C&C - Shooting The Moon

Gumbo

Guys, theres a lovely full moon above the house and i said feck it, i'll have a go. Its my first time trying it, but what am i doing wrong?

I tried it at different settings, such as AV, Tv, 2 secs Exposure, 8 secs Exposure, heck even a 20 sec Exposure!

Thanks in advance.

Canon 550D
Kit Lens at 55mm


IMG_0366 by kceire, on Flickr


IMG_0365 by kceire, on Flickr


IMG_0364 by kceire, on Flickr


IMG_0363 by kceire, on Flickr

Also, the camera found it hard to focus (AF).

magicbastarder

the moon is quite bright; you should try shortening the exposure.

Gumbo

magicbastarder wrote: »

the moon is quite bright; you should try shortening the exposure.

1/200s maybe?

Misstaken

Set camera to manual!

maddog

Set the Iso to 100 and then see what results you get, and then increase the iso as you go until you get the result you want;)

Gumbo

magicbastarder wrote: »

the moon is quite bright; you should try shortening the exposure.

Misstaken wrote: »

Set camera to manual!

Done 3 more,

1/200
1/400
1/1000


IMG_0368 by kceire, on Flickr


IMG_0369 by kceire, on Flickr


IMG_0370 by kceire, on Flickr


Misstaken, In M mode, what settings would you recommend?

Am i limited in this type of shot because of my short focal length (55mm)?

thanks so far

Misstaken

Pity you don't have more of a zoom! Good work!
Play around with manual until you get the desired result. If you shoot AV or TV, you're gonna get too long of an exposure as you are metering for a very dark sky and a tiny moon.
Try to borrow a zoom and do it again !

Misstaken

hmm.. sorry it's not really as simple as I explained above, but shooting manual is a better idea anyway imo.

Gumbo

Thanks, yeah completely forgot about the camera trying to auto meter!
Out the back I go to get a long rope and try pull that moon closer!

magicbastarder

shooting manual is kinda necessary here, as it's a situation your camera meter is really not designed to understand.

Misstaken

You should try shooting a candle using manual mode also.... same idea and good practise. Plus your 55mm will be fine shooting a candle! Have fun!

magicbastarder

also, it's hard to take a photo of the moon which doesn't look like a million other shots...

Gumbo

magicbastarder wrote: »

also, it's hard to take a photo of the moon which doesn't look like a million other shots...

It wasn't about getting something different, I just wanted to try shoot using different settings etc as I mostly have the camera with during daylight hours.

crx===

If your using an SLR, turn the auto focus off and manually focus the lens on the highest magnification , tripod stable, and set shutter to 1/400 on manual. If you dont have remote shutter release , set the shutter timer to 2 or 10 sec .This will do the trick .

Gregor Samsa

Manual focus and settings are really needed for the Moon. Also, the full Moon is unfortunately the most difficult time to take pictures of it. While it looks beautiful in the sky, it's very bright in this phase, and the fact that the Sun's light is shining directly at it flattens out all the crater detail on the surface. A half or crescent Moon is easier to shoot, and looks more interesting, as the Sun's light falling at an angle on the surface gives more definition to the craters.

Here's a shot (resized crop) I tool last week testing my new Sony a77.



(Full sized crop can be viewed here)

This was taken with my Sony 70-400 G lens, on a tripod. 400mm, f5.6, ISO 200, 1/60s, Manual focus

I used a remote release to cut down on camera shake. The a77 has an electronic first curtain, so there's no shutter slap to cause vibrations. If your camera has mirror lockup, you can use that instead.

This was taken on a relatively clear night, with a bit of haze. I'm looking forward to the crisp clear nights of the cold winter. Very light cloud and haze can ruin a Moon shot - and often you won't see it in the viewfinder at the time of shooting.

55mm isn't really enough to get any detail. If that's the furthest reach you have, you might be better off trying to take a shot of the Moon in a scene - with a building or trees in the foreground, as opposed to just the Moon on its own. There's difficulties in exposing for this kind of shot, but it's worth a go.

Don't worry that you'll probably never take a unique shot of the moon - it's a fun project just to try to get a half decent shot.

Kenny Logins

I'm glad you asked this question, some great tips here. Thanks.

Rainbowsend

You will struggle to get a decent shot with a 55mm though, ideal setting are ISO 100 f11 1/250 tripod shutter release or timer and mirror lock up if possible, experiment with exposure compensation if you still find it a bit bright, but you will need a longer lens at least 300mm.

Watch out for Day Moons a much easier shot to take and the detail can still be seen, looks cool with a nice blue sky!

Gumbo

thanks guys, i done the pics then done a bit of reading and realised the 55mm was a big problem for shooting the moon

but the advice still stands and hopefully some day, i will shoot it correctly

Gregor Samsa

kceire wrote: »

thanks guys, i done the pics then done a bit of reading and realised the 55mm was a big problem for shooting the moon

but the advice still stands and hopefully some day, i will shoot it correctly

A 300mm lens would give you a very good shot at it. Maybe ask Santa for something relatively affordable like this?

http://www.connscameras.ie/promotion/P-4960999214078pd.html

(I don't know much about Canon lenses, but that that seems like a great price for any lens)

11811

Some good pointers here, was trying it myself last night too as an exercise. Tis tricky enough. This was my best result...
I'd recommend using a tripod too as at the longer focal lengths camera shake becomes quite a problem!
[/url]


Taken with a 70 - 300 EF on a 40d so its really 480 mm.

Gumbo

yep, should of mentioned, was on a Tri-Pod. just aswell with one of the exposures at 20 seconds

fret_wimp2

You want to simply get a picture of the moon?

Set your camera to the higest zoom it has, focus on the moon, press the shutter half down to meter off the moon and then take your image!

The problem you are having is that the moon is very bright compared to the rest of the image. The camera is metering off the background, which is black. This lengthens the exposure causing your moon to be very very very over exposed.

If you expose ( meter) for the moon you wont have this problem.

Rainbowsend

Taken two mins ago minimum editing, 300mm x 2 converter, f11 400s tripod


Just an example of a Day Moon.

Gumbo

Rainbowsend wrote: »

Taken two mins ago minimum editing, 300mm x 2 converter, f11 400s tripod

Just an example of a Day Moon.

Agh yeah, rub it in why dont ya :P

Really need a long lens to get these shots, photo looks great!

Rainbowsend

Ahh dont despair, you will get one no problem with a longer lens

hbr

Most camera metering systems will have problems getting the correct exposure
for the moon. Even with a 300mm lens, the moon will occupy a small percentage
of the image. If the camera uses an averaging system to calculate exposure, it will
tend to meter for black sky. Select spot metering and keep the moon in the
centre of the frame when you are choosing your exposure settings.

Remember that the moon gets it's light from the sun, so the brightness is similar
to full daylight here on our little rock. You will find that typical daytime settings
work quite well for moon shots. ISO-100 and shutter speeds of less than 1/100s
should give good results. Because of the high shutter speeds, a tripod isn't essential.
Long exposure of 1s or more will cause a lot of motion blur because the moon is
a moving target.

Sigma 70-300mm APO 1/125s f/10 ISO-100
http://pix.ie/corkpix/1582509/in/album/371362

StopNotWorking

Once I find the moon I'll show you what I can do with a long lens you'll probably consider as your first. The Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro. No idea where the bloody moon is right now though

EDIT: If the above was done with the lens I'm about to try with then watch how much I butcher this

EDIT again:

ISO100, F14, 1/80sec. Would be more fun if it wasn't so cold out!

whyulittle

Should be rising in the north-east about now.

StopNotWorking

I just ran around my entire apartment block looking for it assuming it would have risen by now..:o

e: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/moonrise.html

5uspect

I've used a modified and cheap Lidl telescope to capture the moon.

700mm f/11 iirc.

Gumbo

StopNotWorking wrote: »

Once I find the moon I'll show you what I can do with a long lens you'll probably consider as your first. The Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro. No idea where the bloody moon is right now though

EDIT: If the above was done with the lens I'm about to try with then watch how much I butcher this

Like this one?

http://www.adverts.ie/lenses/sigma-70-300mm-f4-5-6-apo-dg-macro-canon-fit/1033337

Because its a Macro, does that mean any different to zooming in as such?

hbr

kceire wrote: »

Like this one?

http://www.adverts.ie/lenses/sigma-70-300mm-f4-5-6-apo-dg-macro-canon-fit/1033337

That's the one. They are probably the best of the cheap 70ish-300mm zoom lenses.
The Tamron equivalent is quite good too. The Canon 75-300mm is not as good.

My comments on the Sigma can be found here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=70738870&postcount=9

Because its a Macro, does that mean any different to zooming in as such?

The 'macro' switch allows the lens to focus closer to the subject. It isn't
a true 1:1 macro lens, but it makes a reasonably good close-up lens.

Gumbo

hbr wrote: »

That's the one. They are probably the best of the cheap 70ish-300mm zoom lenses.
The Tamron equivalent is quite good too. The Canon 75-300mm is not as good.

My comments on the Sigma can be found here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=70738870&postcount=9



The 'macro' switch allows the lens to focus closer to the subject. It isn't
a true 1:1 macro lens, but it makes a reasonably good close-up lens.

cheers man, if i win it, thats it, im officially broke till after xmas!!!!
My mate asked me to order a camera for him on Simply Electronics the other day, so i did, but i also took the opertunity to order a Canon 50mm F1.8 while i was there , couldnt say no, 95 euro and that included shipping as i was buying with the camera and also a Hoyo filter. (is that correct, a Hoyo?)

the_tractor

kceire wrote: »

.... and also a Hoyo filter. (is that correct, a Hoyo?)

Hoya.