea for what works and what doesn't. In there you'll find plenty of moon pics that suck, and many that blow your mind. So, you should be able to identify what you need to do to take yours to the next level.

January 11th, 2011
for my lens I try not going over f/11 or I find other problems creep in...

full moons are very tough as they are flat ... I love shooting blue moons in the day time: but if you look through my 365... I likely have about 1/2 dozen moons shots with settings posted:

January 11th, 2011
@mattyb the lower the aperture the darker it gets.. the reason why u got just the sparkle is that, there are too many light getting in your camera... so put the aperture down... and yes i turn the VR plus the tripod.. it works for me... ^__^

THANK U VERY MUCH!!! ^_^

@icywarm that moon shot is soooooo cool... better than what i got!
January 11th, 2011
Here's a trick I was told years ago, back in the film days before histograms and image reviews that you could zoom in on:
You need your camera in full manual settings. Start with your ISO (lower the better - I almost always use ISO100), then set your shutter speed to double your ISO - in this case, 1/200. Start with aperture at f8. If the moon is really bright, adjust aperture to f11 and/or adjust exposure compensation.
The resulting image should look like this:

Of course, things got tricky during the eclipse:
January 11th, 2011
@maceugenio thanks old russian manual lens... nothing fancy fixed f/8 500mm... and dust likely a mother... i count at least 4 spots! but it is small and great for handhelds...
January 11th, 2011
@icywarm @maola interesting to see the different angles each of us shows. Guess it depends on where our little blue marble you are . . .
January 22nd, 2011
Exposure 1/320 Aperture f/8.0 ISO 100 Focal Length 250mm
TRIPOD a MUST

January 22nd, 2011
I dont have an awesome lens but this is the 1st moon shot that i captured.
January 22nd, 2011
This is my first attempt at capturing the moon. I took about 50 shots, tried every different combination & chose this one. I was happy with it.
February 17th, 2011
@mattyb



I learn from Web

Shutter : 1/500 (try not to slower than 1/125)
Aperture : F9
ISO : 200
Focal length : 300mm
Color : B/W
Mode : Manual
Others : Tripod, Shutter cable and mirror lockup (optional)

The shutter speed and aperture were varies depending on the intensity of light source. Normally, you can get relatively faster shutter speed with full moon.
Try not to use shutter slower than 1/125, the moon moving faster than we expected.
You will get a quite dim moon photo from above setting (preserve surface detail), then you need to adjust the brightness and crop with Photoshop.
B/W is my personal preference only.
February 17th, 2011
Check the EXIF for specs, no tripod was used. Couldn't resist taking a pic of the moon today.
February 17th, 2011


Certainly not as good as some of the others in this thread. I actually like it when the moon isn't quite full and you get the area of shadow. Photo was taken at 200mm so was cropped a bit.

EXIF details-

Shutter:1/160
Aperture: f10
ISO:100
Focal length: 200mm
Manual on a tripod with remote shutter. Can't remember if I used mirror lock up or not.

February 19th, 2011
I did pretty well tonight, I think. On the moon, it's a sunny day, so the "sunny 16" rules apply:
http://dgrin.smugmug.com/Tutorials/Shooting-Tech-and-Tips/Sunny-16-Rule-Estimating/3762805_fpgXr


I used a sony a55 + 2x converter + 500mm reflex lens, tripod, and self timer. This lens is fixed at f8, but with converter, it becomes f16 and manual focus. I forgot to turn off the Steady Shot, but it doesn't appear to have hurt it any.
Exif info:
Shutter: 1/200
Aperture: f16
ISO: 100
Focal length: 1000 (1500 - 35mm equivalent)
March 6th, 2011
Taken on the spur of the moment with my Canon 550D, 1/800 sec, f5/6, 250mm, ISO 3200. No tripod was used.
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