Lateral Thinking -- shooting moon with P&S

[jcuknz]

<p>The thought crossed my mind that apart from the average P&S doesn't have a long enough zoom/reach to get a good shot of the moon just how could it be done.<br>

The main problem is that the moon is a small but bright object, see earlier threads on moon shots, surrounded by a large expanse of black. The camera metering system is designed to work out an average of the light captured by the whole frame ... so the little bright object gets over exposed ... and HOW!<br>

There is a useful trick that one can use for various reasons with most if not all digital cameras, and some automatic film cameras I guess. This is the 'half-trigger' technique where you show the camera something and press half trigger. The camera sets exposure and focus and if you continue to hold the half trigger you can point the camera elsewhere and then fully press the trigger for the shot. Focus and exposure will be as 'pre-set' and not for the recorded subject. I frequently use this technique to avoid going into manual mode when 'exposing to the right' to avoid burnt out skies, including more sky in frame for HT than for the framing I want to record.<br>

So for the moon ... if one held a cigarette lighter or lit match close in front of the lens the exposure might correct for the bright object which is the moon but focus would be all to hell. So in addition to the light source you need a close-up lens to make the camera think the light is at infinity. [ a x10 plastic magnifying glass such as I have could do this job ] Holding HT you put the light and CU lens away and point at the moon and get a nicely exposed and sharp shot. :-)</p>

[ben_goren]

<p>JC,</p>

 

<p>Does your camera not have a manual metering mode?</p>

 

<p>In any event, I don’t think you’ll ever get anything remotely approaching a satisfactory

solo picture of the moon with any P&S. You should, on the other hand, be able to get some quite

nice landscape pictures with the moon in the frame.</p>

 

<p>Cheers,</p>

 

<p>b&</p>

[Mike Gammill]

If you have access to a small telescope you could hold the camera up to the eyepiece. The moon should be large enough

to be the major object influencing exposure. Fairly easy if your P&S is digital.

[Leonard-just-Leonard]

<p>Hey Ben, this moon shot seems OK to me with a point and shoot.<br>

I shot this handheld, leaning up against my car in the driveway with a Nikon Coolpix p90 using spot metering. zoomed in a bit with photoshop and cropped it...</p><div></div>

[ben_goren]

<p>L.J.,</p>

 

<p>That’s certainly not bad for a P&S. But, to put it in context, as much fun as I had taking

the attached picture, it pales in comparison to what even beginning astrophotographers do with gear

designed for the task. And I used a 5DII with a 300 F/4 L and stacked teleconverters. (The image is, of course, scaled down significantly for the Web.)</p>

 

<p>I’ve seen significantly better examples of astrophotography done with a cheap webcam as the imager attached to some serious equipment and software that I frankly didn’t quite understand.</p>

 

<p>Cheers,</p>

 

<p>b&</p><div></div>

[bobatkins]

<p>Full moon isn't the best time to shoot. Contrast is low (the sun is overhead on the moon!).</p>

<p>You get better contrast and more detail around first (or last) quarter.</p><div></div>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>To me, the advice that should also work for P&S with long enoug lens was well-hidden L.J. Leonard's post: ...<em>using spot metering</em>....<br>

Since most P&S have pretty crappy manual controls, it's the best bet, I think.</p>

[hjoseph7]

LJ, Ben and Bob those are some extraodinary pictures of the moon. Wow I need to keep practicing, because after a coupple of blown-out, or blurry shots I usually give up.

[janisok]

<p>outstanding shots</p>