Moon

DK32

Hi,

According to a handy little iPhone app called photobuddy the next full moon will be in 2 days time. Wednesday 2nd of Dec.
I have tried a couple of times to get some decent shots but most have been pretty poor and my lack of experience with night photography really shows.

I'm also looking forward to trying out my Sigma on a tripod this time. The last time I tried the lens it was less than a day old and I really was not used to the OS feature. Also my tripod had not arrived and the cheap €40 tripod from Argos could not take the weight.


Settings:
Body - Canon 5D MKII
Focal length - 400mm on a Sigma 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM
Shutter - 1/125
F/Stop - F/11
ISO - ISO100

Weather permitting I'd like to get out and take a few shots.
Anyone have and hints & tips that I might try on the night?

My goal is to capture the moon with as much detail as possible with my 400mm lens and for the image to be large enough & decent enough to print & frame.

Thanks,

Tactical

That's a nice shot.

I'd be interested in taking a similar shot having tried a good while ago but never having been happy with the results.

Won't be able to get out Wednesday night but if clear tomorrow night I may give it a try but suspect 200mm lens really won't be adequate

DK32

Thanks Tactical, was taken hand held so it's a bit too blurred for my liking. I think tripod is the only sure way of keeping the details sharp. I too will probably head out tomorrow night as accuweather says it will be raining on wednesday.

dan759

I did some a while ago with my 300mm tamron lens.

It was my first attempt at moon shots, I've always wanted to get a picture of the full moon with great detail. For my first attempt i was quite happy. Might tip on out on the 2nd and see if i can improve on my first try.

Heres the shot and the settings i used :



Shutterspeed 1/250
F/stop F16
and an ISO of 800 so i could get the higher shutter.

Also, I started to ignore my meter, I found even while using Spot metering mode that going by the meter wasn't giving me the image i wanted

Hope this helps! Best of luck on wed nights attempt!

aidan18

Great shot I must try it with my 300 sigma lense.

DK32

Well I picked a really cold night to try again.


400mm ISO 200 F/8.0 1/180

This is how cold it was...

400mm ISO 400 F16 10s

If the weather stays nice I might try again over the next couple of days

Captain Flaps

DK32 wrote: »

If the weather stays nice I might try again over the next couple of days

You and me both buddy!

I need moar zoom


200mm, f8.0, 1/160, ISO 50

Might try lashing on a 2x extender tomorrow night, I'll be pretty annoyed if it starts raining again!

jpfahy

5D MkII 100-400 F4L IS @400mm F8 1/250 ISO200 cropped

Captain Flaps

I love how clear the craters are in yours. What's going on around the edges though? They look a bit jagged.

DK32

Captain Flaps wrote: »

You and me both buddy!

I need moar zoom

Might try lashing on a 2x extender tomorrow night, I'll be pretty annoyed if it starts raining again!

Wish I had an extender to try Must look into getting one at some stage.

DK32

Captain Flaps wrote: »

I love how clear the craters are in yours. What's going on around the edges though? They look a bit jagged.

Mine or Jp's?

Also, did you try a 100% crop of your shot? mine is a 100% crop. Not much room to play around at the crop level but you will see more detail once you don't go too mad on the levels, contrast sharpening etc..

Ghost Train

Took this a few months back I think this was 500mm with a 6mp pentax, ~50% size, link to 100% (if it works) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3428/3876627500_df98b08070_o.jpg

Tactical

Tactical wrote: »

That's a nice shot.

I'd be interested in taking a similar shot having tried a good while ago but never having been happy with the results.

Won't be able to get out Wednesday night but if clear tomorrow night I may give it a try but suspect 200mm lens really won't be adequate

Didn't get a chance to get out

Some great shots there guys, I enjoyed looking at them but reckon my 200mm just isn't going to be good enough to get any real detail. But I'll definately be giving it a try though.

Well done to all who posted shots.

Borderfox

Taken a good while ago, Canon 1dmk3 with sigma 120-300 f2.8

Captain Flaps

DK32 wrote: »

Mine or Jp's?

Also, did you try a 100% crop of your shot? mine is a 100% crop. Not much room to play around at the crop level but you will see more detail once you don't go too mad on the levels, contrast sharpening etc..

JP's, yours is lovely and smooth.

DK32

Borderfox wrote: »

Taken a good while ago, Canon 1dmk3 with sigma 120-300 f2.8

Thanks Borderfox, that looks great when viewed at original size on pix.ie
Fair play

Trojan911

Taken this evening, not as sharp as other posters images.



Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 200
F Stop: F5.6
Focal Length: 300mm
Lens: Sigma 70-300mm

NORTH1

Taken hand held this evening at the kids training....
450d Tamrom 75-300

gerk86

very nice but iso seems a bit high?

NORTH1

gerk86 wrote: »

very nice but iso seems a bit high?

Yea I was trying to get the clouds in as well as I havent got the hang of the hdr thing. failed there.

jpfahy

Captain Flaps wrote: »

I love how clear the craters are in yours. What's going on around the edges though? They look a bit jagged.

Dunno, just came out like that, was the same before I did any PP

pixbyjohn

Captain Flaps wrote: »

I love how clear the craters are in yours. What's going on around the edges though? They look a bit jagged.

Thats how the moon is, jagged.
Looks great "tru" a telescope

DK32

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Thats how the moon is, jagged.
Looks great "tru" a telescope

If I could afford one, I'd have a telescope that could be rigged up to the camera. Now that would be cool

NORTH1

.Longshanks.

I got this one handheld at the beginning Oct

FedEx

Great shots!!!

joeKel73

Thought I'd join in the fun this evening!



Nikon D60
Sigma 70-300 @ 300mm
1/1250 sec
iso400
f/5.6

Can anyone explain to me why when I manual focus it goes well beyond the moon when fully turned?!

Anouilh

kensutz

Canon 1D MKIII
Canon 500mm
F/11 1/320s Handheld

kensutz

Tonights effort.

same setup ISO 400 f/9 and 1/400s. Handheld again.

NORTH1

^^^Wow Kensutz^^^

My tonights effort

democrates

Just had an idea : put a good mirror flat on the garden table or whatever and shoot the reflection of the moon - this saves you getting a crick in your neck with the camera pointing up and avoids having the tripod centre extended so it should be steadier.

EDIT:

DK32

Couple of mine from tonight.


f/6.7 1/180 ISO50 @ 400mm


f/8 1/250 ISO50 @ 400mm

pixbyjohn

I am trying to be as good as previous posters :mad:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/8632585@N06/4156681192/sizes/o/
Camera: Nikon D700
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 180 mm

swingking

my shot from tonight

Captain Flaps

And mine!


ISO: 50, 200mm (2x multiplier up to 400mm), 1/640, f/2.8

Used some POS old extender my dad got in china. After using it, I'm considering springing for the Canon 2x EF II, looks awesome and would doubtless be better than the one I'm using.

Slidinginfinity

oh what the heck I'll throw one up

stabo

aido182

And here is my effort...

DK32

Just wanted to thank everyone who contributed to this topic. Some really nice captures have been posted, Thanks!

Captain Flaps

Thanks for starting it DK32!

My last attempt before it disappears for a month, I think it came out well (though the sharpening makes it look almost like a painting)

joeKel73

I think it makes for a much better photo after the full moon actually! The light is cast at a lower angle across the surface (top right) so it casts shadows and becomes more three dimensional.

Here's something interesting (imo) for ye to ponder on... have a look at the relative size of the moon to the earth....



Personally I'd have thought the moon to be larger than that!

Now compare the above to the sun...



Off topic I know, but interesting non the less!

DK32

Captain Flaps wrote: »

Thanks for starting it DK32!

My last attempt before it disappears for a month, I think it came out well (though the sharpening makes it look almost like a painting)

You saved the best till last! This is brill

DK32

foto joe wrote: »

I LOL'd a lot when I looked at your first image I actually said to myself, holy crap how did he manage to get that shot. :D:D

joeKel73

Kite photography!

jArgHA

Hello all,

Congrats on all the great moon shots. I used to be an avid astrophotographer (have not done much in the past 3 years or so), but a point of note is that the moon is actually nicer to photograph when it is not full moon.

A full moon is extremely bright and most of its features are washed out, apart from the dark areas (known as maria/seas). When photos are taken of a crescent / gibbous (between 'half' and 'full') you can pick out more features such as craters and mountains in the shot - especially along the line bordering night and day on the moon (the terminator I think its called - or in other words the line between the bright and dark portion of the moon).

Also, an interesting thing to try to capture during the crescent phase is 'earthshine'. You may notice that when the moon is a crescent (especially if it is a narrow crescent), that when you look at the moon you can actually see the dark portion of the moon, or the full circle outline. The dark portion is faintly visible because of light reflected from the Earth's seas which bounces back at the moon and faintly lights up the bit thats in the dark.

Earthshine can be captured in photos of a crescent moon by overexposing slightly/greatly - eg. a shot of 2 seconds @ f/5.6 or similar, just needs some experimentation. There is a photo further back in this thread which demonstrates earthshine although its better if the camera is tripod mounted.

Also a final point of note - with the focal lengths being used for many of the photos above it is possible to take snaps of the planet Jupiter and to make out its 4 moons. Jupiter would appear not as a pinpoint, but more a dot with some discernible width, while its moons would appear as pin points.

jArgHA

BTW I would highly recommend this book:

Digital SLR Astrophootography (preview below):
Google Books:
http://books.google.ie/books?id=Agho6QnsrzsC&dq=digital+slr+astrophotography&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=Q_scS_7LG-SMjAeDxsiBBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Astrophotography-Practical-Amateur-Astronomy/dp/0521700817/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260190765&sr=8-1

The author also wrote "Astrophotography for the Amamteur" which was the bible in my days of manual SLR astrophotography.

NORTH1

Thanks for the above, this morning's moon before the clouds rolled in.



Canon 450d Shot hand held, Manual shutter 1/160 F9 iso 400 @ 300mm