How to shoot the moon?

[Jason Smalling]

I need some advise. I tried shooting the moon for the first time last weekend. The end result after trying different settings and messing with it for about half and hour was not to my satisfaction. Is there any way to get a detailed shot of the moon w/o using computer editing?

[Ox190]

One of my pictures I am most proud of.....done with a cell phone and a telescope.....and no I am not making that up.

[jeffkohn]

Overexposure is probably the biggest mistake made. A full moon is especially bright, and should be exposed as you would a daylight scene. For this reason shooting a full moon as an element in a scene can be very difficult. In this case night before a full moon will be better because the moon isn't as bright, and it also comes up a bit earlier. For photographing just the moon, this isn't an issue and a full moon is probably easier since you can expose for just the moon and your shutter speed should be nice and fast.

Focusing can be difficult, especially since on most lenses you can't just twist the focus ring all the way and assume infinity will be sharp (many lenses can focus past infinity, especially zooms). LiveView can be helpful here if your camera has it, as you can zoom all the way in and check focus.

Watch out for long exposures, the moon is moving faster than you might think and will blur if your exposure too long. The longer your focal length, the more this will be an issue.

Glass that is prone to CA on high-contrast edges should also be avoided.

Googling "photographing the moon" should bring up lots of resources.

[Jason Smalling]

Thanks for the tips.

[toverman]

A long lens or camera that will capture enough pixels to get a clear, tight crop can work.

Most attempts I've made I've shot at ISO 100 or 200, 1/125th of a second, with a 300 mm lens. Requires use of at least a monopod, but a tripod can help keep it even steadier.

[Phototx]

Your camera meter will not read the scene properly because there is a small amount of white in a sea of darkness. Try switching your camera to Manual mode and try each of the following combinations hand held with the longest lens you have. 100iso-F8-S500, 100iso-F11-S500, 200iso-F8-S1000, 200iso-F8-S2000. This should get you in the ballpark.

Glen

[dlanter]

My best moon shots in the past have been at ISO 100, f16 & shutter speeds from 1/15 to 1/60 sec. Manual focus, tripod, remote shutter button & mirror lockup are a must. Tomorrow or night after I am going to try again with my new 400mm and 2xTC. May even stack the 1.4xTC on too to see how much IQ loss there is.

[The Loft Studios]

Since the Moon is the reflection of the Moon's surface cause by the Sun, you want to use the BDE (Basic Daylight Exposure)
BDE = 1/ISO @ f/16 - meaning whatever your ISO is set at, also use that Shutter Speed @ f/16

EXAMPLE: ISO = 100 ---> Exposure = 1/100 @ f/16 or any exposure that is equivalent such as 1/1600 @ f/4.0
EXAMPLE: ISO = 400 ---> Exposure = 1/400 @ f/16 or any exposure that is equivalent such as 1/1600 @ f/8

[dlanter]

Here is a shot I took a couple of months ago with a 100-400L mounted on a 30D.

ISO 100, f11, 1/30 sec.

[Hikin' Mike]

The "Moony Rule"
f/11@ 1/ISO setting for a full moon
f/8 @ 1/ISO for a half moon
f/5.6 @ 1/ISO for a quarter moon

[MT Stringer]

Here are a couple of mine.
The exif is embedded in the file.

Hope this helps.

1) Waning Gibous -shot with a 40D and Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 with a Sigma 1.4x and a 2x TC stacked. Mounted on a tripod, mirror locked up and triggered with a Phottix wireless remote. Focus was achieved manually using the "live view" on the camera.

Camera Model: Canon EOS 40D
Date/Time: 2009:06:11 00:06:11
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 600.0mm + 1.4 = 840mm
Exposure Time: 0.0080 s (1/125)
Aperture: f/7.1
ISO Equiv.: 400
Whitebalance: Auto
Exposure: Manual




2) This pic was shot with the Canon 100-400L w/1.4x TC handheld!

Camera Model: Canon EOS 40D
Date/Time: 2009:07:28 21:07:30
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 560.0mm
Exposure Time: 0.0080 s (1/125)
Aperture: f/11.0
ISO Equiv.: 1000
Whitebalance: Auto
Exposure: Manual

[MHampton]

Well, I might as well post mine that I just did the other day too. :)



EXIF info intact as well as on the bottom of the pic. Cropped in lightroom and shrunk from 1100x1100 to 800x800. This was slightly overexposed and shot in raw. I was testing something I read the other day that said that when shooting raw it is better to over expose than under. I'd say it turned out pretty good.

Shot with 5Dii with 100-400L and 2x

[Jason Smalling]

I did a quick search before I started this thread and the only pic I came across was Mr. Hampton's (love this shot BTW). But I'm really glad I got to see a few more great examples of what this shot is supposed to look like. I'm going to try some of the recommended settings over the weekend and post up the results.

[MulberryLane]

Originally Posted by Hikin' Mike

The "Moony Rule"
f/11@ 1/ISO setting for a full moon
f/8 @ 1/ISO for a half moon
f/5.6 @ 1/ISO for a quarter moon

Thanks for that, Mike. I was trying f22 for some reason.

MulberryLane added 1 Minutes and 24 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by MT Stringer

Here are a couple of mine.



2) This pic was shot with the Canon 100-400L w/1.4x TC handheld!

Okay... um... wow.