HELP.... RIGHT NOW - DPChallenge Forums

03/02/2007 06:55:51 PM · #1

OKay well its pretty much my last day lets say hours to photograph the moon till th enext full one (Ill be working during the eclipse and wont have the S5000 after this week).

SO TRYING TODO A MOON SHOT.

Full Telephoto = 306mm 35mm EQUIV
Manual Zoom to Infinity
Aperture = F/9
SHutter speed varies but 1/320 and 1/400 are working the best anything slower blown highlights anything faster too dark.

Is there anything else i can do at this point or is the lense and the sensor not able to resolve a better picture?

Maybe i need to shoot with a larger aperture i started shooting at the smaller because i was having isues getting much and then when i stepped it down looked like more but turned out the cvamera wasnt focusing to infiinty. SO maybe its all focus and not the aperture at all?

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

03/02/2007 06:59:37 PM · #2

BAH update hehe my view is nearly obstructed lowered camera stand can see it now.

I HATE LIVING IN THE CITY...

Oh well tryed a F/4.5 @ 1/1600 checking results now dont have much time left from where im shooting might have to go down to the harbor.

Rob O

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

03/02/2007 07:06:55 PM · #3

What ISO were you shooting at?

This is at f/9.0 as well, but at 1/125sec (ISO 100, 85.0mm)

//www.pbase.com/robotography/image/63245812/original.jpg

And this was at ISO 200 wide open (for the mediocre lens used), allowing for faster shutter speeds ... though at 1/640sec a few highlight details appear to be clipped, so 1/500 probably would have been better.

//www.planet42.net/photos/fullmoon_crop.jpg

Message edited by L2 - Changed large images to links.

mobster

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

03/02/2007 07:09:49 PM · #4

Try focusing a little short of infinity...

03/02/2007 07:11:03 PM · #5

Originally posted by mobster:

Try focusing a little short of infinity...

OKay will do lol ive had to stop using the stand but at such a high shutter speed i probly didnt need ity anyways ill probly stop freaking out and go down to the harbor where ill have a view of it for much longer.

Using ISO 200 400 is my other option the noise will just make it worse at this point.

Thanks for the help so far ive been waiting for another full moon.

AFter i get my K10D ill have another chance.... in december!

Message edited by author 2007-03-02 19:12:13.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

03/02/2007 07:15:25 PM · #6

How are you firing the shutter ?

Try using the remote/ timer.

You want to shoot lowest ISO & midrange f-stop. You don't need much/ any depth of field, but you want your lens at the best point. If it is a f4-f32, shoot about f8. if it is a f2-f8 shoot about f5.6

Exposure is a very basic sunny 16, +1 stop for a lighter subject.

If you shoot wide open the results will be soft.
If you hand hold, this is about as good as you can expect too.

You should be able to autofocus on the moon too - just stick it under the AF point

Message edited by author 2007-03-02 19:17:56.

03/02/2007 07:17:27 PM · #7

ALright attempting mobster approach except ive had to go handheld. Unfortunaly ther manual focus has no indicature but i can hear the focus motor as it turns to ive focused all the way out then gone back one stop then 2 stops then 3 stops resseting at infinity each time.

Its not all that important i just wanted a decent moonshot with this camera before my next attempt in december.

Does the light from the city have any affect or shooting directly into the moon versus slight not centered. You know moon flare LMAO

TooCool

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

03/02/2007 07:21:08 PM · #8

I was always told to shoot the moon using the rule of sunny sixteen... Set your shutter speed as close to your ISO as possible (ISO100= 1/125 second) and your aperture at f/16...

03/02/2007 07:21:21 PM · #9

Originally posted by Gordon:

Looking at this ill probly grab the stand and retry the stand approach any wind though and its probly no better then hand held.

Its an F2.8 - F9 lense 5.6 is an option of course. I can use timer no remote and in RAW no continous.

Maybe i should draw back just a bit on the lense? Unfortunatly at 3MP (6 if i shoot it in super CCD's "NATIVE" interpolated res. im not gonna get much bigger so comign back on the zoom is just gonna make it smaller.

But looking at reality the camera BLOWS, my K10D whe i get it one thing i have going for me is 10 MP a bit more resolution I can hold back slightly on the zoom. The 55-200 Im getting for the K10D isnt great either its what ud expect for 250 bucks.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

03/02/2007 07:26:59 PM · #10

As far as results go

SHot at 3 stops back from inifinity Zoom

ISO 200 1/320 @ F/9 with sharpening off

I actually think this looks the best so far its not great but maybe that guy was right about the focus?

I am starting to barley see the pole in the lower right that has then lines going across the moon that look like stretch marks on a woman lol. If you know what i mean.

Message edited by author 2007-03-02 19:28:52.

TooCool

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

03/02/2007 07:28:31 PM · #11

It's probably camera shake too. Remember you are trying to focus on something that is thousands of miles away. The tiniest shake of the camera will cause softness... Always use a tripod and release the shutter without touching the camera...

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

03/02/2007 07:29:52 PM · #12

Originally posted by RainMotorsports:

As far as results go

SHot at 3 stops back from inifinity Zoom

ISO 200 1/320 @ F/9 with sharpening off

I actually think this looks the best so far its not great but maybe that guy was right about the focus?

I am starting to barley see the pole in the lower right that has then lines going across the moon that look like stretch marks on a woman lol. If you know what i mean.

Much better than the original posts. A lot sharper.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

03/02/2007 07:32:25 PM · #13

I've done a bunch of the moon, and found the Auto-Focus is more accurate than I am.
Most lenses have hyperfocal focus, which will focus past infinity. Generally if you manually focus to 100% on the far end, it will be out of focus. 100% less a smidgen is reality infinity on a lens.

And hand-held can yield good results too:

As defined:
Depth of field is the zone of acceptable focus in front of and behind the point of best focus. If a lens is focused at infinity, the depth of field beyond the focus point (beyond infinity) is wasted. For a particular lens, aperture and film format size, the depth of field can be maximized by focusing the lens at the hyperfocal distance. The hyperfocal distance is the point of focus chosen so that the depth of field extends from a near point to infinity. As you stop down the lens, the depth of field increases and therefore the hyperfocal distance is closer to the camera.

Message edited by author 2007-03-02 19:37:02.

MelonMusketeer

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

03/02/2007 07:42:50 PM · #14

I find something solid, and use a sand bag, low ISO, and higest shutter speed available at the light level that gets no blowouts. I also use self timer set to 2 or 5 sec, the same as using a remote, to help with vibration. Remember that the moon is a moving target, and anything over about 1/8 sec gets that involved when you use a very long lens. Moon shots in the morning or afternoon with about 1/2 hour of sun left work well too if you like the rich blue background.

owen

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

03/02/2007 08:02:03 PM · #15

Originally posted by TooCool:

It doesn't make a difference how close or far you are from the subject it's the amount of zoom used that dictates the amount of blur due to camera shake. The rule of thumb is to choose a shutter speed that is faster than the lens length in mm (35mm equivalent). That is for 50mm 1/50 sec shutter speed, 200mm 1/200 sec. in this case faster than 1/306 sec. is required so 1/320 sec. should be OK, as this is on the limit you'd still want to hold it very steady of course.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR

03/02/2007 08:11:06 PM · #16

Hey guess what ..... center autofocus wow finally a use for it...
kidding thanks brad regular autofocus wasnt doing it but i fogto about center autofocus.

Message edited by author 2007-03-02 20:14:57.

nidici

Nikon D800

03/02/2007 08:49:20 PM · #17

I believe that a full moon exposure is exactly like full sun--so it should be f16 at the reciprocal of the ISO at ISO 100 the correct exposure would be 1/100 at f16. Since this is too slow for a high telephoto, you could do 1/200 @ f11; 1/400 @ f8; 1/800 @ f5.6 and get the correct exposure. Center point auto focus should work well also.

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

03/02/2007 09:05:17 PM · #18

Originally posted by nidici:

You know ive never tried photographing the sun i thought it would be pointless.

NIDICI between the F/8 and F/5.6 measurements u quoted i shot at right around those shutter speeds and got my best results.

Well between everything yall have given me i have improved my shit and gotten a slight amount of detail. Ive come to the conclusion that im limited by the shoddy lens of a 55-306mm Equivalent on an SLR LIKE point and shoot and its 3MP resolution on a non standard CCD sensor.

HERE IS MY FINAL SHOT
It has been post processed and it helped the image a bit. WHile there were some darker shots to start with this one came out fine even though it was a bit bright.

IF ANYONE WANTS TO TRY AND REPROCESS THIS HERES THE RAW.
If you have any luck let me know what settings u used or maybe eb nice and let me be lazy and send me a TIF or PNG thats not resized crop is fine. WARNING 6.35 MB FILE!
Its a Fuji raw and can be opened in Photoshop with ACR 3.6
//www.rainmotorsports.com/DSCF0811.RAF

pamelasue

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

03/02/2007 10:10:31 PM · #19

I took this last summer ... put the camera info in it ...