Silver Fox Loc: Texas

I tried taking some moon shots with my Nikon D90 and 50-500mm lens mounted on tripod wireless remote release none of them turned out good. Put a Vivitar 85-205mm lens with a 3X teleconverter and took this shot hand held, it turned out much better than the one on the tripod.
ISO 200 , 1/200 second at F:3.8 which is about all I can get with the 3X teleconverter. Can anyone tell how to improve this photo and what settings that I should use with Nikon D90 and Sigma 50-500mm Lens?

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

No idea what you got going on here, but its not good. Here is my shot from tonight with the Sigma 150-500mm on a Nikon D90. 1/400sec, F8, ISO 200, handheld with the OS in position 1. Cropped for effect, no other adjusting done.

Your first one looks like the ISO was at 20,000 or something. The second one is bad camera shake for sure. Also, when using the Sigma on a tripod, you need a GOOD tripod, not a cheapo, thats a truly HEAVY lens. Maybe you can upload your unaltered Sigma originals and click the "store original" box and I will look at the data and see if something stands out.

annie blossum Loc: USA

Last week I tried some shots of the moon, mars and I don't know what that other plant is. ? and Mars were very close to the moon that night. Well I didn't get anything worth looking at but I did call my grand-son and got his reaction while we talked on the phone. To me that was better than any picture I could have taken.

LDM5 Loc: Templeton, MA

I agree with MT Shooter that you need a sturdy tripod for such a heavy lens. However, your shots seem way out of focus. First of all google the "sunny 16 rule". I used it the other night with my canon 40D and 150-500 mm sigma and got a nice one. My settings were... ISO - 400, TV -1/200, AV - 16, spot metering, shooting mode - manual. Be sure to turn of optical stabilization and switch to manual focus. Once you've got your subject in focus squeeze off a shot with your remote and I think you'll be happy with the result. Oh btw, try it without adding a teleconverter into he equasion. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

sudzmonn Loc: here , there , everywhere

I must say its very difficult to get in focus at times. I have the Nikon d5000 . I have a portable power supply and a computer monitor . I hook the Nikon to the monitor by mini hdmi to dvi . then turn everything on . Put camera in live view and I watch it on the monitor , when in sharp focus I stop adjusting.
Thats when I start learning about the camera , how to adjust. Depends on the brightness of the moon and other factors . This is a learning curve you have to play with . Sometimes I start at f8 / iso250 , white balance auto etc etc ! As mentioned , the brightness will vary , making your adjustments vary - its a fun learning curve

rick21043 Loc: Ellicott City. Maryland

Mr. Silver Fox
I put this formula in before and here it is which works for quarter/ half and full moons as attached.

ISO 100, F-11 and shutter speed 125

photosbysexton Loc: Knoxville, TN

here's mine, exact same settings. Olympus E-620, 70-300 mm 1:4-5.6 Just cropped it in Olympus View