Full Moon

[deena]

Im not sure if this is the right place - it is a 'close up' shot of the moon! (Mods - feel free to move it to somewhere else).

I originally put this in howard09's thread entitled 'The Moon', but realized he was talking about (i think!) landscapes INCLUDING the moon, and the problems faced with specific lighting. So I decided to start a new thread and hopefully if anybody has got any photos of the moon, we can compare settings

Here's a photo I took last week. It's not perfect but it's probably the best one I've taken. I've read some conficting information on the internet, so I dont really know the correct settings to use. I just know that you shouldn't have your shutter open for too long as the moon is moving!

My settings were as follows:

F/11
Focal length - 250 mm
Shutter speed 1/13th sec
ISO 100
taken with tripod and 'live view' (x10 zoom) used to autofocus
cropped quite heavily, hence the small file

[amk1977]

Hi Deena.

I did take a photo of the moon a few weeks back but, I think I've delete the image since, as I don't see it on my desktop. I was using a Tamron SP 500mm mirror lens that is fixed at f/8. I can't alter the aperture. I also had a x2 teleconverter fitted to the back, making it a 1000mm f/16 lens lol.

I was still able to get about 1/160 sec by raising the ISO up to around 500.

Its essentially a juggling act. If your shutter speed is too slow, up your ISO or increase the aperture from f/11 to f/8, to either make the sensor more sensitive or allow more light in. Or do both. The moon does move quite quickly, as you'll notice in live view with the x10 zoom as it travels across your screen. The faster you can have the shutter speed, the better, as you will decrease the motion blur.

Experiment with different ISO settings first and see where the upper limit is with your camera, before the noise starts to ruin the image. Then knock it down a notch. Depending on your camera this may be ISO 800 or much higher, if you have a newer camera that has improves SNR or a full frame sensor. This would be my first port of call. If you're still not achieving a fast enough shutter speed, then open the aperture a little.

[deena]

Wow..I would have loved to have seen that photo Amk. It's a shame you deleted it.

Thanks for your very informative reply. So maybe my shutter speed was too slow, and I should have aimed for about 1/125th sec (saw that in the other 'moon' thread ) I will bear this in mind for next time.

[amk1977]

Hi Deena,

I found the RAW file still on my PC. The shot is certainly nothing to write home about but, here it is anyway. I could probably have done with dropping the ISO down a bit more and tweaking the focus ever so slightly. At 1000mm though its really difficult with a manual focus lens because any tiny movement you make, sends the scene in the view finder, darting about all over the place. You might need to right mouse click and open it in a new window to see the uncompressed version.

[deena]

Originally Posted by amk1977

Hi Deena,

I found the RAW file still on my PC. The shot is certainly nothing to write home about but, here it is anyway. I could probably have done with dropping the ISO down a bit more and tweaking the focus ever so slightly. At 1000mm though its really difficult with a manual focus lens because any tiny movement you make, sends the scene in the view finder, darting about all over the place. You might need to right mouse click and open it in a new window to see the uncompressed version.

Great shot Amk! Im not sure how to see the uncompressed version, but I love the fact that you can see the craters on the left hand side.

[OldBoy]

deena, I think your shot of the Moon is a cracker with lots of details.

[littlebro]

One I took with my D50 a while back, like 2007. 1/160th @ f8 200 ISO Sigma 70/300 mm.

[deena]

Originally Posted by OldBoy

deena, I think your shot of the Moon is a cracker with lots of details.

Thanks oldboy! I was pleased that I got some detail this time. My last attempt was poor.

Originally Posted by littlebro

One I took with my D50 a while back, like 2007. 1/160th @ f8 200 ISO Sigma 70/300 mm.

Nice shot littlebro. It looks like we caught the same side of the moon You can see more detail in the craters on the bottom left hand side on your one.

( I viewed the larger version by clicking on the photo but had to change the url. I deleted the [IMG] from both ends of the link and the extra http//.)

[littlebro]

Thanks Deena, only trouble being cant see a larger one now, didn't know there was one before. LOL.

[carlos]

interesting shots