How to get a good, sharp picture of the moon?

[txabi]

OK, I'm at a loss. I've been photographing for years and have no problems whatsoever. Just tonight I tried to get some shots of the big moon we have over Chicago and it just won't happen. The frustrating part is, I cannot figure out why.

I went to my patio with my trusty NEX 5N. Since the moon is far, I placed my adapter + manual Nikon 100mm. I got closer but I just could not focus on the moon. This is what I got:

OK, the moon was overexposed so the 5N could not focus, I thought. Let's try -3EV, see what happens:

Definitely sharper, but the moon was still overexposed. So I thought, let's add some extension rings to bring my lens closer to 200. Then this happened:

Now I was plenty close to focus well, yet it was impossible to focus. This was the sharpest I could get, and suddenly all those dust particles showed up - probably in the lens? So this has me thinking for some reason the setup wasn't focusing properly and ended focusing on the internal glass of the lens?

Try as I might, I cannot figure out what I was doing wrong, but something is clearly up. Can anybody explain why I was utterly incapable of taking a decent moon shot? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[drh681]

The moon is 220,000 miles away.

set the iso to 200 set the shutter to 1/200 set the aperture to f8.0 set the color balance to daylight

adjust as needed.

if you are using a long telephoto lens, use a tripod, and increase the ISO to 400 and the shutter speed to 1/500.

 

[Chris Malcolm]

You're using auto exposure. The moon is as bright as very bright sunlight. The sky is as dark as night. The auto exposure in your camera can't cope with that. You must either use manual exposure or very heavy exposure compensation down.

 

[D Cox]

For metering, use the smallest spot and also bracket.

For focus, use a manual focus lens. It is very hard to get an autofocus lens to focus exactly on infinity.

 

[Doss]

OK, I'm at a loss. I've been photographing for years and have no problems whatsoever.

Now I was plenty close to focus well, yet it was impossible to focus. This was the sharpest I could get, and suddenly all those dust particles showed up - probably in the lens? So this has me thinking for some reason the setup wasn't focusing properly and ended focusing on the internal glass of the lens?

Try as I might, I cannot figure out what I was doing wrong, but something is clearly up. Can anybody explain why I was utterly incapable of taking a decent moon shot? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

You may have been photographing for years but you have only a very basic understanding of photography (sorry to be blunt, but you need to face that fact if you wish to improve).
I suggest you get in some more practice, read a few more books, and ask a lot more questions.

1. Practice with exposure, learn to recognize scenes. A bright object (such as the moon) does not require a slow shutter speed + high ISO combo'
2. Understand your equipment. Take control now and again rather than relying on auto-everything
3. Use the right tool for the job. Extension tubes are for close focusing, they are not going to focus distance objects

 

[drh681]

OK, I'm at a loss. I've been photographing for years and have no problems whatsoever.

Now I was plenty close to focus well, yet it was impossible to focus. This was the sharpest I could get, and suddenly all those dust particles showed up - probably in the lens? So this has me thinking for some reason the setup wasn't focusing properly and ended focusing on the internal glass of the lens?

Try as I might, I cannot figure out what I was doing wrong, but something is clearly up. Can anybody explain why I was utterly incapable of taking a decent moon shot? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

You may have been photographing for years but you have only a very basic understanding of photography (sorry to be blunt, but you need to face that fact if you wish to improve).
I suggest you get in some more practice, read a few more books, and ask a lot more questions.

1. Practice with exposure, learn to recognize scenes. A bright object (such as the moon) does not require a slow shutter speed + high ISO combo'
2. Understand your equipment. Take control now and again rather than relying on auto-everything
3. Use the right tool for the job. Extension tubes are for close focusing, they are not going to focus distance objects

 

[RobN1]

I am certainly not a experienced photographer by any stretch of the imagination. Looks like you have good advice already.

I just wanted to share a moon shot from last night taken with my Sony HX400.( Lots of Zoom)

Manual Mode, ISO 80, F8, 1/40.

Not the best shot but it works for me, and helps me learn a bit about shooting.

 

[sinkas]

I recommend photographing the moon while rising in the blue twilight hour to avoid the massive difference in dynamic range between the sky and the moon. In this case when exposing for the moon the sky will still appear black.

 

[Freneticburn]

extension tubes are for macro use. It gives your lens the ability to focus closer at the expense of being able to focus farther away. In fact you cannot focus far at all with an extension tube on. It kills any ability to focus to infinite. Or at least in my very limited experience with them. That's why you cannot focus.

And like everyone says. Your camera's metering system just cannot figure this scenario out in particular. Spot metering might work decent but you need to go manual exposure and do some fiddling around with settings to get a good exposure.

 

[CUSIN BRUCIE]

no text

 

[bofo777]

Correct Exposure has to be right then with manual focusing on a tripod the moon will pop right in and WOW you have the shot…..John

 

[whvick]

just google how to do it.

Here I was too lazy to go get my tripod so I went with a higher ISO and therefore got a higher shutter speed that I could hold. And this is a very long lens.

Keep working on it!

whvick

 

[AlphaTikal]

Probably the thread opener never visits and answer again, but maybe someone else.

The most important technique which helped me shooting moon was the spot metering and saving the current metering with AL-button. Then, the exposure time have to be fast enough, as the moon moves. Be sure to focus correctly. The slightest defocus makes the shot nearly completly out of focus at this distance. If you have, use tripod, set stabilization off, use highest incamera magnification.

 

[Erik Wyo]

The other night I tried some shots of the moon, and played around with metering and such. I made some progress, nothing worth posting yet. My thought is that with my current equipment (or lack of long telephoto lens) my chances are limited.

Can one get a good photo of the moon with just a 18-140 mm lens?

Thanks
Erik

 

[AlphaTikal]

You have to define good. Do you mean details on moon? I suspect that range is a bit low. My life ns goes until 300mm and on crop sensor this is the minimum I would say.

But others have nice landscapes with moon in the picture. 50mm but no moon details and so.
--
· http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackhole_eater/
· (All photos are creative common licensed. Check them out.)
· English is not my native language.

 

[Doss]

The other night I tried some shots of the moon, and played around with metering and such. I made some progress, nothing worth posting yet. My thought is that with my current equipment (or lack of long telephoto lens) my chances are limited.

Can one get a good photo of the moon with just a 18-140 mm lens?

Assuming the moon is your only subject (ie not just part of a landscape scene) then you'll want to fill the frame a fair bit more than 140mm will allow (which only equates to c. x4 magnification)

Perhaps you would gain more insight with a fresh post (or a search) on the astro photography forum? (alas you're resurrecting an old post which OP never came back to)

Thanks
Erik

 

[Erik Wyo]

The other night I tried some shots of the moon, and played around with metering and such. I made some progress, nothing worth posting yet. My thought is that with my current equipment (or lack of long telephoto lens) my chances are limited.

Can one get a good photo of the moon with just a 18-140 mm lens?

Assuming the moon is your only subject (ie not just part of a landscape scene) then you'll want to fill the frame a fair bit more than 140mm will allow (which only equates to c. x4 magnification)

Perhaps you would gain more insight with a fresh post (or a search) on the astro photography forum? (alas you're resurrecting an old post which OP never came back to)

Thanks
Erik

Thanks for the reply, I may throw it up as a new post. My searching the other night revealed the ned for good shots of the Moon significant Magnification would be required, along with some working of the metering mode and such.

I had some landscape in the photos, which made it much more difficult to get a good exposure, even if metering on Single Point (moon).

 

[Paul Belanger]

I like to find a nice scenery or interesting back drop at or around day 27 and 28 as the moon the is rising near full. This provides less dynamic range as the sky closely matches the Moon's EV.

the Moon as an isolated item is only of interest to astronomers who wish to display craters or mountains and terminator edges.

the Moon for me is a romantic item and requires context as in the shots attached.

One is a crop from a long lens and the other a bit wider to include more

landscape.

--
gprb

 

[MinAZ]

Did you try to manually focus?

 

[1cb]

awesome stuff! I'm taking notes!