Question about night "haze"

[hoseman1]

I want to shoot the lunar eclipse later this am, but am getting 2 effects from my camera I don't understand. I am using a 70-300 is 4-5.6 set on 300 with a 5.6 f and a slow shutter speed.
Any suggestions as to why one of these is sharper than the other?

[synoptic]

It looks like the top is iso 100 and the bottom is iso 1600 with shutter speeds at .6 seconds and 1/10 second, respectively. I would imagine that iso difference is your problem.

[Arnor]

Greg,

Atmospheric conditions. Looks like a thin vale of clouds blew over in the second shot. With a full Moon I have used f/5.6 and 1/640 and iso-100 with that same lens (non-IS version) or 1/400 at f/6.3 (see http://www.itakefotos.com/showfullimage.php?image=103 as an example) Shoot RAW so you can get as much detail as possible.

Good luck and please post some photos:)

Best regards,

[hoseman1]

Thanks Guys for the help. The battery just died.........Better now than a 5:AM. It will be charged up by then and I will try those settings.
Thanks Again. Look fot the pic's this evening as once I get the shots, I am going back to sleep for a few hours before work.

[akimartymar]

The problem is the slow shutter speed. The moon is actually a direct light source and is brighter than most people realize. The "glowing" effect is from overexposure. There is no detail in the moon. At ISO 100 try shooting 1/100 at f/8 and see what you get.

[fivegrand]

I'm practicing up for this myself, it's going to happen here in an hour or so (Pacific time at the moment).

Here's a practice shot at ISO 200, 1/100 @ f/10. For those of you EXIF peepers, it's innaccurate for some reason. It shows f/7.1, and it shows focal length of 360 when it was shot at 400.

I'm NOT happy with the lack of sharpness.

[tommas4]

I agree on overexposure.
Correct exposure for ANY object that is sunlit is f/16, 1/100 sec. at ISO 100, aka. "sunny 16 rule". Given the moon is actually lit directly by sun, but quite far away from us and taking into account atmospheric conditions above earth surface, the sunny 16 needs to be bend little bit, probably f/10, 1/100, iso 100 would be the correct recipe - or at least starting exposure. Since we have instant readout on lcd, you can adjust accordingly.

Alright, when this geeky stuf happened to me I don't know, but really, I'm regular nut as others

Tomas

[JamesB]

the moon fakes out your cameras metering system and does not register the correct exposures for the moon. You have to adjust the settings manually based on what others have said.

James

[fivegrand]

Originally Posted by JamesB

the moon fakes out your cameras metering system and does not register the correct exposures for the moon. You have to adjust the settings manually based on what others have said.

James

...Or set your camera to spot metering, not center-weighted or multi-point. You can still use manual modes and use the camera's meter for a feeler of where you're at.