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Moon Shot - HELP!

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Hi All,

Below is a shot of the quarter moon. I used a tripod, IS OFF on my 28-135 EF f/3.5-5.6

Why the blur and double image? I used the self timer so I would not influence (shake) the camera. I did NOT do Mirror lockup, will try that tonight if I can.

Any suggestions? I had on handheld come out much better (but not good, just much better, no double image)

Really want to get a sharp pic of the moon, to see what kind of detail I can get. Everything loks good in the viewfinder when I press the shutter. Should also mention I have the camera set on the center focus dot.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

http://picasaweb.google.com/smathias1/MoonProblem/photo#4982030576875274258
 
Looks to me like the focus is off. Way off. I'm sure you already know 135 mm is not enough lens to get much of a moon shot. Search for kiwi's moon shots. Second to none.
 
I agree with you, but when I am taking the shot, all looks good through the view finder.

I know 135 won't give me much, but I just want to see what I can get. Crop, sharpen, etc.

If it looks good to me in the viewfinder, and I get the "beep" for the center focus, then press the shutter, and have the timer fire the shot, how can it be SO out of focus?

I'm hoping the Mirror lockup might make a difference, but will have to wait till I can try that. :(
 
How long did you have the shutter open for? The one thing you have to remember is the moon is moving. I know that sounds crazy. When I first started taking moon shots, I was using 5 secs and would always get blurry pics, even though I was using a tripod. Try limiting the shutter speed to 1 sec etc. just to see if you get an infocus picture. It seemed the quicker shutter setting worked for me. Also, were you using manual or automatic focus? John E B
 
first, it looks way overexposed. the metering on the rebels can't really deal with the moon unless you have a really long lens - this is a time spot meter might help. So you need to just experiment while ignoring the meter and find settings that work - start around 1/50 of a second and ISO400 and adjust from there. I think the double image is flare, so a properly exposed moon would fix that as well.
--
http://www.linelight.org/
 
Your shot is way overexposed! That's why you are seeing a lens flare. If you use an haze filter, try remove it.

Try these settings: M mode, iso 100, 1/125 ss, f/8.0. Watch the histogram and adjust the settings accordingly
 
Thanks all. Don't think I adjusted the metering, good suggestion.

Just checked the EXIF data and here are the specs

3.2s
f/5.6
ISO 200

I went back on checked the handheld shot that had come out the best

1/60
f/5.6
ISO 1600

Here's the link to that one. http://picasaweb.google.com/smathias1/MoonProblem/photo#4982043770020495378

I think with your insights and suggestions, you have put me on the right track. Will definately try again tonight if at all possible and report back.

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge!!!!

SCM
 
Use ISO 100, F5.6-8 and set the shutter to at least 200 in manual mode. You won't be able to use the histogram for this one. There's just no real information to show.

For BEST results, shoot raw at a very high shutter speed and set the exposure correctly on the comp.
 
How do you expose for the moon? The same way you expose for the earth. Use the good ol' F16 rule The proper exposure for the moon is the same as for sunlit earth. After all, the same sun, the same distance. Start at F16 and 1/the iso rating. So, if you are using ISO 200 then the exposure should be 1/200 second at F16. Then bracket a couple of stops on each side. I have made some very good moon exposures using this method.

DIPics
 
Here's some settings I used for this shot. This was with the 300D, tripod, no Wasia mirror-lockup back then, Canon 75-300 IS (IS off), Av mode.

ISO: 100
F 5.6
Shutter: 1/400

 
Here is one taken with 70-300 IS at 300mm, on a tripod and IS off.
ISO 400
F/8
1/50 sec
MLU
Remote



--
Ed Richer
 
The problem, as others have stated, is mostly due to extreme overexposure an "blooming" of the highlights. The truth is that no one else's settings are going to work particularly well for you, as the exposure values will change with the phase of the moon. The only way to really do it is to use manual mode and your LCD preview and adjust accordingly. The camera's meter cannot accurately determine exposure for such a bright object in a sea of darkness. And take LOTS of pics while bracketing your exposures. Use the mirror lockup as well. Because the moon is moving try to use a relatively fast shutter speed (> 1/30). At 135mm the moon will still appear tiny in the photo and not much detail will be visible. Here is one I took just the other night with my Sigma 80-400 with a 1.4x teleconvertor for a 35mm equivalent of 900mm; and it still needed to be cropped!

Oh, and the higher in the sky the moon is the better as there is less atmospheric disturbance. I would also suggest shooting RAW so you can bring up the shadow areas as needed, adjust WB and exposure.



Here is the EXIF info, though it won't help you much for your own trials:

Camera Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
Image Date: 2006:09:29 19:47:31
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 400.0mm
CCD Width: 5.14mm
Exposure Time: 0.013 s (1/80)
Aperture: f/11.0
ISO equiv: 400
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

Good luck and enjoy!!

Clint
 
Way overexposed for detail on the lit side, and remove any filters you may have on.

--
If stupidity got us into this mess, why can't it get us out?
 
I know what you mean. Also, be quicker at writing a post, when I was done, 3 other posts appeared at the same time suggesting more or less the same thing;)
 
Try to remember the moon is in the sun light, even if you are not. In other words it is daytime there! Shoot it like you would a subject on a bright sunny day,cause it is there. the A/E mode wont work in this situation with that lens.
 
Beautiful shot!

You are probably right. A moon on the horizon is bigger though and I doubt camera glass could show the difference. I could be wrong..

My shot has about the same settings as yours (but not nearly as good though:(. mine was f/11, 100 iso (-2 stops compared to yours) but at 1/20 ss (+2 stops). Also using remote, MLU.



Thanks for sharing
clint75 said:
The problem, as others have stated, is mostly due to extreme
overexposure an "blooming" of the highlights. The truth is that no
one else's settings are going to work particularly well for you, as
the exposure values will change with the phase of the moon. The
only way to really do it is to use manual mode and your LCD preview
and adjust accordingly. The camera's meter cannot accurately
determine exposure for such a bright object in a sea of darkness.
And take LOTS of pics while bracketing your exposures. Use the
mirror lockup as well. Because the moon is moving try to use a
relatively fast shutter speed (> 1/30). At 135mm the moon will still
appear tiny in the photo and not much detail will be visible. Here
is one I took just the other night with my Sigma 80-400 with a 1.4x
teleconvertor for a 35mm equivalent of 900mm; and it still needed
to be cropped!

Oh, and the higher in the sky the moon is the better as there is
less atmospheric disturbance. I would also suggest shooting RAW so
you can bring up the shadow areas as needed, adjust WB and exposure.



Here is the EXIF info, though it won't help you much for your own
trials:

Camera Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
Image Date: 2006:09:29 19:47:31
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 400.0mm
CCD Width: 5.14mm
Exposure Time: 0.013 s (1/80)
Aperture: f/11.0
ISO equiv: 400
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

Good luck and enjoy!!

Clint
Click to expand...
 
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