Quote:
Originally Posted by Raoul Isidro
This is the way I do it.
1. Use a tripod.
2. Use the longest lens. 200mm or 300mm is OK.
3. Switch to manual focus (on lens or camera, depending on brand / model)
4. Set to Manual exposure or M
5. Set ASA to 400
6. Focus to infinity and work your way slowly away from infinity. The Moon will be blurred at infinity, but sharply focused a tiny bit from that point, so play with the focus until sharp.
7. Set aperture to F8 or F11
8. Set shutter speed to 2000
9. Bracket exposures down... using shutter speeds. That is, 2000, 1500,1000, 750, 500, 350, 250, 180, etc.
10. Somewhere between those bracketed exposures will be a nicely exposed photo of the Moon.
|
Hm.
#1: I always like to use a cable release when working on a tripod.
#3: The moon has plenty of contrast, so autofocus will likely work. Doing #3 and #6 is a good way to shoot things at night that either don't have a lot of contrast (so the Af can't pick it up) or that are moving -- like fireworks, in particular -- but probably not necessary for the moon.
#5: The moon is plenty bright. ISO400 (ASA is technically a film term) is overkill; your example is plenty grainy, and we have enough to contend with in getting a crisp shot of the moon. You should be able to use ISO 100 or lower if your camera supports it.
#7: Lens-dependent; with longer telephotos f/16 or smaller might even be better.
#8/9: Okay 2000 is too fast, what's the point of shooting ISO400@1/2000th when you can do ISO100@1/500th? With a full moon, depending on how much of the frame you're taking up, you should be able to shoot around 1/60th-1/180th @ ISO100, f/11, adjusting for different apertures or ISO speeds of course. The trick is to not go too slow on shutter speed, because the moon moves, quite fast actually.
Not bad advice, a good start actually, but I think after some practice there are a few tweaks to be done to get sharper results.