orion55

Beginner . Enjoy taking moon & or star photos. Though they seem in focus . When enlarged half will be out. Hard to tell thru view finder. Also looking to eliminate glare from same. Do I just need a filter or what. Thanks in advance

tomad Loc: North Carolina

Autofocus works well on moon shots with my camera, but most photographers say you need to focus manually. Most lenses will focus past infinity so you need to figure out where infinity is with your particular lens or camera. If your camera has manual focusing aids use those. Filters may actually cause more glare. Also, if some are in focus and some not, you may need to use a smaller aperture to increase the depth of field.

armandoluiz Loc: Oppland, Norway

Same here, I was about to ask this question too.
I'll follow the answers and learn 😊😊👌👍

gsmith051 Loc: Fairfield Glade, TN

Welcome orion55 to the forum. For me, I shoot the moon in manual and focus manually with an f stop setting of 8. That seems to workout okay. Keep shooting and good luck.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Always autofocus for the moon. For exposure, use the LOONEY 11 rule:

Shoot the moon -
Use the old standby LOONEY 11 RULE:

The “looney 11 rule” states that for astronomical photos of the Moon’s surface, set aperture to f/11 and shutter speed to the (reciprocal of the) ISO film speed (or ISO setting).”

With ISO 100, one sets the aperture to f/11 and the shutter speed to 1/100 or 1/125 second.
With ISO 200, aperture at f/11, set shutter speed to 1/200 or 1/250.
With ISO 400, aperture at f/11, set shutter speed to 1/400 or 1/500.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

If you have live view, adjust the aperture or shutter speed to get nice light and dark details of the moon for the autofocus to focus on. If you are shooting night stars you can also use the lcd magnifier to see if the autofocus is working well or if you need to focus manually. Since stars are tiny objects at a great distance, any camera shake will be evident. For star shots I use the camera on a tripod and set the shutter timer for 10 seconds to take the pic hands free, and a time exposure of 10-15 seconds.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

A couple of things. The exposure settings for a shot of the moon where you see detail on the moon's surface will be lower (shorter shutter speed, smaller lens opening, lower ISO), than a shot of a dark sky with stars.

The focal length you use for star shots will determine the shutter speed if you are not looking to record star trails. A common formula is to divide 500 by the focal length you are using to get your exposure time in seconds. So if you are using a 20mm lens, you can use an exposure as long as 25 seconds. This is not camera sensor size dependent - you will shoot for 25 secs with an M4/3 camera as well as a APS-C or a full frame. If you shoot longer you will start to see star trails. How bright the image is and how many stars you record will be determined by ISO and aperture. Increasing the aperture size and raising the ISO will get you more stars, but higher ISOs will also get you a lot of noise.

Here are a few approaches to reducing noise on long exposures of the night sky:

https://improvephotography.com/32473/reduce-noise-stars-night-photography/

https://petapixel.com/2016/04/21/simple-effective-noise-reduction-technique-night-sky-photos/

https://fstoppers.com/originals/ultimate-comparison-nine-noise-reduction-methods-night-photography-122259



If you want to see both in one shot, you will have use compositing - take one exposure that is correct for the moon, another that is correct for the stars, and combine them in post processing.

If you want to see LONG star trails, this is usually done as a timelapse - to avoid frying your sensor.

moletrapper Loc: Estacada, Oregon

Faster speed for moon, unless you like egg shaped moons. As for stars, the rule of 500, focal length x shutter speed = 500 or less. My settings are 18mm x 20 seconds @ 3200 iso / T7i Bulb and release cord to take picture. I use weight on my tripod. No movement. If i want more stars i might use 6400 iso.

dlmorris Loc: Loma Linda, Ca

You didn't say what kind of camera you were using. Is it a DSLR? Does it have live view? Is it an electronic viewfinder or optical? Focusing on the stars is not easy! Find a bright one to focus on (always use manual focus) or even a street light at a distance work. If you camera has live view, many also have a 5x or even a 10x setting that really helps with focusing. Use it if you can. Some people, once they achieve focus, tape the focus ring in place. It is easy to bump the lens out of focus.... Once shooting, it may be good to check focus from time to time... And if some of the images are out of focus, weep, and try harder next time! This is from the voice of experience! Another thing, if you are using anything stronger than the normal kit lens, any shots longer than about 20 sec will have star trailing (the stars move). The only solution to that is some sort of tracking device. Also stopping the lens down a stop or two will help....but then your exposures will be longer.... Good luck!

sergiohm

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/photographing-the-night-sky.html

Take care,

Skiextreme2 Loc: Northwest MA

You didn't say if you were using a tripod or not. Use a tripod and a remote trigger if you have or can get one as well as the tips above. Sometimes your finger pressing the button will cause minor blur.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

Never heard this"rule" before but thanks.

bwa

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

I do agree with shooting multiple short images to create for star trails but not for fear of "frying your sensor".

I've shot 10-30 minute astrophotography images for years with DSLR's / mirrorless cameras and have never fried a sensor!

bwa

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

First, welcome to UHH!

1) It requires a camera of exceptional dynamic range to get the moon as well as stars properly exposed.

2) Live view will not help setting exposure unless you stop down the lens.

JayRay Loc: Missouri

The above reply is incorrect.
The application of the 500 rule IS dependent upon sensor size! Maximum exposure time in seconds = 500/ (focal length of lens in mm × crop factor) where the crop factor is 1.0 for a full frame sensor.