The Official Shoot the Moon Thread

Last night's moon in Northern California. Handheld 7D with the 400 5.6L, ISO 100 F8 at 1/1000.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …35175693@N07/10​372286825/

^^wish i had a 400mm lens

Shot with a Nifty 250 on a 60D

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/lenzfreak/10374​014243/

Here's a couple I shot a while ago with my 70-200 F4. The second one was early evening.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/78765346@N03/8​097605726/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/78765346@N03/8​018229580/

Two photos I shot a couple of hours ago. First was with my Sigma 70-200 f/2.8. The second with my kit lens, 55-250mm

This topic inspired me to have a go last night. I pulled up some noise with the clarity slider and then desaturated it to look like stars. What do you think?

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Here's one more with my Sigma, shot just a few minutes ago.

Inspeqtor wrote in post #16383984
I don't do a lot of PP on my photos. I do have PSE11 and use that a little to try and sharpen them with.

My setup is I have the Manfrotto 3021BPro Tripod with Manfrotto 410 Geared Head. I also use the Canon RS60-E3 Remote Switch so as to not cause any vibration.

I do not own the Canon 100-400 lens, I do own the Sigma 150-500 lens (see my sig) and I own the Kenko Pro 300 1.4 TC

I have tried using my TC but have not been that happy with it, so I rarely use it.

I have used ISO 100 and 200 finding it depends on the brightness of the moon and how clear the night sky is. 1/320 shutter speed would be way to fast leaving the picture very dark even without the TC on.

Just curious, why are you asking?

Sorry - I should have asked "Ace and Deuce", as it was their/his/her image I was responding to not yours....my bad...

"Ace and Deuce" - your image at detail looks soft, either slightly outta focus or bad seeing conditions.

What PP do you apply to your moon image?
Also, 1/160 is really slow for 800mm, that could also be part of your issue.

Ace and Deuce wrote in post #16383669
Why do my moon shots suck? You guys get such good crater detail compared to mine...grrrrr!!!!

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/aceanddeuce/10​370439854/
0533 by Ace and Deuce, on Flickr

Camera Canon EOS REBEL T3i
Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture f/11.0
Focal Length 800 mm
ISO Speed 100

Frustrated!!

Try the following
1. Increase your shutter speed to 1/ focal lenght, open aperture to 7.1 or 8, i shoot 1/800 even 1/1000
2. Try using the 100-400 without the extenders
3. I am sure you are focuibg manual thru life view.

70-200 with 2x teleconverter.

mtbdudex wrote in post #16384699
Sorry - I should have asked "Ace and Deuce", as it was their/his/her image I was responding to not yours....my bad...

Ahh, no problem.

mtbdudex wrote in post #16384699
"Ace and Deuce" - your image at detail looks soft, either slightly outta focus or bad seeing conditions.

What PP do you apply to your moon image?
Also, 1/160 is really slow for 800mm, that could also be part of your issue.

tonyniev wrote in post #16384794
Try the following
1. Increase your shutter speed to 1/ focal lenght, open aperture to 7.1 or 8, i shoot 1/800 even 1/1000
2. Try using the 100-400 without the extenders
3. I am sure you are focuibg manual thru life view.

I'm using the 2x, which automatically sets me at f/11, which is why I shot it so slow (1/160). The moon looked clear, but I was shooting in an area with street lights/city lights, etc..., maybe that has something to do with it. I actually took a few shots this morning without the extender @ 1/800 and have the same issues. It's getting me pretty frustrated.

Thanks for the replies!

Ace, I tether my camera and use EOS Utility - Remote Shooting - Live view to get my focus. It seems to my eye focused in the view finder but when viewed on the computer its soft so I use the computer to get that sweet spot.

I have no issues with the lens when shooting earth based objects so I think its something to with the distance.

OK, so you have your laptop hooked up to your camera for moon shooting? If that's the case, I unfortunately don't have a laptop

at 800mm and 10x live view zoom i can nail focus every time. sure it's shaky while i'm touching the lens, but it doesn't have to be still to be able to tell if a bright white object with sharp edge against a black background is in focus or not. it takes about 2 seconds after i let go for the shaking to stop, then click with remote. or use self timer.

wardie wrote in post #16386037
Ace, I tether my camera and use EOS Utility - Remote Shooting - Live view to get my focus. It seems to my eye focused in the view finder but when viewed on the computer its soft so I use the computer to get that sweet spot.

I have no issues with the lens when shooting earth based objects so I think its something to with the distance.

What kind of a table do you use to put your computer (I am assuming laptop?) on for tethered shooting outdoors?

I just went out to my shed looking to see if I still have my old slide projector table, but alas I do not have it anymore.

I will need to look for a small table that will fold up nicely for storage.

Thank you for the idea!!