Shooting a full Moon...Help

Hi , I have tried and tried to shoot a full moon and I cant seem to get it .."Clear" I use a tripod and even set my 75-300mm af zoom to AF and Delayed fire and still they come up Fuzzy, can I get some advise from someone ? I am determend to eventually get this right, but after so many nights in the dark I need to get a pros advise. Thanks Dale Siscoe

Hi Dale,

While I'm not a pro I can give you some starters.

Believe it or not you can still back focus the moon. Perhaps use manual focus and see the moon clean and crisp in the view finder. Sometimes I think the infinity on lenses really means that!!!

Perhaps post some photos so we can get a better idea of the problem.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy the Forum.

I'm not a pro either but just some thoughts

The moon is pretty bright when full and you're fully zoomed in on it. Is it possible the image is being overexposed? At ISO 100 I would expect the shutter to be in around the 1/500 mark at f/5.6.

I would not expect the apparent motion of the moon to be a problem at this speed. The other thing to remember is that there is alot of sky between you and the moon especially when it is low in the sky. Atmospheric turbulence could possibly be a contributing factor (more so on longer exposures and low to the horizon shots).

A sample shot with EXIF intact would help to diagnose the issue.

e-k

first moon shots i took were at 800mm f/11 iso1600 at 1/640th. then i cleaned up the noise. came out with a lot of good detail. it was also only about a 5/8 full moon. with a full moon, you would need to increase the shutter, or better yet, back down the iso. just shoot fast.

Try this for a full moon....ISO 100 1/250 @f/8 ....Very easy to over-expose and end up with soft images. Using a tripod, remote and mirror lock-up helps to eliminate other potential problem areas.

Thanks every one, I will try these sugestions and see what happens . Dale

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Definitely, your moon shot is too soft. Like the suggestions above, try manual focus, tripod, remote shutter and mirror lock-up.

Below is my moon shot with 20D. The set up was f/8, 1/400, ISO 400.

shoot it in the early morning when the sun is comming up, you can use a faster shutter speed and its a lot easier, just try it

Thanks everybody, will try it till I nail it !!

Remember, the moon is moving! So keep the shutter speed fast. I'd aim for at least 1/125 or 1/160th.

Since it's sunlit, sunny16 sorta works. Pretty good starting place. f/16, ISO100, 1/100th..... f/8, ISO100, 1/200th.... f/8, ISO200, 1/400th. Try that for starters, check histogram, adjust accordingly

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faster shutter! its still overexposed...

Thanks everyone, will try again when it comes back around!

If this is the 70-300mm f/4-5.6, that lens is known for softness between 200 and 300mm.

Try this, works everytime!

http://www.shaystephen​s.com/moon_calc.php

JRT wrote in post #2212661
Try this, works everytime!

http://www.shaystephen​s.com/moon_calc.php

Thats a great link, thanks