carlospaz

Probably this topic is very recurrent, but still I'm not able to nail a good shoot of the Moon.
Any good advise or working rule ?
Thank you all..!!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Tripod; daylight white balance; spot meter on the moon.

Just Shoot Me Loc: Ithaca, NY

Hope this helps:

Camera-Nikon D780
Tamron 150-600 mm.@ 600 mm.
ISO 125
SS 250
f 6.3
Tripod with Gimbal head


Ron

tcthome Loc: NJ

Add to Longshadow's list, zoom in to 100% on the rear lcd for best focus. Use the self-timer= 2 seconds & a exposure delay=2 seconds if there is one in your menu. The delays help with camera shake. Or a remote shutter release with the exposure delay.

carlospaz

Thank you, probably I'm missing the "spot meass" I'll try next full moon.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

If "Averaging" is used it comes up with an exposure index for what it averages for the WHOLE scene, which, if not using a zoom, will be mostly dark sky with a little bit of bright for the moon. Therefore the average overall brightness will be very low, so the moon will be over-exposed, yielding a solid white circle.

therwol Loc: USA

Yes. Everyone should remember that the moon is a big object that is in direct sunlight. If you use any sort of averaging metering that includes the dark sky around the moon, the moon will be overexposed, often by a lot, and that wipes out a lot of detail. Use spot metering to meter the moon only. You can tweak it up and down a bit in exposure by small increments until it looks the way you want it to look.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

The trick is getting exposure right and to be really steady. Use a remote shutter release.

First one is a shot taken before it got completely dark. Used a Sony A57 which is an APS-C camera, with a Tamron 150-600mm at 600mm and f11. Exposure was 1/160 sec and ISO 800. Since the moon is always moving, I wanted to keep the shutter speed fast enough to not have motion blur. Shot in RAW and processed in Lightroom.

The 2nd is near full moon, and it is bright. But I didn't want to overexpose. Used an old Asahi Pentax Takumar 500mm f4.5 lens for this shot. Dropped ISO to 100 since moon was so bright. Shutter speed was 1/320 sec. I didn't make a note about aperture I used, but with that lens, I usually stop down 1 or 2 stops. Since the LCD on the A57 shows me what the picture is going to look like, I simply adjust settings while watching the LCD screen until I achieve the brightness that I am looking for. And I kept it dark enough to be able to see the rays coming from a couple large craters. If I had used a longer exposure, the rays would be harder to see. This image was processed with DxO Photolab, followed by Sharpen AI, motion model, and followed that with some cropping and then resized by 1.09x using Gigapixel AI. Not a lot of resizing, but Gigapizel AI also enhances.

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rcorne001 Loc: Cary, NC

Try the Moony 11 rule. Set your aperture to f/11 and your shutter speed to the ISO of the camera. And as stated earlier keep your camera steady and use a remote (or delayed) release. Should get you close if not at where you want.

Warhorse Loc: SE Michigan

A lot of great advice here so far, may I also add that manual focus is extremely helpful for a good sharp image.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

1/iso at F16 is a general rule for correct exposure. You could then bracket around this basic exposure.

jlg1000 Loc: Uruguay / South America

My recipe is:
a) use a very long lens (I use a 400mm mirror lens)
b) compose with an interesting foreground
c) Take, at least, two shots: one where the moon is well exposed and another where the foreground is well exposed
d) Combine both shots on post.

Just see this example:

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

I read somewhere one should use the BDE (Basic Daylight Exposure) - 1/ISO.

Stan

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

That is in essence what it says in Kodak Handbook and Guides for film. ASA 400 = ISO 400.

tdozier3 Loc: Northern Illinois

I shoot most of Moon shots at f/9 or f/10, 1/320 sec. ISO 200 or 100, and always shoot handheld with my D500 and D7500 with the Sigma 150-600 Contemporary Lens. Works for me.

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