fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

I just read the thread for foxfirerodandgun's question on correct ISO for moon photographs that kinda turned into a discussion on all the settings to use. About half the responders called for manual focus; about half for autofocus.

I once read zoom (Nikon, anyway) lenses had the capability to go a tiny bit "beyond infinity" in auto focus mode so the lens can "come back" from a beyond infinity extension to the correct infinity focus setting. In other words, the lens wants to "bracket" the focus for something like the moon which would normally call for an infinity focus.

Is that true? And if I rotate my 300mm lens to as far as it will turn in manual mode, is that the proper extension or do I have to rotate it back a tiny bit so he moon will be in focus. Finally, should I just use autofocus and let the camera have its own way?

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I would do manual and view it so it cannot accidentally change during your shooting.

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

You are not photographing a 100 yard dash so you will have time to switch back and forth between manual and auto. See what works best for you. - Dave

BebuLamar

If the lens is an AF lens then yes it focuses past infinity when turn the focusing ring all the way toward infinity.

Bill_de Loc: US

It might depend on which Nikon 300 mm lens you are talking about.

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fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

Sorry; I should have indicated it's an AF-S Nikkor 55mm - 300mm (DX) zoom lens.

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

You should manual focus in live view, then turn off auto focus completely and tape the ring so as to lock it down. This is essentially what I did for the last solar eclipse the day before the event. It allowed me to confirm sharp focus in advance and took the worry out of it beforehand. Worked perfectly.

Bill_de Loc: US

It will go past infinity.

I like Tom's idea just above.

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PhotoFem

Great suggestions....will try this time.

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

DING DING DING ... we have a winner.

home brewer Loc: Fort Wayne, Indiana

The weather forecast for Fort Wayne is clear and near 0 degrees f at the start and falling below zero as the eclipse progresses. That said I would use manual focus if the camera even works and I can stand the cold. I would love to attach a monitor to the camera and shoot tethered. A full moon is bright so you do not need much ISO. Practice if you can on Friday or Saturday. Use a tripod and no vibration control. If I shoot I will go full range and back of a little.

Per the DFMaster website focusing my d500 with a 300 mm lens at 1000 meters gives a near limit at 500.6 meters and far at infinity; changing the focus to 500 meters changes the near to 333 meters and far to 997. I need to do some experimenting on a non snowy day sunny day shooting the tree line that is about 350 meters away using auto focus and see where the lens focus; that does the lens go all the way to lock.

Remember the angle of view on this set up is 5.3 degrees and the moon is 1/2 degree. A 500mm lens has a 3 degree field of view. Both will have a lot of sky. Any camera movement will affect the sharpness. I suspect that a long exposure would do the same

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

All you wanted to know - and more.

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

Multiple moon images -
https://petapixel.com/2016/06/28/create-stacked-photo-moon/

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Remember that the full moon is a relatively flat image with not much contrasty detail. Whether manual or automatic, you will need to focus on the limb (edge) of the moon. I've done AF successfully at 500mm. It gets harder as focal length gets shorter.

Also...because the image is so flat, you can use higher ISOs without losing any significant shadow detail.

For many of us, the moon is going to be fairly high before anything very interesting happens, so it is going to be difficult to capture any images that include both the moon and anything interesting on the ground.

Good luck to all.

Fotomacher Loc: Toronto

Be wary of diffraction at the maximum focus. Use live view to be sure.

foxfirerodandgun Loc: Stony Creek, VA

"To Infinity & Beyond" / per Buzz Lightyear. [I couldn't resist this ;~)]