just a simple shot of the moon

[john_pyle1]

Trying to do "astrophotography" and my efforts were horrible. Canon 20d, 70-200mm IS,

USM on tripod. Thought I need to open up aperture to 2.8 to let the light from the moon in

but that bombed. Then left shutter open for 3-8 seconds and that was worse. ISO was on

100,200, and 800. Still Crappy. All I want is a good clear shot of the moon. What am I doing

wrong?<div></div>

[anupam]

You are overexposing. The moon is very bright, although it might not look it when you are judgeing exposure with a meter because the dark sky around it fools the meter. Spot meter the moon with a long lens and you will see. Exposure for full moon is sunny 16 exposure - the same a bright daylight - because that's what it is reflecting - so 1/ISO @ f16 or it's equivalent exposure should get you there. For half, crescent etc, overexpose 1 to 3 stops above sunny 16.

 

-A

[peter_daalder]

Also, keep in mind that, at a focal length of 200mm and from a fixed tripod, you can't exceed an exposure time of three seconds. Due to the Earth's rotation and the Moon's orbital motion, longer exposure times will cause 'trailing' in your final image.

[mark u]

The basic exposure for the moon is 1/ISO at f/11, or equivalent. It does get trickier during eclipses, or when cloud covered.

 

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

[terry_lee10]

With your 20D, you can meter of the moon using your partial spot metering & might have to open up 1 stop or 2 to avoid over exposure. It�s better to slightly underexpose so that you can capture details of the crater.

 

With your 20D + 70-200 lens, 320mm (crop image) is too short. A very long lens (preferably over 600mm) is required in order to attempt to capture good details of the moon such as craters.

 

Secondly, the moon actually moves reasonable fast and your 2 to 8 seconds shutter speed is too long as it will capture slight movements of the moon thus creating a slight blur.

 

I note there is a lens flare and you can move slightly to avoid lens flare, which you should be able to see it in the viewfinder.

 

Naturally, not everyone has a 600mm lens but one can always use teleconverters in order to achieve a longer focal but at the expense of image quality and light entering your lens.

 

With a 1.4x teleconverter, you will loose 1 stop of light with slight deterioration on of image quality whilst the 2x will loose 2 stops with further image loss.

 

With your 20D + 70-200 lens, using a 1.4x teleconverter will equate to approx 450mm (crop image) whilst a 2x teleconverter will equate to approx be 640mm (crop image).

 

Instead of shooting wide open at f4 with the 1.x tele and f5.6 with the 2x tele, which you may get softer images, you can always open up one stop but you may need to increase the ISO speed in order to achieve a higher shutter speed.

 

Hope this helps and with digital, it�s so easy as you can just check your histogram etc and delete the image and try again.

 

Good luck with your second attempt.

[mark u]

Work in M mode so the meter doesn't mess up your exposure.

[keith_van_hulle1]

Did you even think of trying to experiment with the setting until you got what you wanted? Actually, just curious. I see this so much here. People spend big bucks on a digital and refuse to experiement and want perfection the first time out (maybe some leftover film angst?).

[bobatkins]

1/60s at f10 and ISO 100 for the full moon seems to work.<div></div>

[shambrick007]

Also loose that filter if you have one on.

[gluteal cleft]

"Also loose that filter if you have one on."

 

How will a loose filter solve the problem?

 

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

 

steve

[gary petersen]

1/500 sec at f7.1. Canon EF 70-300IS. Hand held exposure. The moon is lit by the sun. Treat it as such.<div></div>

[gary petersen]

Let's see if this lets it be right her rather than having to click on it.<div></div>

[andrew_carlson]

I have a sudden desire to get a picture of some people mooning and post it. I need to get out more!

[chrisjb]

Hi, it is the easiest to shoot out there, when full its bright. this one on D30 100-300usm+tamronx1.4 `AV` f8 @1/400 ISO by accident 1600

Hand held on the way home from a venue (couple of ales). A longer lens helps.<div></div>

[peter_daalder]

<i>"I have a sudden desire to get a picture of some people mooning and post it."</i><p>

I wish you hadn't gone down this path... <br>Not everyone visiting photo.net will be familiar with this term. To save some of them the trouble of Googling for an explanation, I have found <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooning"> this <i>acceptable</i> link.</a> <br>Out you go with your camera(s), Andrew, and take some photos, now.

[peter_daalder]

For the record, Bob's image above was not taken at the Full Moon phase. During a Full Moon, there are no shadows on our nearest celestial neighbour and all features look quite "flat". In Bob's image we can still see some shadows near the terminator (border between lunar night and day).<br>I find photographing the Moon close to first quarter phase to be quite satisfying...

[jon_noble]

bob, are you sure? is that f10 including the 2stops (effectively) added by the teleconverter?

[William Kahn]

I've had better luck with shots of the setting moon at sunrise - much less contrast to deal with....

[William Kahn]

Forgot to add: Canon 300D, Tamron 70-300mm @ 300mm. Sorry, I didn't record the exposure data.

[shambrick007]

"How will a loose filter solve the problem?" <p> By killing that nice, big, off axis reflection.

[bobatkins]

Jon - I'm sure. f5 on the lens plus two stops from the TC. It's in the EXIF data of the original.

[jon_noble]

Righto Bob. Wasnt sure thats all

[stephen hazelton]

John, don't regard that first shot as the "worst", either, appreciate it for what it is. If you go to the astrophotography section, you'll find dozens of moon pictures that all look nearly identical. But very few show the dark side of the moon, which you have in your shot here. If you can work it, take a shot like this, another with proper exposure for the bright side, and combine them- would definitely be different from the common moon shot.

[test11664875106]

The moon is basically rocks covered with lots of sand. Since the distance for reflected light doesn't matter, just think like you're making photo of a beach on very clear sunny day. My experiments with capturing the moon on video are in line with what others say - 1/50 @ f/11.