Moon shot question

[Dagwood56]

There should still be a full moon tonight, and my husband has graciously offered me the use of his 400mm lens and tripod. What would be the best exposure time [ap, ISO & shutter speed] to get a really good shot? Any suggestions? I'vve never done a moon shot before, only captured two by accident years ago. ----Thanks

 

[ShutterSpeed]

exposure should be as fast as you can get it, low ISO.

the moon is brighter than we realize. It doesn't really need a long exposure, but rather a fast one to reduce lens blur, etc.

I imagine at 400mm you'll be able to get some great detail on it. You really don't even need a tripod unless you really want to.

 

[chrisburke]

i would be shocked if you used 400mm, but always good to know its there.. I mean i used a 300mm lens, but i was zoomed to around 220-250 for my moon shots.

as SS said, you want a nice low ISO 100 if your camera goes there (lowest mine goes is 200, and it worked great) i used 1/250 for my shutterspeed and F8..

 

[Big Mike]

The moon is being directly lit by the sun...so you will probably need an exposure similar to what you would use in the middle of the day. A good place to start might be with the 'Sunny 16 rule'. So F16 and the same number for ISO & shutter speed.

 

[Dagwood56]

Thank you much Everyone ! I'm not as steady on my feet as I used to be so I may need the tripod - husband has one of those gunstock mounts too so I might use that...Then again, perhaps I'll simply brace myself against the garage door and go without either. Thanks again for the input. I appreciate it.

 

[kundalini]

I posted this in another thread yesterday. Have a look at the settings. I should have used a faster shutter speed.

Use the tripod!!!

 

[astrostu]

Check out the lunar photography guide I wrote. People here have used it with success. Focal length has nothing to do with your exposure settings, though an ideal focal length would be closer to 1500 mm to fill the entire field of your image.

 

[Enem178]

I just shot this a couple minutes ago. It sucks because I only have one lens at the moment (28-135) so I really couldnt get much detail. But I spot metered and under exposed a bit. This is my 1st moon shot with this camera.

1/64 f/9 iso 100

 

[Dagwood56]

Thank you all for the input - I will be going out to shoot the moon in about 30 minutes. If it turns out I will also re-establish my photo bucket account so I can upload to the board. I do hope it turns out - been looking forward to this ALL DAY!

I will be using the tripod as my husband said this particular lens weighs almost 5lbs. I think maybe he is exaggerating a bit about the weight, but as I mentioned I am not as steady on my feet as I once was, so would feel better using the tripod. I'll let you know how it turns out.