G7 Full Moon Shot - Advice, pls.

allison125 · Feb 3, 2007

Hi! So, we had a full moon last night, and I thought I'd give my camera a shot at it. I set it up on a tripod and experimented with my settings. This was the best shot that I got. (I'm not up on "camera speak," so please excuse my amateur description.

ISO 80
Aperture 4.8
Shutter Speed 1/80

I set the camera to full resolution, superfine quality. I zoomed in to the max optical zoom and manually focused to infinity (I think that's what it is). Then I cropped the photo (a lot) and this is the end result. I like it, but the edges don't look too great. I've seen some fantastic moon shots on this site, and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on how to make take full advantage of my next full moon. Thanks~

Allison

joan55 · Feb 3, 2007

Hi Allison,

I'm brand new with the camera, so can't give advice. I just wanted to ask if you turned IS off for this shot? Most of what I've read advises to turn it off when using a tripod.
--
Joanie

allison125 · Feb 3, 2007

Thanks! No, I didn't. I'll try that next time! I'll do a board search, but do you happen to know why people suggest this, and what effect it has on photos?

Thanks!

Abana · Feb 3, 2007

The below URL might be of some use. Scroll down to see an exposure guide for lunar shots:

http://www.mreclipse.com/LEphoto/LEphoto.html

allison125 · Feb 3, 2007

Thanks!

joan55 · Feb 3, 2007

I believe that the camera still tries to correct for camera shake (that doesn't exist when it's on a tripod) and therefore gives you a blurrier result. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong about this.
--
Joanie

Hank3152 · Feb 3, 2007

Joan gave you excellent advice regarding turning the IS off. Also I've had better results using spot metering since you don't need to factor in the sky for exposure and that usually results in shutter speeds between 1/500 and 1/250 since it is a relatively bright object.

Surprisingly enough you could shoot at those speeds without the need for a tripod. Someone mentioned that in a previous post and it DOES work if a tripod isn't available.
You may also want to take a few shots in B/W to see if there is more contrast.

--
Regards,
Hank

stephaneonline · Feb 3, 2007

I'm not sure if it's your cropping and re-saving but the edges do show evidence of JPEG artifact which you should not have at superfine compression, is the original the same ?

I just shot the moon a cople of days ago and although I was a little dissapointed (compare to what I use to get with my S3), it didn't show jpeg artifact but I have the sharpness dial down to the minimum (in custom colors),

For a moon photos it's best to have a BIG zoom, the G7 will not be that great for that unless you have the teleconverter, then you'll probably get more resolution and won't neet to crop as much.

--
Stephan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanecurzi/
http://www.projetsurbain.com/photographie/

allison125 · Feb 3, 2007

Hi, Stephanie. I did tinker with the sharpness after I uploaded the picture to my computer-- is this what caused the edges to do this? I have sooo much to learn... Thanks for your response!

stephaneonline · Feb 3, 2007

allison125 said:
Hi, Stephanie. I did tinker with the sharpness after I uploaded
the picture to my computer-- is this what caused the edges to do
this? I have sooo much to learn... Thanks for your response!

First, Stephane and not Stephanie (don't worry, constant problem with my name) ;-)

Second, No the sharpness probably didn't cause what you see unless you use a LOT of sharpness, most probably it's when you saved again in JPEG. You can look at your original picture at 100% to see if the borders are like that, if they are, it was when shooting but my guess it's they wont be like that.

If it's when saving the file, use a higher compression setting.
If it's in the original image (before sharpening), try the cuscom color in camera to reduce or increase the sharpness.

--
Stephan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanecurzi/
http://www.projetsurbain.com/photographie/

Bob Blount · Feb 3, 2007

Allison,

Photographing a full moon give it a flat appearance that is hard to improve. If you shot a quarter moon, the sun light is hit the moon a very low angle at the meeting of the lighted and dark line which gives much more of a three dimensional appearance since it produces shadows around the craters. I will see if I can find an example and will post a link for you.

--
Bob,

'We don't make a photograph with a camera; we bring to the act of photography all the books we have read, the movies we have seen, the music we have heard and the people we have loved.' Ansel Adams

Sony R1
Great Pro1
Casio Z750
Nikon 3100

PaulS · Feb 3, 2007

I've also found that turning IS off when on a tripod gives better results.

However, if using a monopod, there's still a little shake & so IS is left on for monopod shots.

Bob Blount · Feb 3, 2007

Allison,
Try this link for an example of using 1/2 or 1/4 moon to produce more details.
http://geogdata.csun.edu/~voltaire/ann/moon1.html
--
Bob,

'We don't make a photograph with a camera; we bring to the act of photography all the books we have read, the movies we have seen, the music we have heard and the people we have loved.' Ansel Adams

Sony R1
Great Pro1
Casio Z750
Nikon 3100

allison125 · Feb 3, 2007

Whoops! Sorry for flubbing your name... It won't happen again!

Thanks for the advice-- it is not quite as apparent in the original image, so I will use your pointers next time.

Thanks again!

allison125 · Feb 3, 2007

Thank you! I was concerned about the flatness of the image, so I'll try taking some photos at other phases. Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

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