Flipper2012 Loc: Alberta, Canada

check you ISO looks like it is way to high The moon is very bright

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

Hi Tom
I've been taking loads of moons lately. Different nights give different results - air pollution! However, the two shots you posted seem to be 1. underexposed 2. overexposed. Contrast is so important to a good moon pic - often makes up for focus probs.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

Tom, your description is slightly confusing. In your first post you mention using manual focus. With your photos you say you used autofocus. If you are experiencing the problem in both modes maybe you are in need of a calibration. Try to think of anything else that could be causing this. Yesterday I was trying to capture hummers on my deck. I was using an EF300mm f/2.8L IS lens with a 2X teleconverter. Even using the LCD view I could detect some focusing issues, but couldn't put a handle on what was causing it. Finally, I was able to track down the cause, the lens strap was catching the breeze and causing the lens to vibrate. Sounds kind of simple, and it was. But it was too obvious initially to catch at first. Possibly something as simple was causing you a similar problem. I also found the camera strap to cause similar problems. Removing straps was easier to accomplish than a calibration. GL

aflundi Loc: Albuquerque, NM

Try a quarter moon rather than a full moon. Full moons have the light directly behind you so the moon "texture" is hard to see and pretty much always appears soft.

twowindsbear

Have you adjusted the diopter for your view finder? Perhaps a trip to the eye Dr. is in order?

RRS Loc: Not sure

Maybe you should shoot in manual to verify that it's not the lens. Next I know you are shooting AF and I don't believe that 6' is a proper distance when you are at 300mm. Go on line and look up "Lens Align" and look at the distance chart and notice that there is a difference for the FF or crop body. Another thing you can do is to line up 5 or 7 pop cans that are off set and focus on the center can and see just where your focus is. Use your (Nikon) fine tune and then check it out on the moon. One other thing to check, is it only the 300mm or do you also have a problem with other lenses.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

How would that affect autofocus??

BullMoose Loc: Southwest Michigan

If your'e having problems with sharpness primarily with your moon shots, keep in mind that even though you go to extremes to keep the camera still, the subject (moon in this case is a moving target). Keep the shutter speed high enough (using ISO or aperture if you have to) to freeze that movement.

georgevedwards Loc: Essex, Maryland.

Wow, that is better than my tests with my Nikon, looks right on the button. The only thing I can think of with the moon shots is something other than a bad lens...During the summer, heat currents in the air can be disrupting, it is what causes mirages in the distance in the desert and on road surfaces. Also: what shutter speed do you use? A slow shutter speed will be affected by the moons movement. My father used to show me the moon through his telescope, if I didn't look quick it would move right out of view! I would look, stop to talk, look back and it would be gone. Your first sample looks sharper but dark, which I am guessing is that it had a faster shutter speed-if it is a RAW image you may be able to fix that. Try higher ISO...or a really strong flash(just kidding).

FrumCA

It's difficult to determine if it's a problem with your equipment or if it's something else. I have previously posted these tips from Peter West Carey on shooting moon photos. Perhaps the solution to your problem can be resolved by reviewing these. Good Luck.

Moon Photos

The moon is a typical example of an object almost every photographer will want to take photos of at some time or another. Luckily it isn't as hard as it seems. In this article you will get some useful tips how to shoot good lunar pictures.

1. Expose manually
When photographing the moon, you can't leave it up to your camera to decide the exposure values. As the moon is an exceptionally bright object against a very black sky, your camera will want to balance out these extremes. This results in an overly bright-white moon and a pitch-black background.

Shutter speed
In contrary to what you are used to when photographing at night times, you won't need very long shutter speeds. Because of the moon being as bright as it is, most of the time a shutter speed somewhere between 1/100 and 1/160 will do just fine. Speeds longer than these will result in blurry images, because of the rotation of the earth around it's axis. This happens sooner than you would expect!

Aperture
Because of the far-away distance of the moon, the use of different aperture values will have no effect. Nevertheless, all lenses are sharper when stopped down, so using a somewhat narrow aperture, for instance f/8, will result in sharper images.

Sensitivity
To get the best, noise-free images, make sure to use a low ISO value, like 100 or 200 ISO.

RAW
Although this is not an exposure setting, but a setting on your camera, shooting in RAW, and saving in RAW rather than JPEG, ensures you the best possible image data for post production and editing afterwards.

2. Focusing manually
When focusing manually set it to infinity. In most cases you're able to set your focus even a little further than infinity. This is done to make it possible to use the infinity setting even with temperature fluctuations. In normal circumstances focusing beyond the infinity setting will result in an out-of-focus image. You will then have to turn it back a notch. Make sure to check the image through the viewfinder, to ensure the moon in properly in focus.

A handy tip is to use live view. This option, that most camera's nowadays have, enables you to zoom in on the image and focus very accurately on your LCD screen. Don't use it for too long, as it heats up your sensor and can cause noise-increase because of that.

3. Get closer with a telelens
A good (super) telelens is a pre for making a great lunar picture. The lens needs to offer adequate image quality to project the moon detailed and sharp on to your sensor. If you don't have a very long telelens a 200mm telelens can also be used, but you might want to use extenders to get even closer.

Cropping your photo afterwards is also an option. Especially when you only intend to show your pictures on the internet, you can crop quite a bit! You don't own a great telelens? Buying one for these rare occasions can be quite expensive, but renting one might be a good option. A fairly affordable telelens is the Sigma 150-500mm, you can get it for about 1,050 dollar. It is a very powerful tele, that gets you rather close to the moon!

4. Use a tripod
Preferably a very sturdy one. Because you will be using the largest possible telelens, every tremble or shake will be visible. You can put extra weight on your tripod by hanging your camera bag on it. All the better tripods have a special catch for this.

An even better way to stabilize your equipment, is to use two tripods. One for your camera, and one for the lens. This will avoid movement and trembling even further.

5. Remote release or self timer
The best way to ensure tremble-free images is to use a remote release. If you don't have one, you can also use the self timer on your camera, but be sure to use the full ten seconds setting, rather than only two. That way you avoid movement better.

6. Filters
To avoid reflections, remove all filters from your lens. An extra layer of glass (such as a filter) on your lens can cause reflections or flare. This can result in 'double moons', especially if you use cheap filters. Also make sure to use the lens hood to reduce incoming light as much as possible.

7. Take lots of photos
Now you've gone through the effort of putting all your gear up to take your moon photographs, you better take a lot of them! Try different exposures and focusings. This increases your chances of a succesful lunar photo!

Even better is to combine images for a sharper end result. Shoot quite a lot of photos after another, and combine these afterwards in Photoshop. In Photoshop you go to File -> Automate -> Photomerge. You can also use special software, like Registax to do this.

8. The moon and beyond
Capture the surroundings to make your photo more interesting. Especially if you have taken a few shots already the subject can get a bit boring. By involving the surrounding you make your image more pleasing to look at.

Capturing surroundings in a beautiful way can be rather difficult. Most of the nicer moon photos you see are edited pictures on which the moon has been added to another night image at a later stage. Very often it appears unnaturally large. This might not always be very realistic, but can result in very impressive pictures.

9. The right moment
The end result depends very much on the situation at the time of the photograph, so make sure you take the photo at the right moment. The clarity of the sky, the brightness of the moonlight, the size of the moon, these are all circumstances that change constantly.

So wait for the right moment. Conditions can alter very rapidly. When you see a great moon, capture it immediately, because before you know it, it all looks completely different again! When photographing the moon you will notice how fast the earth rotates, and how quickly your ideal moment has passed.

At certain times of the year, the moon is closer to the earth than other. Also skies in winter are clearer than in summers. These are all factors to take in consideration if you want to take the perfect lunar picture. A useful tool to find out where and how the moon is visible is The Photographers Ephemeris.

The best time to capture the moon on photo is when it is at it's highest. That way there is the least disturbance, because the distance the light has to travel through earths atmosphere is the shortest. But involving some surroundings in your photo is harder when the moon is high up in the sky. Consider taking two shots, and 'merging' the moon in your surroundings later.

10. No full moon
A full moon means that the sunlight is directed straight at it, losing all shadows and flattening it. It is much more interesting when it is not completely full. Because of the shadows cast, when the moon is partly lit, you can see the craters better and the spherical shape is more obvious, giving it the dimension it deserves!

mikedent Loc: Florida

When you have a zoom lens, what distance do you do the calibration at? I had read that when we calibrate for one specific length ie 70 or 125mm etc, then the other focal lengths may not then be in correct focus. Or do the calibration at the most-used length? Thanks!

RRS Loc: Not sure

There are several way to do this. First you can do the alignment at either extreme that you use most. Second you can do an alignment for both ends and average out and go with the middle or third just do a middle alignment and go with that. We can all get hung up with that but think, if you are shooting wide open and in close that's when you'll most likely see if your body is off because in fact you are aligning your body to the lens, not the other way around. If your subject is say 25 to 50 yds away your DOF will change and if you stop down 1 or 2 stops that will help too. That distance chart on the Lens Align site will give you the DOF in close and out at a distance. One last thing, if you use a TC too you will have to do another alignment on the lens with the TC attached. My cameras (Canon) remember each lens and once set you can forget about it.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Gene, I truthfully don't know. It seems sharper across the board. I don't see well enough and I am having surgery in January to remove my cataracts. I'm surprised I do as well as I do. My hearing is also gone, thanks to Viet Nam but I refuse to do anything about that. Not that much I want to hear anyway. Makes my wife mad but it sure comes in handy,

I had it done by Precision Camera here in Austin. The are a very good and knowledgeable camera store. Quite large too.

Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

Jerry,
Do you have any information on how to use the charts in the first 2 links to calibrate?

FrumCA

Good luck with your eye surgery, David. I struggled with a major hearing loss thanks to Vietnam as well but finally, after 45+ years of missing so much and serious prodding from my best girl, I went to the VA Center in Washington, DC and got some hearing aids. Can't believe how much I was really missing!! And, in case you are wondering, it did take quite a while to get my initial appointment and follow ups. Still well worth the time and effort though.