tripod and a big lens = shaky shot??

[PatRonan]

OK, so I think I already know the answer to my question (remote shutter release), but thought I'd ask put it out there anyway.

I was out last night here in Houston trying to capture the red and really big moon over downtown. I had my tripod set up, shooting with my D50 and 70-300 lens at max zoom, trying to get some really large moon shots. I was using shutter speeds in the neighborhood of 5-10 seconds. The problem was, even on the tripod, the whole camera had a subtle shake to it as I was taking shots, and the moon ended up fuzzy/distorted. Is this a problem with all tripods, or are there better tripods out there that are stronger. I know that a remote shutter release will alleviate most of this, but am not sure how wide a range of tripods there are in terms of strength and stability.

Thanks much...
Pat

[shutterflypro]

Two words - Mirror Lock-up or is that three. Oh well lock the mirror up and it will help a lot. That remote will also work wonders

[Dave-RR]

Howdy Pat,
I've discovered as you're discovering...the moon is a hard target because it's moving. Try going in the other direction with your shutter speeds. 1/500 is a good starting point. Also, place your hand on top of the lens and apply light pressure...helps absorb vibrations.
Have fun !

[chloew]

Originally Posted by davidR

The moon is a hard target because it's moving. Try going in the other direction with your shutter speeds. 1/500 is a good starting point.

Correct. Due to the earth's rotation the moon, stars and sun are always moving in the sky. Depending on what lens you are using and the location of the object in the sky (distance away from the equator) there is a maximum exposure length that you can get (without the camera tracking the object) without blurring it.

The rough guideline I remember is 10 seconds for a 50 mm lens on a film body pointing at the equator.

For your 300mm lens with a 1.5x digital factor = 450mm. This will give you a maximum exposure time of about 1 second for a perfectly still camera.

[Badge]

Shot at the highest speed you can taking a spot reading and keep the iso at 200 or 400

[PatRonan]

Thanks folks. I'm going to try and get out again tonight, and try using much faster speeds and see how I fare. The moon really was fantastic last night, so I'm hoping it'll be good again tonight.

If I get anything decent, you'll be sure to see it here tomorrow, or later tonight.
Cheers
Pat

[eurotrash]

what they said but also just wanted to say that there is ALWAYS a stronger tripod. lolz.

[magvve]

My friend,

Try to go 1/250-1/500 and f9-f11 and use the meter to point mode instead of the whole frame. Use a 200-400 ISO as well. On that exposure I also apply a strong exposure compensation of 5ev (don't remember now if positive or negative ) just make sure that you're compensating to the right side inside your viewfinder

With low shutter speeds you can have a nice movement of the moon on its track but the blur is inherent of the process! Moon doesn't appear to move that fast but it do!

Also use the shutter release or try to use the delay option