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11-13-2011, 11:52 AM   #1
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Mr. Moon; Seeking Advice for Capturing Lunar Images

Hello,
There was a big, fat moon the other night and I went out and tried to capture an image of it. I tried a couple different things with auto and semi auto modes (night scene and SV priority) and all I got was a stark white ball.

What do I need for this? Does anyone have any tips for capturing una luna bellissima?

Thanks!

11-13-2011, 12:44 PM   #2
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HI,

You can see a number of lunar images together with information on equipment here:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/46612-shooting-moon-2.html

It isn't that difficult to get more than a "stark white ball" if you use fully manual mode and experiment a bit. If you do want to use camera automatics you will have to use spot-metering.

Good luck!
11-13-2011, 01:40 PM   #3
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Addendum to the above:

If you would like to have some rules of thumb for your camera settings, perhaps you can finde some inspiration here:

Camera Settings for Astrophotography
11-13-2011, 02:23 PM   #4
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Ah, thank you so much! Extremely helpful
So, probably my commercial zoom lens is not fast enough to support a teleconverter, but I think I might start out by trying some of the manual settings that others have mentioned using and see what I can come up with.

11-13-2011, 02:52 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by Stone G. Quote
Addendum to the above:

If you would like to have some rules of thumb for your camera settings, perhaps you can finde some inspiration here:

Camera Settings for Astrophotography
Another useful site
Catching the Light: Astrophotography by Jerry Lodriguss
11-13-2011, 03:04 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by Drom Quote
Hello,
There was a big, fat moon the other night and I went out and tried to capture an image of it. I tried a couple different things with auto and semi auto modes (night scene and SV priority) and all I got was a stark white ball.

What do I need for this? Does anyone have any tips for capturing una luna bellissima?

Thanks!
In auto modes the camera tries to expose for the overall scene's darkness, hence an overexposed blown-out moon. Use manual mode for the moon.

The moon is a small object. It only fills around 1/6 of the frame height even with a 300mm lens. If you want a BIG moon you'll have to do a lot of cropping. To get the best data for cropping, use a tripod, ISO 100, as much zoom as you have, and RAW.

Use manual focus. Autofocus can have trouble locking onto the moon.
11-13-2011, 03:11 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Drom Quote
Ah, thank you so much! Extremely helpful
So, probably my commercial zoom lens is not fast enough to support a teleconverter, but I think I might start out by trying some of the manual settings that others have mentioned using and see what I can come up with.
The teleconvertor *might* work. You don't need a fast lens for the moon (as you get more into astrophotography, lens speed becomes important for dim objects).

Let's say you're using a typical DAL 55-300. It's f5.6 at 300mm. A x2 teleconvertor drops that to f11. I think you'll still have plenty of light to manually focus on the moon. Use a tripod with that much zoom.

11-13-2011, 08:58 PM   #8
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Thanks very much! I haven't shot anything in RAW yet with this camera so this will be a good opportunity to do that. I was going to go outside tonight and try it but there's too much cloud cover-can't even see the moon tonight. I'll need to get myself a tripod. Looks like the next full moon is Dec 10th.

Last edited by Drom; 11-14-2011 at 08:06 AM.
11-14-2011, 01:05 AM   #9
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Someone once reminded me that the moon is lit by the sun, so should be exposed as you would for a daylight shot. I have tried a couple of times and set the camera to manual and use the 'sunny 16' rule. ie - set your iso then set the lens to f16 then set the shutter speed to 1/iso. So for iso 200 start off with 1/250 or so, for iso 400 1/350. As a rough starting guide it is pretty helpful. I get good exposures but rubbish focus and frame filling ability ;-)
11-14-2011, 10:02 PM   #10
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Some days I miss my old Sony DSC-S40. One button and it switches to spot meter and it's actually tight enough to get good pictures of the moon. That's another option if you're really determined to use some sort of automatic settings. The lighting environment isn't changing whereas spot metering will be kind of hit and miss, specially if you don't have full time exposure preview. I think enough has been said about using manual settings already.
Not enough has been said about clouds though. The moon illuminating the cloud cover can get very pretty if you have the right clouds.

I'm not sure what to do with this, other than maybe a bit of noise reduction.

Last edited by Ailuropoda; 11-14-2011 at 10:03 PM. Reason: switching to lower res picture
11-14-2011, 10:50 PM - 1 Like   #11
Brooke Meyer
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EV 14 or Sunny 16 Rule -1

A Full Moon in a clear sky is EV 14, so Sunny 16 Rule minus 1 Stop or F11/ 1/100 / ISO 100 is your starting point. Your lens is probably sharpest at f8, so increase shutter speed 1 stop. I used a 1.4 TC with this so I compensated 1 stop with ISO 200. Manual, never used the meter. Tripod with 2 sec delay so automatically get Mirror Lockup and SR Off. Wired Remote Release. _IGP2955 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
11-15-2011, 04:54 AM   #12
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Got Him!

Hey it worked! Thanks everyone, this is a huge improvement over the stark white ball. It's not focused so well and I don't really have the hang of processing RAW images yet-I was winging it. But this is a start.


Last edited by Drom; 11-15-2011 at 05:01 AM.
11-15-2011, 08:38 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by Drom Quote
Hey it worked! Thanks everyone, this is a huge improvement over the stark white ball. It's not focused so well and I don't really have the hang of processing RAW images yet-I was winging it. But this is a start.
Congratulations !

---- and a (belated) Warning:

Now, you are most likely hooked and deemed to miss many a good nights sleep!!!
11-15-2011, 07:34 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by Brooke Meyer Quote
A Full Moon in a clear sky is EV 14, so Sunny 16 Rule minus 1 Stop or F11/ 1/100 / ISO 100 is your starting point. Your lens is probably sharpest at f8, so increase shutter speed 1 stop. I used a 1.4 TC with this so I compensated 1 stop with ISO 200. Manual, never used the meter. Tripod with 2 sec delay so automatically get Mirror Lockup and SR Off. Wired Remote Release. _IGP2955 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Love your Frosty Moon image.
11-15-2011, 07:38 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Stone G. Quote
Congratulations !

---- and a (belated) Warning:

Now, you are most likely hooked and deemed to miss many a good nights sleep!!!
Well the moon didn't show up until 8:00pm last night so I did miss the first part of Dancing With The Stars... probably shouldn't admit I watch that.

Seriously though, you are right. I am in a rural area that is far enough away from the city lights that I get a pretty good view of the night sky- I am really looking forward to capturing more images.
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