Frustrating moon shots!

[PerfectlyFlawed]

oh .. haha.. so the 1/??? <- Is the shutter speed? And i want that smaller or larger--to have quicker shutter speed?

Increasing the denominator means the overall number becomes smaller.

From the look of the last few question posts you should just read the manual a few times instead of asking each step of the way. Seeking out answers yourself from books and other resources is much more productive and satisfying than asking each step of the way.

I am reading.. apparently haven't read enough. Thought i could get some quick advice related to my problem. Guess not... back to the books.

 

[MayWood]

your gonna want a fast shutter for the moon tho.its bright and if you use a slower shutter it will be blown out

 

[pbelarge]

Perfectly flawed
I was in a similar situation. Taking shots of the moon with horrible results. The best I could do was orbs.
I purchased a tripod, after much research. I wanted the tripod for other than the moon as well.
It is night and day and so much easier with a tripod. I shot it in manual and played until I was happy with the results.
The shutter speed will be too slow to hold the camera long enough without resulting in a blurred object instead of the moon.

I understand you cannot afford a tripod yet. My advice is to get creative. Get some material, maybe from a local big box store and build yourself a platform. Maybe it will work.
Goodluck

 

[mrmacedonian]

I am reading.. apparently haven't read enough. Thought i could get some quick advice related to my problem. Guess not... back to the books.

I didn't mean to imply you aren't trying, I'm sorry. I just meant while your goal here was very specific, getting a good shot of the moon, overall you didn't have the tools needed. I don't mean physical, such as the tripod (which is almost essential in this endeavor), but rather the grasp of the components of exposure and camera operation. I apologize if I came across as judgmental I just meant you will get much better results when you have a firm grasp of exposure and the ability to operate your camera entirely. Then you will be able to understand why we are all suggesting these numbers/settings and how they work together to achieve a final product you will be happy and proud of.

 

[PerfectlyFlawed]

Shutter speed I understand...tripod I understand. that's my next step. I'll improvise until then....if I can just get the actual settings adjusted correctly...I can make do I'm sure.

 

[lvcrtrs]

5.6
1/1250
ISO 3200
300mm VR cropped
Handheld

 

[pbelarge]

You see, the moon is much closer to the earth in Pennsylvania, hence a hand held shot like yours is not as difficult as in other parts of the world...



Nice handheld shot, I am impressed. Since I stopped drinking, my hands are not as steady.


Of course, I was only kidding about the distance of the moon


I am curious, pointing up how did you support the camera in your hands keeping it so steady?

 

[fokker]

You don't NEED a tripod at all to take moon shots. I think the main problem the OP is having is metering, try using spot metering with the moon in the centre of the frame. 1/3 of a second is WAY to slow shutter speed, tripod or no - thats why the moon shoot in the first post is a white blob with no detail. I took some moon shots the other night for the first time which turned out quite well (can't upload them now from work), they were at 1/125s shutter speed at f/8 and ISO100. I did use a tripod to help with manual focusing via live view, but with IS/VR there is no reason why you can't handhold at that shutter speed, or simply crank the ISO or go for a bigger aperture.

 

[ej.]

I shot mine hand-held, and played with a few attempts before I got what I wanted. I played with Curves to enhance contrast a little, but I have EXIF data so you can see what I did.



# Aperture: f/11.0
# Focal Length: 500 mm
# ISO Speed: 200
# Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)

 

[Dao]

According to Wikipedia (link)

When the moon is up high in the sky ( altitude > 40° )

EV (Exposure Value) is 15. What that means is if you set your exposure setting based of EV15, you should have a correctly exposed moon.

Here are the combination for EV15 (w/ ISO100)
F/2.8, 1/4000
F/4.0, 1/2000
F/5.6, 1/1000
F/8, 1/500
F/11, 1/250
F/16, 1/125


I usually use F/8 or F/11 since my lens max aperture at 300mm is F/5.6, and usually lens perform better when stop down 1 or 2.

As you can see, if I use F/8, I can use shutter speed of 1/500. So it is possible to take a shot of the moon hand held. (My lens also has IS as well).

Since you have a D5000, you can also bump the ISO a little bit so that you can increase the shutter speed.

i.e. ISO200, F/8, 1/1000 or ISO200, F/11, 1/500



Of course, if you have a tripod, it is going to be easier since you do not need to worry about bumping the ISO.




Edit: Add a moon photo.
This one seems a little over sharpen. but ... here you go.

 

[PhotoXopher]

Tripod? I just point my camera at the moon and set it around f/11 or so and around 1/500th shutter speed with the lowest native ISO, in my case that is ISO 200.

I say 'around' because it varies by the conditions.

Handheld with the D300s and 70-200 f/2.8

 

[Natural_Disaster]

Looks like a huge difference between the settings being posted....
Ill have to wait a while to try my shots again, as it is snowing and not suppose to stop until tomorrow or Thursday.....(sighs)..
But once i get the chance, ill post up my results...

 

[JimmyO]

Moons, for dummies:

Put it on a tripod, put in p mode, point at moon, mess with the EV until it looks right.

 

[Olympus E300]

This gentleman (HikinMike) has done this before. I suggest checking out his work. He's superb! Perhaps he can chime in here a little bit.



He offered his link in this thread : http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...m-photo-gallery/188477-blue-moon-tonight.html

His link : Moon And Clouds - Atwater CA

 

[PerfectlyFlawed]

This is as good as I have been able to get with my 55-250 and a tripod. It was -8 that night and I didn't stay around for many more attempts.

I got this one this weekend.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4395210453_0ea2043f7d_b.jpg

I like the trees in it so that it has a perspective and the color variations.
Not works of art but good enough for outhouse art for sure. lol

Did you have it all the way up at 250mm?