Taking pics of the moon

How do take pics of the moon. I tried to do it tonight but the pics cone out blurry

TIA

I saw this and it helped a lot for me mate, also a tripod and remote if your not already using one.

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

Manual focus and depends what lens you have. You might get a way with a 200mm, but 300-400mm would be great. You need to do manual exposure. Usually around 1/640 on ISO200.

On a tripod with either the self timer or a cable release:

Start with the "Moonie 11 Rule:"
1/100sec @ f/11 ISO 100

Similar to the "Sunny 16 Rule" but you open up one stop for a full moon then bracket from there. The moon is a sunlit object.

Remember that the moon is moving across the sky so prolonged exposures will yield a blurry moon.

RolyRatman wrote in post #4718138
I saw this and it helped a lot for me mate, also a tripod and remote if your not already using one.

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

Interesting calculator but it only goes to f/8

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #4718151
Interesting calculator but it only goes to f/8

That's the only problem with it, I was browsing some old posts a while back when I wanted to get some moon shots and the settings it gave helped me out. Anyone know of a different one or something similar?

Tripod? Almost a must for moon shots. Use a faster shutter than what you might think too. I stated out thinking I would have to use half second shots, but actually, you can use much faster settings. Here is one I took at around f8 and 1/160 (i'm trying to remember, exif is gone) with a bigma.

wow

Another little tip is that you will capture the texture detail (craters) much better when the moon is not full. Kind of like a side lighting effect. I used to always shoot the moon when it was full and could not figure out why I could never get the deep craters. Then one day I was reading lighting book and it dawned on me.

From: http://www.taphilo.com​/Photo/phototips.shtml

Photographing the Moon (Luna) Guideline

Moon Size, ISO Speed @ f16
Full then shutter speed = 1/ISO
Gibbous then shutter speed = 2/ISO
Quarter then shutter speed = 5/ISO
Crescent then shutter speed = 10/ISO

Example: Using ASA 400 film to photograph a quarter moon the camera is placed on a tripod, F16 is set, and the shutter speed is 1/80 of a second: 5/400 = 1/80 - and the self timer is used to trip the shutter (or a cable release).
The moon is DAYLIGHT balanced - it is reflecting sunshine - so no filters are needed to correct for any color shifts at all.
Exposure will vary depending if the moon is on the horizon, overhead, clouds, mist, pollution etc is in the air and where you are on the planet. Always bracket +- 1 F stop to get a good shot.

Thanks for the replies guys. I tried it a couple of times last night before reading your comments and it just wasn't working. The things I did wrong was setting the exposure way too long and it was giving the moon a kinda blurry effect but also mirror ghosting the moon as well. Really weird.

I will try tonight if there are no clouds.

Thanks again.

Check out this for moon shots!

http://www.pbase.com/l​iquidstone/moon_shots


David

My advice is to ignore everybody who suggests using a tripod.
No tripod for this shot:

I'd love to take good moon shots too, which I've tried. (Never worth keeping so I can't show you). My problems slightly different. I live in a built up area, I've tried taking the shots from my back garden which is pretty dark. My problem is "light pollution" insomuch as I always get an orange cast in my shots, from the surrounding sodium type street lighting. Can I do anything to eliminate this, I.E. fiddling with white balance or something?

Any and all suggestions will be experimented with (well, the next time the moons out anyway, not had a clear sky for about two weeks where I live in the U.K. (Roll on spring!!)).

Thanks

Pete

Choderboy wrote in post #4721057
My advice is to ignore everybody who suggests using a tripod.

I wouldn't ignore the advice not to use a tripod. But I also don't think a tripod is absolutely necessary. I've taken many hand held shots of the moon. It's as bright as a sunny day. Even at ISO 200 you can get pretty fast shutter speeds when it's near full as long as your aperture isn't too small. The image below was taken handheld.