First try at moon pics with S3 IS

[coralnutz]

I've been trying to get some pictures of the moon. But so far I haven't noticed it out at night lately. I just seen it out and there was still a lot of light in the sky so I wasn't sure how it would turn out.


Hopefully the moon will still be visible when it gets darker and I'll try again. Any tips would be much appreciated.

[coralnutz]

Here's another try in the dark. f8, 1/200

One thing I don't get is that when I put the camera into Manual mode, I no longer can control the EV and the camera is setting it at -2. I think it would have came out much better with the same settings, but the ev at 0. Anyone know how I why I wouldn't be able to set that if it's in manual mode? I can adjust the ev if it's in Tv or Av mode?

[pepsi]

I'm not to sure on the settings and how to change/set them, but I like #2. It came out very well!

I bought my Father this camera for Christmas. Everytime I visit him, I grab it and mess with it. It's a wonderful camera for the price!

[RafaPolit]

Coralnutz,

EV (Exposure Values) compensation is a way of telling the camera's light metering system that it should interpret the light reading a little different. I'll give you an example: If taking a picture of a bride, the white dress will confuse the metering system and it would speed up the shutter speed (or close the diaphragm) to get a correctly exposed white dress, rendering the face completely dark. Here you would set for a EV compensation of +2 (or whatever value) so the dress is more washed and the face is correctly exposed.

EV readings in manual mode is another thing. Its just an indication of the camera to let you know how far off (or centered) your actual settings for speed and f/stop are from the camera's own readings. In this case, the -2 was letting you know that your manual settings will yield a very (as how the camera interpreted it) underexposed picture. You cannot control this with EV compensation, you need to compensate the shutter speed and/or the f/stop setting to achieve a 0 reading on the EV meter.

In this case, probably extending the exposure time to 1/2" or so would probably do the trick.

Hope this was helpful and not more confusing!

Rafa Polit Jr.

[menehune]

Originally Posted by coralnutz

Here's another try in the dark. f8, 1/200

One thing I don't get is that when I put the camera into Manual mode, I no longer can control the EV and the camera is setting it at -2. I think it would have came out much better with the same settings, but the ev at 0. Anyone know how I why I wouldn't be able to set that if it's in manual mode? I can adjust the ev if it's in Tv or Av mode?

EC is available only in P, TV & AV modes. EC is not offered in manual mode. The -2 you are seeing in M mode is actually your light meter telling you that the scene is at least 2 stops underexposed. If you keep the same settings but take your camera indoors and point it at a bright light fixture, you'll probably see the "EC" reading change.

[coralnutz]

So does this mean that in Manual mode when it's telling me it's -2, does that mean it's just warning me that it's off, or is it actually making some compensation to the way it captures the photo?

BTW, thanks for the help, it's much appreciated.

[RafaPolit]

Originally Posted by coralnutz

So does this mean that in Manual mode when it's telling me it's -2, does that mean it's just warning me that it's off, or is it actually making some compensation to the way it captures the photo?

The first is true: its telling you you're are off by 2 or more (it never goes beyond 2) of what it "reads" as a correct exposure. You wont always would want it to be a 0 reading (my bride example would hold true here also) but its a good starting point nevertheless.

The camera will not make any compensation, in manual, its up to you to get your exposure right .

Rafa Polit Jr.

[rpolitsr]

It just warns you. If you want to follow the camera suggestion you must manually change either the aperture or the shutter speed (or both) until you get a 0 shift reading, which means that the internal metering system agrees with your settings.

For the moon though, you must realize that it is a small bright object in a dark background and the internal metering system is of little help because it normally averages the light in the scene and you will get an overexposed moon.

Your second picture is just a little dark, I think, but the internal light meter will still warns you of a dark image when you get the correct exposure.

You may need to crank the aperture from f8 to f5.6, but the exact values greatly depend of the atmospheric conditions.

Edit: Hehe! . At least my son and I agreed about the technical subject. We were not in contact, but both posted as if we were synchronized.

[coralnutz]

Awsome, thanks for the quick replies. I love this site. I think the moon will be good for shooting tonight, I'm going to give it another go.

[coralnutz]

Took another try tonight... I think it would look better as a black and white conversion though. I don't care for the yellow tint to it.

I tried to just change it to grayscale in ps, but it didn't seem to have good contrast. I was reading on here about using the rgb levels to do a b&w conversion, I tried, but couldn't get it right. Just made it worse so I scrapped that idea.

[carguy1985]

here are a couple i did
with teleconveter


with digizoom