What am I doing wrong? Moon shot....

D

Duncan.F

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Duncan
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Hi,
Haven't a clue how to set about this.... I took this shot on a 5D11 with 300mm F4 IS plus 1.4 converter. Tried a range of shots with and without tripod, various settings. Manual and AF but can't get anything like a sharp image. I used a remote to trigger the camera.

Help!


IMG_4790.jpg
 
I think ISO 125 1/250 F5.6. I tried a whole range of shutter speed/apeture variations and not much difference in the results to be honest!

Dunc
 
Have you left the IS switched on? don't know about yours but on some lenses using IS and a tripod results in shots like this.
 
That would be great if you could. I tried last night with my 300mm zoom and just couldn't get the detail.
 
Camera Sony DSLR-A200
Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture f/11.0
Focal Length 300 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
X-Resolution 300 dpi
Y-Resolution 300 dpi
Image Description SONY DSC
Orientation Horizontal (normal)
Software Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows
Date and Time (Modified) 2009:12:03 22:04:09
Exposure Program Manual
Date and Time (Original) 2009:12:03 22:37:02Z
Date and Time (Digitized) 2009:12:03 22:37:02
Brightness Value 0.37
Max Aperture Value 5.6
Metering Mode Multi-segment
Light Source Daylight

For my moon pic above^
 
Hopefully the sky is clear these 2 nights. Full moon :):) Try again...
 
might get the camera out, dig me tripod out and have a go myself i think.
 
thething84 said:
might get the camera out, dig me tripod out and have a go myself i think.
Click to expand...

Ditto, looks like it's going to be a clear sky tonight and I've never done it before.
 
It just looks out of focus to me. Put your camera on a tripod and use live view to check focus. Use the zoom function in live view to help.
 
Here is one I shot a while ago with a 500D + 300mm F/4 L IS and 1.4x, similar setup to yours.

I had the advantage of 1.6x crop and you have advantage of larger sensor so should even itself out.

EXIF data is intact.

Moon-IMG_5047.jpg
 
I have just been out trying to get a decent shot, with my Canon 30D and Sigma 70-300mm lens, and after messing with a few settings, cant seem to get a sharp pic, I was using the self-timer so I wasn't the reason for the OOF - :bang: maybe its just my lens :bang:
 
I've tried this evening and got a shot I'm happy with will post tomorrow. I had to manual focus as I couldn't get a good auto focus shot and shot at 1/160 f11 iso100 on a tripod with remote release

With the moon being that far away it doesn't take much movement to throw it out of focus
 
For the moon I always use;

Manual focus..using
Liveview (at x10)
Tripod
Remote or timer
Mirror Lockup
remove UV or any filters!

EDIT...NO Image Stablisation
 
Last edited:
Today was cloudy here, but I got one on Thursday..

1218673633_cz7jA-XL.jpg

ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/160s, 400mm (200 + 2x)

My first moonshots ever, used a 70-200/2.8L IS II and 2x extender as I have nothing longer in focal length.. :(

Still not a bad 'un for a first try I think!
 
AndyB1976 said:
For the moon I always use;

Manual focus..using
Liveview (at x10)
Tripod
Remote or timer
Mirror Lockup
remove UV or any filters!

EDIT...NO Image Stablisation
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, I forgot you could zoom on liveview lol, just tried again here :)
 
As Andy said ive always done this with mirror lockup on and got good results despite my zoom lens not being adequate!
 
Duncan.F said:
Hi,
Haven't a clue how to set about this.... I took this shot on a 5D11 with 300mm F4 IS plus 1.4 converter. Tried a range of shots with and without tripod, various settings. Manual and AF but can't get anything like a sharp image. I used a remote to trigger the camera.

Help!
Click to expand...

That's exactly the same sort of picture i got with my camera lens, but it's 18-55mm im not sure If you can get better than that with my lens, I cannot afford any lenses atm that are over £100 :)
 
razorfish said:
That's exactly what my 350D got, I got the same sort of picture. my camera lens, is 18-55mm im not sure If you can get better results than that with my lens, and I only have the nifty fifty as well, I cannot afford any lenses atm that are over £100 :)
Click to expand...
 
heres one of mine, I have tried loads of different settings ie longer/shorter exposures but the key for my better ones (loads looked really blurred too!) seems to be that the camera has to be 100% solid and still on the tripod. I did cable release with 2 second timer. Someone mentioned trying mirror lockup to me too but I havent tried that yet.
You can get my exif here it its any use-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55047965@N03/sets/72157625634410638/with/5538901546/


5538901546_7dc7de59a6_z.jpg
 
Last edited:
If you are using Live View then you automatically get mirror lockup.

10x zoom on the viewfinder is a must as mentioned previously.
 
Not necessarily.

I took this last year handheld with the 100-400 on my 50D. Cropped in to about 50% of the frame. 1/320, f/8, ISO200, lens zoomed to 400.


Moon 2 by Mike Jackson1, on Flickr
 
Those photos are not just good, they are obscenely good. I used my A100 and got some okay ones on Saturday night but I cannot bend too much due to a bad back thats playing me up. I did use the tripod and 75-300 lens and remote switch to press the button though. I need to learn a lot more to get images like these. Have to keep looking at them over and over as they are amazing.
 
I used a 250mm, 1/1000 and i think f11, a bit of sharpening and it didnt come out too bad, I also i read a good link on another thread explaining how to get colour into the shot in photoshop which adds abit more to it, i would upload my pic but dont know how im afraid
 
As silly as it sounds ... It took me a while to ensure my tripod was actually stable.. At such long focal lengths even a bit of sway caused blur. Looks like the picture here jus isn't in focus.. Live view with x10 would be a good try!
 
Those shots have inspired me can't wait for a bright moon.
 
philz said:
Those shots have inspired me can't wait for a bright moon.
Click to expand...

Don't wait for a Full Moon, that's the worst time to try and take photos because the light falling straight onto the surface doesn't produce any shadows, so there's nothing to accentuate the surface relief.

If you don't mind getting up just before sunrise then you can get some good shots of the setting Moon over the nest week. Otherwise, the second weekend in April will have the Moon in the sky at sunset and in a phase that'll be much more conducive to photography.
 
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