Help on best lens & settings to capture the super blood moon this weekend: My gear: Nikon D810, Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8G, Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G, Nikkor 135mm f/2D or Sigma 35mm 1.4 DG.

daiqngo Loc: San Diego, CA

My gear: Nikon D810, Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8G, Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G, Nikkor 135mm f/2D or Sigma 35mm 1.4 DG. My question is which lens should be used and what should the settings be? Thank you.

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

daiqngo wrote:

My gear: Nikon D810, Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8G, Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G, Nikkor 135mm f/2D or Sigma 35mm 1.4 DG. My question is which lens should be used and what should the settings be? Thank you.

80-400 ... f11 ... reciprocal of the ISO for shutter speed ... manual focus set to infinity ... mirror lockup ... remote shutter release ... sturdy tripod ... stabilization off ... bracket by 1/3 stop to a total of one whole stop either way.

With a 400 I would use 400 ISO and 1/500.

I hope this helps.

daiqngo Loc: San Diego, CA

Thanks a bunch!!!

LWW wrote:

80-400 ... f11 ... reciprocal of the ISO for shutter speed ... manual focus set to infinity ... mirror lockup ... remote shutter release ... sturdy tripod ... stabilization off ... bracket by 1/3 stop to a total of one whole stop either way.

With a 400 I would use 400 ISO and 1/500.

I hope this helps.

david vt Loc: Vermont

Given that we in VT are expecting 8-11 inches of snow, and highs around 0F this weekend, I think will be rather challenged for this opportunity. Good luck

User ID

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Start with an "open shade" exposure and
bracket to the "+" side. Nothing to hurry
about. You've got about 30 min for the
total changes, and then another 30 min
where it all happens again in reverse.

And don't worry about the "super" BS. It
means a slightly larger image of the old
same old, 5 or 6% bigger than average.
If you blow it [unlikely!] just shoot the
next eclipse and the one after that. They
are all alike except for a +/-5% variance
in apparent diameter. The subject, and
lighting, have been boringly unchanging
since back when god was in diapers ;-)

Keep cool and carry on !

.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

david vt wrote:

Given that we in VT are expecting 8-11 inches of snow, and highs around 0F this weekend, I think will be rather challenged for this opportunity. Good luck

Yes, my daughter and her husband live in Vermont. They are bummed out. We are at my son's house on LBI, NJ thinking wide open spaces. The forecast is for rain and more rain.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Some possibly useful links -

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/tips-for-photographing-the-moon.html?cid=img_en_us:EML:LE:1162019:January:2018-01-07-MOONEmail:na:btn:article1&ET_CID=2603596&ET_RID=363565341&SC_ID=0032400000mYZXzAAO
https://www.lightstalking.com/bite-size-tips-photograph-moon/
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/howtophoto/index.htm
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/how-do-you-photograph-the-moon--26980

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Your 80-400 should do the job.
The moon is bright because the sun illuminates it. It is suggested to use the "sunny 16" rule which would be f16 as the aperture and the shutter speed similar to the ISO setting, an example using ISO 200 would be f16-1/200sec.
It is also suggested to expose with the same ISO setting at f11 and f8. One of them should be perfect.

SonyBug

This is easy to answer. Just take a flashlight out with your camera. You will have hours and hours with the moon in full glory to check settings, change lenses, and adjust for the best angle shot. Then you will know.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

LWW wrote:

80-400 ... f11 ... reciprocal of the ISO for shutter speed ... manual focus set to infinity ... mirror lockup ... remote shutter release ... sturdy tripod ... stabilization off ... bracket by 1/3 stop to a total of one whole stop either way.

With a 400 I would use 400 ISO and 1/500.

I hope this helps.

Dragonfly Loc: Indianapolis

As it's going to be extremely cold here this weekend, I'm hoping maybe I can get a picture out of one of my windows...probably not as good as outside, but we'll see....I'll practice tonight

BlueMorel Loc: Southwest Michigan

I wish I could use these tips. Instead, I'm likely to be inside the house hiding from the snow coming down here in SW Michigan. This is typical - almost always celestial phenomena are hidden by clouds, rain, or snow here. Plus coldest weather of this season predicted - minus 2 Saturday night. Winter has finally caught up with us!

Joexx

Quick question. Why is a high F stop suggested? Why not use the " sweet spot" of your lens, usually around F8, depending upon lens? Sharper photo, and less apeture refraction. As long as the shutter speed is not too slow, you will not get moon movement...full moon exposure is around daylight, during the eclipse of course it will be less..

JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles

1/15 of a second or faster. With a tripod using the reciprocal of the focal length is not at all important. That is for the average shooter hand holding without image stabilization.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

LWW wrote:

80-400 ... f11 ... reciprocal of the ISO for shutter speed ... manual focus set to infinity ... mirror lockup ... remote shutter release ... sturdy tripod ... stabilization off ... bracket by 1/3 stop to a total of one whole stop either way.

With a 400 I would use 400 ISO and 1/500.

I hope this helps.

This is a good starting point for the time before totality. However, during totality the moon will be much darker and you will have to adjust.