The Moon

mdsoares · Sep 16, 2008

Took this tonight here in Buffalo, NY with my super cheap ebay ProOptics 420mm-800mm push pull manual focus zoom lens.

First image is cropped from the 2nd.

tirediron · Sep 16, 2008

Not bad; was it tripod-mounted? The crop seems just a little soft.

yamadak13 · Sep 17, 2008

Hey, that looks like the same moon I was trying to take pictures of tonight too

I don't mean to thread jack, but here is my post from tonight http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138396
I just cannot seem to get as much detail in my pics as some of you others. Do you have any secrets you'd be willing to share for shooting the moon?

LaFoto · Sep 17, 2008

yamadak13 said:
Hey, that looks like the same moon I was trying to take pictures of tonight too

"The same moon"???
Now that surprises me a lot :biggrin:

Nice one here, good detail.
The uncropped version looks even better (sharper).

chris82 · Sep 17, 2008

Yes its a great capture. I to have had troubles...shooting the moon(You see what I did there)

I cant get the exsposure correct and end up with a ugly blown out,out of focus shot.Please share youe settings with us so we can try the technic.

I agree with lafoto with the second being the better of the two,but would you please resize your shots for a mesage board 640 x 300 I think is the correct size and also put spaces between your shots.Thanks

mdsoares · Sep 17, 2008

Uses some post to bring out more detail and up the contrast for a more pleasing shot

To shoot, I used one of the craptastic ebay super telephotos. In this case the ProOptics 420mm-800mm manual focus. I came across one for $30 and simply couldn't pass it up for that amount of reach, even if the optics are quite subpar. As you can see though, it can produce usable images.

Settings were an aperture of actually f16, shutter of 1/100, and ISO 200. That sounds like a really small aperture and quick shutter for a night shot, but people forget just how bright the moon really is. To capture any detail and not have it blown out you need to use a quicker shutter and/or small aperture. I was quite surprised myself when I dialed it in.

And yes, I used a tripod.