Caysnowman Loc: MN & SC

I wanted to "Shoot the Moon" last night so in preparation, I did a bit of reading and took some shots around the house using Live View and manual settings. I was satisfied with the results.

Went out to a nature park last night to get away from the ambient city lights, set up on a tripod, full manual and used a cable release and F10, 1/125, ISO 100, Spot Focus. The problem I had was that was when I tried to focus, all I could see was a bright light (similar to looking at the bright end of a flash light in a dark room) with no indication of what the moon's surface was like and consequently, I could not focus for the shot. I made at least one error in that I did not lock the ISO to 100 with my menu settings and consequently saw in the finder after exiting Live View, that the camera was trying to use 1600. Would that cause the problem? After a bit and a lot of bugs, I got frustrated, went to Aperture mode and got a couple of shots.

I cannot upload any of these attempts since I did not actually take any shots via live view.

If anyone is interested, I used a shirt that my wife gave me a few weeks ago that contained bug repellent that is effective against ticks as well as the other critters. It really worked well.

Thanks, Bill

Haydon

You probably would have better luck with live view in this case. Interested in the shirt you wore.

Caysnowman Loc: MN & SC

Link to the shirt. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/76474?feat=502683-GN2&page=men-s-no-fly-zone-shirt. I bought I big enough to pull the collar over the back of my head when the critters got serious.

Guess I wasn't clear, I had trouble with LV, not with Aperture.

Bill

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Had the identical problem last night. In the D7000's shooting menu, go to ISO Sensitivity Settings where you will find Auto ISO on/off. The camera, even though I had selected ISO 200, was attempting to expose at ISO 1600, which it felt was necessary for a correct exposure given the light levels the meter was seeing. Once I disabled Auto ISO, I was able to get some shots. You can see the wispy clouds that frustrated my efforts last night below the blown out moon.

And, with my eyesight, I found Live View was more applicable in aiming the camera, not focusing. I put the Tamron 70 - 300 into manual focus mode and was able to get what I wanted.

Oh well, its full again in 2 weeks....

Caysnowman Loc: MN & SC

Sounds exactly like what I experienced last night. I'll try your suggestion but it looks like I'll be having cloud problems; last night was cloudless.

Bill

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

On what planet?????

Caysnowman Loc: MN & SC

Who cares as long as you get the shot ;-)

Bill

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

August 10th in two weeks? Where have I been?

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Shooting the moon use the sunny eleven rule.

twillsol Loc: St. Louis, MO

The next full moon is not in two weeks in Missouri. It is around August 11th. Posted this before I read Mogul's post.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

"Sunny eleven" rule?
Maybe you can explain that one, especially to us old film shooters that used the "Sunny Sixteen" rule for decades?

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

You are right "Sunny Sixteen" rule (that is what happens to us old people who should be in nursing homes), my mistake. But most people who have not done astronomy don't realize that the moon can be as bright as the sun.

RRS Loc: Not sure

Try again! That shot is way over exposed, no detail. As has been pointed out on other posts, go out and shoot a non full moon because there will be more details. Another thing that may help too is to manually focus to get close and if your lens has a limit switch for the distance that it will AF make sure that it is on full. Last resort, go to the manual mode and look at the meter in your view finder and expose by the meter. Good luck and would like to see your next attempt!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Yes, Live View is the way to go to do this (using manual focus and10x or more magnification), but you're correct, using a too high ISO will give you a washed out image on the screen and you risk to damage your sensor along the way!

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

Using a high ISO does not necessarily mean a washed out moon. It depends on all your settings. Two nights ago I shot the moon and was using the camera on extreme automation ------ by that I mean auto focus, auto exposure, and auto ISO. I didn't realize the camera set the ISO at 4000 until after the fact. I have been fooling around with auto ISO for a week or so to see if there is any benefit to using it. So far, it sets a higher ISO than I would on my on and though the results aren't too bad, I don't think I like it for the most part. Here is a shot that came from the group I took: ISO 4000, shutter 1/4000, aperture f8.