Moon Shot

tresguey · Sep 3, 2009

I have been trying to take a decent shot of the moon for a while. I am new to photography and this is getting me frustated. I used my D90 with the 70-300mmVR on it using the timer and tripod. VR was off as well as the auto focus. This time i played around with ISO around 100 equiv. This shot was the best at ISO of .7 or i think 125 equiv. I know it sucks. Any hints would be greatful. I have the white balance set at tung/incandescent if that even matters? i'm not sure.

docphysics · Sep 3, 2009

Hmmmm......... I am no expert, but something is askew.... Seems like the focus is off. What happens when you shoot, full auto, with VR on, with tripod, and dial in the focus? I just got a Nikon D90, and shot this image with the 18-200 VR, handheld and I tweaked in the focus manually, let the camera take care of everything else.....

lvcrtrs · Sep 3, 2009

I have the D90 and the 70-300VR. I just tried to think of how I did it with film. So I turned off the automatic ISO business and set it to 200. Not being sure of the speed and finding out it changes from 1 moon to the next I use the bonus of digital over film. Take a shot, look at it, take another til I l figure I have a couple that I'll have to look at on the computer to decide which has better detail to pick from. Last time I started at 1/60 and worked my way up to 1/1250.

5.6, 1/1250, ISO 3200, Center weighted meter, 300mm, hand held EDIT - thought I turned off auto ISO. Usually do for this. See bottom for a ISO 200 moon.

Original

Crop

F5.6, 1/400, ISO200, 300mm, pattern meter

Dao · Sep 3, 2009

Take a look at this thread

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/beyond-basics/147712-lunar-moon-photography-guide-astrostu.html

lvcrtrs · Sep 3, 2009

Dao - thanks for the link. Printed off when I got to work (ssshhhhh).

PhotoXopher · Sep 3, 2009

I just use a shutter speed that matches my zoom and adjust aperture to my liking.

If I'm at 200mm I use 1/200 for shutter speed and usually between f/5 and f/11 yields good results.

White balance stays on Auto.

shaunly · Sep 3, 2009

seems out of focus. ISO200 should be fine. Also try manual white balance or shoot in RAW then set your WB later. try AF with center weigh. I have the same setup here's what I got.

tresguey · Sep 3, 2009

Well I tried again tonight with basicaly the same results.

Lens is clean, auto focus, tripod, used f5.6 - 8 iso from 100-250 speeds from 1/200 - 1/800 tried spot and center meter. And dialed exposure compensation to 0. Looks good in my view finder. but when i try to blow it up it, i lose the sharpness almost like it's out of focus. i don't have any real photo editing programs. Could this be my problem?

domainappraisalnet · Sep 4, 2009

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NikonNewb · Sep 4, 2009

you guys are getting some great shots. i dont have a zoom lens so i take the pic inside my telescope. canon sd100.

Dao · Sep 4, 2009

tresguey said:
Well I tried again tonight with basicaly the same results.

Lens is clean, auto focus, tripod, used f5.6 - 8 iso from 100-250 speeds from 1/200 - 1/800 tried spot and center meter. And dialed exposure compensation to 0. Looks good in my view finder. but when i try to blow it up it, i lose the sharpness almost like it's out of focus. i don't have any real photo editing programs. Could this be my problem?

Did you visit the link I post earlier?

Anyway, do not worry about spot or center meter. Do not worry about exposure compensation. Just use ISO 100, F/5.6 and shutter speed of 1/500 in manual mode and see what happened. And then adjust the shutter speed if the result is under or over exposed. (use tripod is needed)

Edit: If your lens has VR or you are using tripod and the max aperture of your lens at 300mm is F/5.6, you can decrease the size of the aperture (increase the number) to F/8 or F/11 because usually lens are not as sharp at max aperture. But make sure you change the shutter speed accordingly.
i.e. If iso100, f/5.6 and 1/250 give you a good exposure, then iso100, f/8 and 1/125 should yield the same result (on tripod at least)

tresguey · Sep 4, 2009

OK,this is what i just got. f5.6, iso 100, speed was 1/80. Auto focus. all i did was crop it. Do you think the So cal fires are effecting it? or my uv filter? Not sure if they may or may not.

Dao · Sep 4, 2009

That is really strange .. the photo is way underexposed.

For full moon, should be around EV 14-15.

So for ISO 100, f/5.6, shutter speed should be around 1/250 to 1/500.

Yours is even at 1/80???

Did you take the photo when the moon just rise from the horizon?