Moon/Luna / Discuss

UmadiRaj says:

The steps i carried to get this pic...

1. Set the camera to manual mode, preferably on a tripod...
2. Zoom to the maximum available in your camera...
3. Manually set the focus to infinity...
4. Set the aperture to maximum number (f/8 to f/11 or higher)..
5. Adjust the shutter speed for clear n bright moon...

This is what i got with a Canon S5 IS...


Posted 47 months ago. (permalink)

Susana Gonzalo says:

thanks a lot to you all for your help
hope some day (or better some night) i can try your advices ;)
Posted 47 months ago. (permalink)

Luiz C. Salama    says:

Maximum zooming
f/8.0
ISO=speed ex: ISO 400 speed 1/400)

I take the first shot, check the results and adjust the exposure.

If it seems dark I change the f/ to a value like 5.6 or the ISO to 640 or a maximum 800.

If it seems too bright, I try faster shutter speeds, like 1/800...

I use a 100-400L USM IS handheld. using the shutter speed faster then 1/250 is quite easy to take good pics.

if you want to see the results: www.flickr.com/photos/dr_ocio/tags/moon
Posted 46 months ago. (permalink)

Razvan F.    says:

Tripod, turn Image Stabilization off (not even sure your camera has it sorry) manual focus works very well (check out my moon if you would like my best picture so far is with manual focus) put a self-timer on the camera when u snap the picture so your finger does not cause unwanted vibration. Hope this helps good luck!!
Posted 46 months ago. (permalink)

Nabarun Sadhya says:

A tripod and >300mm lens is always good but I have seen good moon image with 200 mm lens. I think in the problem is with exposure, since 200 mm lens does not fill the image with the subject so the moon is tinny part of the image, and the camera tries to take a longer exposure then required. So manually adjust your camera for (-) EV.

I have a compact digicam, it has a unique smart zooming facility i.e. if you set the camera for VGA quality picture you can zoom up to 81X and this is the result of that, i have not used Tele conversion lens or a tripod it is just in hand held.

Posted 46 months ago. (permalink)

Styleline1952 says:

Spot meter the moon. Tripod and a low iso to help with noise
Posted 44 months ago. (permalink)

Jeffrey Sullivan    says:

To get a correct exposure without a lot of effort, the easiest times to shoot the moon are when the exposure of the moon is close to the exposure of the rest fo the scene, such as when the nearly full moon is rising just before sunset (generally a day before the full moon day) and when it is setting at sunrise (generally the day after the full moon).



The short answer for exposure is use your camera's exposure compensation feature to darken your exposure (not get a totally washed out and blurry moon) and also use automatic exposure bracketing to take 3 exposures, including one that's another 2 stops darker. If you're shooting the moon more than 30-40 minutes after sunset, you may need to switch to manual exposure mode.

I wrote an article on my blog with tips on planning for (looking up moon rise and set times in advance) and shooting moonrise/moonset shots at sunset and sunrise:

activesole.blogspot.com/2006/11/plan-ahead-for-great-full...

There are also some postprocessing techniques such as using HDR software such as Photomatix to process your automatix exposure bracketing sequences that can help bring out detail in the moon while balancing its exposure with your exposure of the surrounding terrain. You can download a free trial of Photomatix at www.HDRsoft.com.


Originally posted 43 months ago. (permalink)
Jeffrey Sullivan edited this topic 43 months ago.

Fede NqN says:

Exposición: 0,02 sec (1/50)
Aperture: f/5,6
Lente: 70,2 mm
ISO: 64
Cam: Kodak compact digital.
Posted 43 months ago. (permalink)

Renato Contes says:

Consegui com minha Canon S5is

Luiz C. Salama    says:

Pickersgill Reef , try to set the focus to manual... even in a huge cropped image I think you can get a better result. the exposition is fine.

Huge cropped moon shots:




Posted 42 months ago. (permalink)

ozgurmulazimoglu    says:

Manually set the focus to infinity...

How do we do this?
Posted 42 months ago. (permalink)

Kevin's Stuff    says:

@Pickersgill Reef - why are you stopping down to f/22? There's no need for that. And like Luiz says, focus manually.

Here's my shot...

Exposure: 1/1000
Aperture: f/5.6
Lens: Canon 100-400mmL @ 400mm
ISO: 200
Cropped slightly
Posted 42 months ago. (permalink)

dalrealgerk    says:

Here's my shot:

mchaconcr    says:

Weird, I'm doing the opposite as what people suggested on this thread.. used very large aperture (f2.8) Because the moon was just above me, the tripod is cheap, and the lens is heavy, so I wanted the fastest shot I could take (1/2000). The picture was shot in NEF-RAW, using a Nikon D-60, and processed in Photoshop, where I have adjusted the contrast, sharpness, white balance, and some other stuff.

Exposure: 1/2000
App:f2.8
ISO:200
200 mm auto-focus
Manual mode.
NEF-RAW


Posted 41 months ago. (permalink)

Kevin's Stuff    says:

@ mchaconcr....

You have to remember though, that your lens isn't inherently sharp at the widest aperture.

Even stopping down 1 or 2 stops will help. If you would have stopped down to F/4, your shutter speed would still have been 1/1000 sec.
Posted 41 months ago. (permalink)

Mike Black photos    says:

Mike Black photos    says:

koukiks damz says:

My comment is write on the pix ;)


Posted 41 months ago. (permalink)

Kevin's Stuff    says:

@ Mike Black....

A year ago I was taking photos by holding a macro lens up to the eyepiece of a telescope.

Hey, whatever works. I started out shooting a lunar eclipse in 1982 using the afocal method. But remember when Mars was at close opposition in 2003? My best shot was holding by P&S Sony up to my 4-inch refractor. :)

Believe me, we never stop experimenting. Even after doing this for 25+ years.
Posted 41 months ago. (permalink)

Gary_Sutherland    says:

I use a Panasonic Lumix FZ50. I put the camera in aperture priority mode, select the smallest aperture (f/11) and set spot metering.

With the camera mounted on a tripod I zoom to maximum (420mm) and manually focus. When I'm ready to take my shot I select the self-timer mode of my camera and set it off - this helps to avoid camera shake.

Sometimes I select black and white, rather than leaving it in colour mode, as I find this can also give good results.
Originally posted 41 months ago. (permalink)
Gary_Sutherland edited this topic 41 months ago.

Chrisser    says:

When I take photos of the moon in my area, I used to use manual settings but everything looks too fuzzy. I now set my digital point-and-shoot still camera and shoot moon photos in the Landscape shooting mode.

First settings for the More Properties of Olympus C765UZ on some moon photos I posted last night (all Waxing Crescent moon photos):
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/3.7
Focal Length: 63 mm
ISO Speed: 64
Exposure Bias: -2 EV
Flash: Off

Also, I wait until the sun is mostly set before going out to get moon photos, no matter if they are waxing crescent, first-quarter, waxing gibbous, full, waning gibbous, last-quarter or waning crescent.
Originally posted 40 months ago. (permalink)
Chrisser edited this topic 40 months ago.

APD Photo    says:

This was taken by holding my 7MP point-n-shoot digital camera up to the eyepiece on an 8" Dobsonian telescope. This is actually 5 frames, stacked and processed to bring out details. Well-known features include Clavius, Tycho, the Straight Wall and Cassini's Bright Spot.


Posted 40 months ago. (permalink)

emrank    says:

ChyLn    says:

First moon pic I've ever taken :)

Taken with a Nikon D300 with a 500mm f8 Nikkor Mirror Reflex Lens on a Tripod.

Hope you guys like it :)
Posted 40 months ago. (permalink)

Kevin's Stuff    says:

Here was mine for the month.



Shot with a 5-inch SCT (1250mm @ f/10)

I got lucky because with the sensor on my camera, the moon barely fit into the frame. :)
Posted 40 months ago. (permalink)

saturn ♄    says:

Here is mine:



Canon 50D + Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

Stacked 8 photos, sharpened and tonemapped.
Posted 40 months ago. (permalink)

saturn ♄    says:

Tonemapping and local contrast enhancements can reveal nice details, too.

coopsgirl22    says:

You all have such wonderful guidance. How about some for taking a great picture of the moon during the day against a blue sky? I have no idea how to get the detail so many of you can.

By the way, I have a Nikon DSLR (D80) and lenses in different forms from 28mm to 300mm.

Thanks.
Posted 40 months ago. (permalink)

Mr Weatherbee [deleted] says:

Nice set of tips here.
Posted 39 months ago. (permalink)

armk    says:

A simple 2-inch refractor telescope can get you this (view "original" size to see the level of detail):



(Picture taken by placing the camera on a tripod and manually aligning the camera to the telescope tube).
Posted 39 months ago. (permalink)

Ifthik says:

Nice details...i also have two shots!
Posted 36 months ago. (permalink)

Alejandro I fotografoalejandrorodriguez.com    says:

Cámara: Nikon D90
Exposición: 0,02 sec (1/50)
Aperture: f/14.0
Lente: 500 mm
Exposición: 0.00
Velocidad ISO: 200
Metering Mode: Spot

gj po says:

Canon S95 says:

i love moon!
Posted 21 months ago. (permalink)

Perro__Viejo    says:

Lovely pics in this group. I love being lunar!

I used a Nikon D90, Sigma 70-300mm/f3.5, manual focus, maximum zoom, camera set to shutter priority and apeture on auto. Didn't take the time for my tripod but did brace on a solid signpost.

RioGrande2009 says:

Camera - Panasonic FZ38
F7.1
1/20th
ISO - 80
Exposure Bias - 0
Spot Metering
Taken on tripod with the image stabilisation turned off - used the 2 second timer
Posted 18 months ago. (permalink)

Penrod Vladyka [deleted] says:

Stack your images, use a cable release, mirror lock.....and lots of other stuff!

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/penrodvladyka/4019267583/]
Posted 18 months ago. (permalink)

lupu victor says:

Registax is best for video processing lupuvictor.blogspot.com/2011/01/moon-mosaic.html
this is my moon mosaic
astrofotografieluna.blogspot.com
Posted 16 months ago. (permalink)

gh.ankit says:

Supermoon ! with my Canon SX 130 IS

Glass_House    says:

I've heard of stacking images to get more detail in the moon and there's a free program that does this called Registax. But darned if i can figure out this program.

I downloaded it and tried it last night and it has to be one of the least intuitive programs I've ever encountered and there doesn't seem to be any official tutorial or help with the program.
So I tried loading 6 shots of the moon taken last night,
I tried 3 ways, 1, by clicking file > open and ctrl A to select all the images and then clicked "open". I also tired opening one at a time and I tried dragging and dropping them into the edit window, a technique that I found mentioned on another forum). In each case i could only see the top image, there doesn't seem to be a way to view them individually or to see a list of images loaded anywhere.
After that it got confusing.
Nothing I did seemed to have any effect. I tried assigning alignment points. Nothing. I tried clicking on various tabs, each one more cryptic than the last.

To cut it short, has anyone used this program or does anyone know of another program that's easier to figure out?
--
Originally posted 15 months ago. (permalink)
Glass_House edited this topic 15 months ago.

Johan J.Ingles-Le Nobel    says:

My tutorial on this, How To Photograph The Moon always gets a spike of traffic when there's a full moon. It has gotten quite a few people started in their moon photography.
Originally posted 12 months ago. (permalink)
Johan J.Ingles-Le Nobel edited this topic 12 months ago.

oortcloud2012 says:

Mirror lock, live view focus, cold camera, stacking images....

Stargazer95050 says:

Not your average setup -- not your average result :
This is a 12.000 x 8.000 pixel panorama, shot with a D7000, a 120mm f/7 telescope and eye-piece projection

Stargazer95050 says:

Also when you shoot the rising or setting moon during twilight, there can be strange side-effects from some of the camera's settings :

KorduroyKari says:

I have a Nikon Coolpix S6200 . Could someone tell me what my settings should be on to take a (really good) picture of the moon. And it would be awesome if someone could tell me step by step how to change those settings. :)
Posted 5 months ago. (permalink)

Stargazer95050 says:

Chances are, you are expecting too much -- the moon is pretty small and many photos you see are cropped, possibly even enlarged, just to show the moon. For a size comparison I've combine UNCROPPED photos, shot with a long tele and two different telescopes. The effective FOV are equivalent to 300mm, 450mm, 1000mm and 1350mm.

Another example : /photos/sharpshutter/5544453209/

APD Photo    says:

The other night, I noticed something very unusual on one of my photos of the moon:


Posted 5 months ago. (permalink)