Photographing the moon - not good

What were the settings for that photo and were you using a remote release or 10 sec self timer to reduce camera shake?
 
Were you using a remote cable or just pressing the shutter with your finger?

With regards to exposure I'm not sure what your exposure was but try 1/ISO speed

Neil
 
What shutter speed were you getting?
 
If you have a filter on the front of your lens, remove it.

The moon is an object that is illuminated by the sun - so you want to use a shutter speed that reflects this.

On the tripod have your shutter speed set to ~1/500 and your ISO at 400. Set aperture to F8 and see what you get. I actually find it easier to get the focus on the moon right if I use live view with 5x zoom.

If you set the camera to self timer then you can fire the shutter and the delay between pressing the button and the shutter firing should reduce the shakes - although a remote release is better.

Now your exposure might not be perfect with those settings, but they are a good starting point.

But definitly remove any filter from the lens before you start.
 
There's a handy exposure calculator HERE which allows you to enter your settings, and conditions (moon high / cloudy etc.) to determine the best shutter speed. It's not going to be deadly accurate but will give you an idea of how upping the ISO or reducing Aperture affects things.

The Moon's a lot brighter than you think and the camera (unless told to spot meter) will generally attempt to get everything exposed properly. It's easily confused (like me).

Should still be able to get a decent shot without a shutter release cable using the timer, and it's also possible to get a decent shot hand-held @ 300mm provided you keep the shutter speed up over 1/400 sec........
 
The moon is a lot brighter than you think. 1/125th at f/8 and 100 ISO is usually a good starting point and then adjust from there. You'll never get AF to lock focus on the moon so focus manually and very carefully.

You can't be too careful in the setup even with a good tripod. If you can, get the tripod to it's full height so that when you're lined up on the moon you can stand upright looking into the viewfinder - you don't want to be stooping or bending your knees which is tiring and introduces the jitters.

You'll find that once the moon is lined up in your viewfinder it moves across the focusing screen at quite an quite alarming rate, so set up as quickly and accurately as you can. Use a cable release to release the shutter or if you don't have one, use the self-timer.
 
CT said:
The moon is a lot brighter than you think. 1/125th at f/8 and 100 ISO is usually a good starting point and then adjust from there. You'll never get AF to lock focus on the moon so focus manually and very carefully.

You can't be too careful in the setup even with a good tripod. If you can, get the tripod to it's full height so that when you're lined up on the moon you can stand upright looking into the viewfinder - you don't want to be stooping or bending your knees which is tiring and introduces the jitters.

You'll find that once the moon is lined up in your viewfinder it moves across the focusing screen at quite an quite alarming rate, so set up as quickly and accurately as you can. Use a cable release to release the shutter or if you don't have one, use the self-timer.
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This is the correct answer
 
Can I firstly thank you so much for all your comments. I have taken them all on board, and as soon as we get another night with clear skies I will be trying it out. I do not own a remote shutter so I think that was one of the problems. Is it better to get a wireless or just cable one? What about this one? http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...hutter-release-canonpentaxsamsung-p-1780.html I will be purchasing one. Secondly, the settings for this camera were, 1/4 secs at f/5.6, focal length 300mm ISO 400 and the lens was a sigma 70-300. Thank you all again for taking the time to help me. Anna
 
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Taking moon shots is somthing i struggled with , some people tak amazing shots .
 
cartridge_gal said:
Can I firstly thank you so much for all your comments. I have taken them all on board, and as soon as we get another night with clear skies I will be trying it out. I do not own a remote shutter so I think that was one of the problems. Is it better to get a wireless or just cable one? What about this one? http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...hutter-release-canonpentaxsamsung-p-1780.html I will be purchasing one. Secondly, the settings for this camera were, 1/4 secs at f/5.6, focal length 300mm ISO 400 and the lens was a sigma 70-300. Thank you all again for taking the time to help me. Anna
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That wireless remote will probably be OK, (although I'm not familiar with it) but a wired one would serve you just as well unless you plan on working a fair way away from the camera.
 
No dont get the wireless one for a canon, they need to be infront of the camera to trigger it, so a wired one is best
 
cartridge_gal said:
Can I firstly thank you so much for all your comments. I have taken them all on board, and as soon as we get another night with clear skies I will be trying it out. I do not own a remote shutter so I think that was one of the problems. Is it better to get a wireless or just cable one? What about this one? http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...hutter-release-canonpentaxsamsung-p-1780.html I will be purchasing one. Secondly, the settings for this camera were, 1/4 secs at f/5.6, focal length 300mm ISO 400 and the lens was a sigma 70-300. Thank you all again for taking the time to help me. Anna
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You don't need a remote release for this - no point at all. Use the self-timer, with mirror lock-up. You can also AF on the moon no problem, then switch to manual so it cannot change accidentally.
 
Yep, no need for remote, if you can do self timer and mirror lock up at the same time.In fact mirror lock up will be better, as with your Tripod, the vibrations of the mirror flapping up could still cause some blurring. Thats the trouble with tripods, they are either really sturdy or heavy, or really light and not as sturdy.

This was shot with the mirror lock up at 300mm. Its far from perfect and still not as sharp as I'd have liked. The moon is really bright, so you need quite a fast shutter. This was 1/100 at f/8 ISO 800. Yours was quarter of a second, which is far to slow for the moon, whch actually moves quite fast.

Try a 30 sec exposure... You can make a moon worm!


The Moon by TCR4x4, on Flickr
 
iancandler said:
No dont get the wireless one for a canon, they need to be infront of the camera to trigger it, so a wired one is best
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Not the one that was linked. It is only the infra red wirless used on the entry level models that needs to be in front of the camera - no others do.
 
No need for tripods or remotes, or even decent cameras :D



Yeah, alright ... it's a bit rubbish really ;)

Camera Fujifilm FinePix S5500 (plus 1.7x convertor)
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 57 mm
ISO Speed 100
 
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Ive seen some amazing moon/space shots with little 1MP webcams and telescopes. You dont need lots of expensive equipment!
 
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