# full moon



## amartin (Feb 6, 2012)

can someone tell me what setting i can use to get a shot of the full moon tonite i tryed but just can not get a shot of it. my camera is a cannon t3i with a EFS 55-250 F/4-56-LENS


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## jmtonkin (Feb 6, 2012)

I shot mine at 1/200s, f/11 and ISO 200.  I was also at 200mm on my lens.


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## HughGuessWho (Feb 6, 2012)

amartin said:


> can someone tell me what setting i can use to get a shot of the full moon tonite i tryed but just can not get a shot of it. my camera is a cannon t3i with a EFS 55-250 F/4-56-LENS



100 - 1/3 -  f/16
200 - 1/60 - f/16
800 - 1/250 - f/16


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## cgipson1 (Feb 6, 2012)

My favorite was 1/100s, F11 and ISO 100 at 400mm


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## cgipson1 (Feb 6, 2012)

HughGuessWho said:


> amartin said:
> 
> 
> > can someone tell me what setting i can use to get a shot of the full moon tonite i tryed but just can not get a shot of it. my camera is a cannon t3i with a EFS 55-250 F/4-56-LENS
> ...



1/3 of a second at 100 ISO.. that would be a good bit overexposed, I'm thinking! Check out the Sunny 16 rule   Sunny 16 rule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## HughGuessWho (Feb 6, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> HughGuessWho said:
> 
> 
> > amartin said:
> ...



Ooopsy. It's amazing how one little 0 can make such a difference;

100 - 1/*30* -f/16


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## KmH (Feb 6, 2012)

Why f/11 or f/16?

Why not 3 or 4 stops more aperture - say f/4? You could use 3 or 4 stops faster shutter speed 1/800 to 1/1600.
The Moon is 1.32 billion feet away. You don't need a small aperture for deep DoF. The fact the Moon is 1/4 of a million miles away takes care of that.

A 400 mm lens set to f/4 on a crop sensor has a near DoF limit of about 1.25 miles, and a far DoF limit of Infinity so the moon is well within the DoF.
A 400 mm lens set to* f/1* on a crop sensor has a near DoF limit of about 5 miles, and a far DoF limit of Infinity

A 200 mm lens has a near limit of just over 1/4 mile to infinity.

I don't know. To me, using f/11 or a smaller aperture for the full moon is like me stepping outside after hearing about a forest fire in Brazil, and expecting to smell the smoke here in Iowa. :scratch:


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## LightSpeed (Feb 6, 2012)

The moon can be done a number of different ways
For instance, this was shot at F7.1, ISO 400....at 1/2 second.
No photoshop here.
Additionally, I can't think of a reason why one would shoot the moon at f16, or even f11.


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## Trever1t (Feb 6, 2012)

Use the ones that give you the exposure you desire. If you don't know what or how to do that then stick around a while!


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## Dao (Feb 6, 2012)

KmH said:


> Why f/11 or f/16?
> I don't know. To me, using f/11 or a smaller aperture for the full moon is like me stepping outside after hearing about a forest fire in Brazil, and expecting to smell the smoke here in Iowa. :scratch:



When someone using a lens that the max aperture of the longest focal length (i.e.300mm or OP's 250mm) is f/5.6, f/11 is 2 stops down and usually that is the sweet spot of that focal length.  So it make more sense to use f/11.


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## HughGuessWho (Feb 6, 2012)

I think the question was "can someone tell me* what settings *i can use to get a shot of the full moon tonite"
My point, in providing the list was the answer is endless.
Maybe I should have started at 1.4 and worked my way up.
Or 
I could have give all 500 posibilities.
Or
I could have just given the _perfect_ answer like you did.


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## LightSpeed (Feb 6, 2012)

HughGuessWho said:


> I think the question was "can someone tell me* what settings *i can use to get a shot of the full moon tonite"
> My point, in providing the list was the answer is endless.
> Maybe I should have started at 1.4 and worked my way up.
> Or
> ...



Sorry, I wasn't trying to offend.
If by chance, I have, then accept my sincere apologies.
Aside from that I don't believe I've ever given a perfect answer to anything in my life.
Well except for a few times when good looking women asked me to marry them.
When you're as good looking as me, you have to say NO , sometimes.

Time for a mirror break.


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## KmH (Feb 6, 2012)

Stopping down is not nearly as critical for a slow lens as it is for a fast lens Dao, because the slow lens is already in it's sweet spot at f/5.6. At f/11 diffraction effects can start rearing their ugly head.

Why shoot the full moon?

Like portraits made using flash close the lens axis, all the interesting detail is lost in the no shadows, flat lighting.

When the Moon is full, astronomers go to the bank before it closes, get $50 in $1 bills, take the night off, and spend the night hitting the topless bars.


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## MacHoot (Feb 6, 2012)

EXIF Sub IFD

    Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/320 second ===> 0.00313 second
    Lens F-Number / F-Stop = 11/1 ===> &#402;/11
    ISO Speed Ratings = 400
    Original Date/Time = 2012:01:30 20:42:32
    Shutter Speed Value (APEX) = 548864/65536
    Shutter Speed (Exposure Time) = 1/331.99 second
    Aperture Value (APEX) = 458752/65536
    Aperture = &#402;/11.31
    Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
    Focal Length = 271/1 mm ===> 271 mm
    Image Width = 738 pixels
    Image Height = 630 pixels


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## Dao (Feb 6, 2012)

KmH said:


> Stopping down is not nearly as critical for a slow lens as it is for a fast lens Dao, because the slow lens is already in it's sweet spot at f/5.6. At f/11 diffraction effects can start rearing their ugly head.



Well, according to what I read from photozone.de and slrgears.com in the past, f/11 is the sweet spots for those consumer grade telephoto zoom lens at 300mm (or 250mm) from Nikon, Canon and Tamron (as far as the MTF chart goes). Of course, if you are using a f/2.8 lens, that's a different story.


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## rexbobcat (Feb 6, 2012)

800mm (1280mm on 1.6 crop sensor)
f/11
ISO 800
1/320 sec

I used a high ISO because it was handheld and I was too lazy to get my tripod. It's also easier to noise reduce light areas without losing detail.


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## Jeremy Z (Feb 6, 2012)

The main thing with the moon shots is to have enough lens (unless you're blessed with those great clouds) and to set it to underexpose, by a stop or so, so it doesn't wash out the moon while trying to make the near-black sky 18% gray.


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## cgipson1 (Feb 6, 2012)

or you spot meter on the moon.. that actually works pretty well!


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## amartin (Feb 6, 2012)

thanks everyone for your help. i did get a shot  but it did not turn out to good  1/200s, f/11 and ISO 200 will try to post it later


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## amartin (Feb 6, 2012)

here it is my first attempt 




IMG_0680 by amartin1955, on Flickr
IMG_0676 by amartin1955, on Flickr


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## davesnothere11 (Feb 7, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> or you spot meter on the moon.. that actually works pretty well!



Worked for me (I think)
First attempt at this, took a couple tries but this was best:

f8, 1/320. iso 100, 300mm setting with spot meter on moon




2-6-12--Almost Full Moon by davesnothere11, on Flickr


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## Tight Knot (Feb 7, 2012)

Try this link, it helped me tremendously with my shots.
This link should be a sticky.
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/beyond-basics/147712-lunar-moon-photography-guide-astrostu.html


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## davesnothere11 (Feb 7, 2012)

Tight Knot said:
			
		

> Try this link, it helped me tremendously with my shots.
> This link should be a sticky.
> http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/beyond-basics/147712-lunar-moon-photography-guide-astrostu.html



Looks good. Thanks for the link. I posted on that thread to bump it back into the current list.


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## Tight Knot (Feb 7, 2012)

davesnothere11 said:


> Tight Knot said:
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:thumbup:


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## Archer (Feb 7, 2012)

davesnothere11 said:
			
		

> Worked for me (I think)
> First attempt at this, took a couple tries but this was best:
> 
> f8, 1/320. iso 100, 300mm setting with spot meter on moon



Looking good. Tried night before last with awful results but wasn't using spot metering and forgot to turn off VR while on the tripod (don't know if that contributed). Completely overcast last night when I went out.


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## Tight Knot (Feb 7, 2012)

Archer said:


> davesnothere11 said:
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Try the link above, it is very helpful.


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## enzodm (Feb 7, 2012)

The nice thing with the moon is that is moving slowly. You have the time to test many different triads


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## HughGuessWho (Feb 7, 2012)

LightSpeed said:


> HughGuessWho said:
> 
> 
> > I think the question was "can someone tell me* what settings *i can use to get a shot of the full moon tonite"
> ...



No offense taken, but thanks.

And, oh, I can relate to the "good looking" problem. :er:


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