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I shot for the moon...

Ryom

Ryom

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 11, 2006
Messages
1,859
100% Crop of the moon with RAW processing. Shot with a 40D, manual focus via live view. ISO 200, 1/50th f11 with a Sigma 50-500mm EX DG HSM lens (800mm effective AoV).

I plan on a much closer shot in the future.

800mm%20Moon%206-11-08%20-%20cropped.png
 
Thank you! I've received many compliments on it. It's funny; I wasn't even going to try a moon shot for quite some time as I had planned on a telelconverter and a real tripod before attempting one... but the weather was so fair and the sky so clear I couldn't resist. Turns out my impulsiveness was a small blessing, as the shot turned out very respectable despite some equipment shortcomings :)
 
That's a product of the somewhat heavy-handed sharpening I did to compensate for a less than steady tripod :)
 
Nice photo, but since "effective" really only applies to framing, and framing doesnt play a part in detail, its not an 800mm photo. :D Still, 500, turned out pretty nice.
 
Here's Jupiter and Mars at 500mm next to the Moon at 500mm just for kicks:

Moon%20-%20Mars%20-%20Jupiter.jpg
 
Very cool, I might have to bust out my 300mm canon lens and see if I can get anything cool. Maybe I can borrow a friends 1.4x tele
 
By the time I got in, the pictures are broken. I'm really interested in seeing them. Any chance of e-mailing them to me? PM me if so. Thanks! :)

They seem fixed. Great work on those shots!
 
A bullseye, that shot is. Nicely done - wish I could shoot the moon like that (if only we were playing hearts).

Sorry, two bad puns in one post :D. Bottom line = Excellent photo.
 
Really nice man...... shooting pic's of the moon has created nothing but frustration and disappointment for me and my wife.... it's not easy to do and you have done an excellent job there man!

 
Amazing shot! I still remember the first time I took an old pair of binoculars and looked up at the moon. Changed my life. I was an astronomy geek for the next 10 years!
 
Thanks for all the kudos everyone!

For those who are having trouble getting a good moon shot, here is what you do.

  • Try to shoot when the moon is slightly shadowed. Shooting a full moon won't have very many shadows to define the craters. The lighting will be flat and it will seem like your shot lacks contrast.
  • Use at least a 500mm focal length to get close enough if you are after details of the surface.
  • Use a good tripod. If your lens has a tripod collar, you can even attach a second tripod to the camera body to get an even steadier base .
  • Use live-view (if available on your camera) at 5x to 10x magnification and manual focus. A steady tripod helps immensely, because the moon will jump wildly around in the frame at 5x or 10x magnification with the slightest touch making it more difficult to focus.
  • Use the Mirror lock-up feature.
  • Use an aperture a few stops above wide open to increase sharpness. If you aren't using a teleconverter, f8 to f11 is a good range to be in for most modern dSLR lenses. Don't go too high or diffraction will rob you of sharpness. So stay below f12 on a crop sensor and below f16 on a full-frame sensor.
  • ISO 200 and shutter speeds above 1/50th sec are good starting points. Don't trust camera's meter, it's probably not going to do so well. Just take a few test shots. Expose it so that that the highlights are bright but not blown. It's better to bring down the highlights than it is to bring up the shadows in post. Shooting RAW is a big help here.
  • Use a remote shutter release or a long timer (10+ seconds) to activate the shutter. If you are using a remote release, leave the camera sit untouched for 15 seconds or so to let any residual vibrations die down before activating the shutter. If you use the timer, take your hands off the camera and stand still until the shot fires.

Good luck!
 
Great tips! Thanks. I still remember all the hell I went through trying to take a shot of the North Star in my youth with a 35mm camera on my Uncle's farm in Illinois. I had to use a remote shutter with some tape to hold it down for 4 hours. You only got so many shots of that before an entire weeks worth of nights were used up in the process. Gotta love digital cameras. At least now I can get some quick feedback of how I did instead of waiting for the developer to make me prints... Here's the shot I did way back when:
proudphoto02.jpg
 
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