pics of the moon

Rob A · Jan 19, 2005

hey guys, ino the answer to this will be very rough, but i was wandering in generall how long the shutter speed should be if i was taking photos of the moon? i was hoping for enough detail to get a few stars in maybe?

thanks for ANY help!!! :thumbsup:

ksmattfish · Jan 19, 2005

The moon is lit by the sun, so you can use the sunny 16 rule.

Sunny 16: at f/16 the shutter speed should be 1/ISO, or as close as you can get with your camera.

I think you will find that the contrast difference between the moon and the stars is too great to get both the stars and details on the moon in one exposure.

Big Mike · Jan 19, 2005

The easy way would be to take two exposures. One for the moon and one for the stars (or whatever else) and then combine them after the fact.

ferny · Jan 19, 2005

You mean a multiple exposure?

Digital Matt · Jan 19, 2005

I believe Big Mike is talking about digital, and combining two shots in photoshop.

MDowdey · Jan 19, 2005

heres my spinoff question..

how would you get a good closeup of the moon without digital zoom? you have to have the long tele's right?

md

ferny · Jan 19, 2005

Spotting scope, telescope, big lens....

ksmattfish · Jan 19, 2005

MDowdey said:
how would you get a good closeup of the moon without digital zoom? you have to have the long tele's right?

You can get a "T-mount" that will allow you to attach a telescope to your camera like a super lens!

Big Mike · Jan 19, 2005

I've seen some pretty good digitally cropped shots of the moon. Obviously a long lens would be the way to go.

Has anyone attached a camera to a telescope? I was reading an article about a guy who attached a digital p&s to a spotting scope for bird photography. While the results are not as good as they might be with a 600mm prime w\2X TC...they were pretty good.