Moon photography specs

[ditzy_dollie]

Hi everyone

I'm trying to do some moon photography as its a clear sky tonight and would be a great oppourtunity, I have a nikon d3100 and the lens is a AF VR-NIKKOR 80-400MM

the settings i tried before were to have the iso on 200, shutter speed 1/250 and f11 but still the moon was coming up small, i want a close up clear photo of the moon.

Can anyone help me?



ditzy_dollie

 

[Splog]

Hi everyone

I'm trying to do some moon photography as its a clear sky tonight and would be a great oppourtunity, I have a nikon d3100 and the lens is a AF VR-NIKKOR 80-400MM

the settings i tried before were to have the iso on 200, shutter speed 1/250 and f11 but still the moon was coming up small, i want a close up clear photo of the moon.

Can anyone help me?



ditzy_dollie

Unfortunately 400mm FL is a bit short to get a close up of the moon but you should still be able to get a decent shot of it with cropping the pic.

 

[RalphC]

I'm sure I saw somewhere that for really decent astronomy photos you need to alter the camera software. Can't remember what or where but this might help?

http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/INTRO.HTM

 

[Nick_1981]

This one was taken with a 300mm lens set at 270mm, not sure why I wasn't at 300mm

Apologies for the logo, it's straight from my flickr.


Moon by Nick Axtell Photography, on Flickr

It as shot at iso 200, 1/250th and f9, cropped in PSE.

 

[Nigey]

Sorry for the low quality, my Facebook page!! lol

This is with a 5DMKII using a T-mount to my telescope. Effective focal length would be about 3600mm. However I also had a 32mm eyepeice in it as well for this so this would have been more like 9000mm Just a comparison really. Abviously no F stop info but shot at 1/40th and ISO1000.

 

[Little John]

Tripod, mirror locked, wired or wireless trigger or use the timer so you don't touch the camera, f11 and a reasonable fast shutter and as long a lens that you have should be enough.

Got me this 300mm+2xmk3

 

[StewartR]

That sounds pretty good.

Remember the moon is being illuminated by the sun, so you need to expose it like a sunlit shot even though it's night. (many beginners forget / overlook this!) The Sunny-16 Rule says ISO 200, 1/200th at f/16. That's the equivalent of 1/400th at f/11, but the moon is actually quite dark, so a bit of positive exposure compensation means 1/250th is just about spot on.

... but still the moon was coming up small, i want a close up clear photo of the moon.

That's nothing to do with your settings and everything to do with your lens. Basically you need a longer one. To fill the frame you need about 2000mm.

 

[hollis_f]

This is an uncropped image taken with a 300 + 1.4x TC + 2x TC for a total of 840mm. As you can see, it takes up just about one-half the frame. So around 1600mm on an APS-C camera would be close to enough for a frame-filler.

 

[ditzy_dollie]

hey everyone, ive had a play around with it and this is my first shot of the moon hope you all like

the settings i used for this one is 1/100, iso 200 and f20

 

[fixedimage]

Thought this was gonna be about spectacles.

 

[Fatboyjarv]

Here is my photo of the moon Taken with my Nikon J1 30-110mm lens

Camera exif

Here is some exif data from the camera of the shot.

Make = NIKON CORPORATION
Model = NIKON 1 J1
Date Time = 2012-01-04 19:07:05
Exposure Time = 1/320"
F Number = F5.6
Exposure Program = Shutter priority
ISO Speed Ratings = 400
Date Time Original = 2012-01-04 19:07:05
Date Time Digitized = 2012-01-04 19:07:05
Exposure Bias Value = ±0EV
Max Aperture Value = F5.66
Metering Mode = Spot
Light Source = unknown
Flash = Off
Focal Length = 110mm
Color Space = sRGB
Sensing Method = One-chip color area sensor
File Source = DSC
Scene Type = A directly photographed image
Custom Rendered = Normal process
Exposure Mode = Auto exposure
White Balance = Auto white balance
Focal Length In 35mm Film = 297mm
Contrast = Normal
Saturation = Normal
Sharpness = Normal
Subject Distance Range = unknown

 

[Quickshooter]

hey Danielle Great shot! hope you don't mind put i cropped in for you, so its a bit bigger

 

[Quickshooter]

lol well ok its pretty much the same size on here now haha Fail! sorry