drcannon
Forum Enthusiast
Thanks, Michael. Don't forget I was also using a 1.4x TC which helps magnify a little bit. You should get some nice shots with a 300, especially with a good TC. Here's a shot taken a few months ago with my 75-300 III USM (which is for sale) using no converter.
As far as exposure, there's a fine line of exposure when photographing the moon. The ideal exposure is recording detail in both dark and bright areas and that takes experimentation. I'd suggest starting with the same settings I used....ISO 100, RAW, Manual Mode set to 1/60 @ f9 (or equivalent), wired cable release. For moon shots that don't fill the frame, you need all the help you can get to record as much detail as possible, so use ISO 100. The best way to get a good exposure is bracket your shots and check the display after each shot. Ideally, you should see detail in all areas, with no burned out brights from overexposure, or blocked dark areas from too much underexposure. As long as the image isn't grossly underexposed, you can always adjust/enhance the darker areas in Photoshop, but once the brighter areas are overexposed and burned out, that's it.....you'll never get any details in those areas. I also suggest backing off the in-camera contrast setting, which will help avoid blowing out the bright areas and provide better overall tonal gradations. I shoot everything with contrast set to -1/3 anyway. My moon shots straight from the camera look somehwhat muddy, but there's visible detail in all areas that I can work with. Hey....it's digital.....experiment, and have fun!!
Good luck. What 300mm are you getting? I'm saving up for a 300 f4 L. Wish I could afford the 2.8 since it's one of the sharpest lenses on the planet, but there's no way!
Denny
