What would be a good camera to use to take pictures of the moon?

Question

i have a kodak z somthing
its realy nice but it doesnt take good pix of the moon.
any ideas what kinda camrea does.

Answer 1

Any camera where you can control the settings will do. If you can use a lens with an equivlent focal length of 300 mm or more, it helps.

Look at my icon. This was taken at 1/200th of a second at f/16 at ISO 200 through a 200 mm lens (300 mm equiv.). This is the same as the "sunny sixteen" rule. Set the lens at f/16 and set the shutter speed at the inverse of the ISO. This works for film or digital cameras.

Answer 2

You have a couple options. You can certainly use a consumer level digital SLR like the Canon Digital Rebel or Nikon D40,50 or even 80. The key here would be to have a lens that is at least 200 and really 300mm in focal length. Here's a photo I took of the moon a few years back with the original canon digital rebel and a Tokina 80-400 zoom lens (a combo you could buy today for under $1000 if you buy a used 6.3mp rebel):

http://www.olphoto.net/photos/3930263-L.jpg

If you don't want to buy a digitial SLR, you still might be able to get a good result with a consumer digicam as long as it has enough optical zoom and a manual mode (since exposing for the moon is a bit tricky since it is very bright and surrounded by darkness). A good site to compare the different cameras is here:

http://www.dpreview.com/

Using the buying guide found on this site to look for cameras with an optical zoom focal length of greater than 320mm brought back 11 cameras, three of which were Kodaks and the cheapest of which was $189. You could probably get a decent shot of the moon with many of these cameras.

A few tips when shooting the moon. Shoot at the widest open aperture, push the ISO as fast as you can without getting too much noise and then meter the moon. You can then either stop down your lens 2 or 3 stops or if your camera allows exposure compensation, dial in about -2 ev (you can start at -1 and work to -3, a process called 'bracketing'). If this sounds confusing, some basic instruction on photogrpahy would be in order since some of these concepts are not really something one would expect a beginner to fully grasp. Good luck!

Answer 3

It depends on the amount of money that you want to invest.

I am getting ready to purchase the Nikon D80 digital SLR. It sells for around $1,000.00. The next camera that I was looking at is the Cannon XTi and it sells for around $600.00.

If you are looking at getting a camera that will take some awesome pictures, then consider getting a digital SLR. They basicly look like a 35mm camera, but cost a little more. The pictures that are coming out of them are getting better every year.
Check out www.cnet.com and look for digital slr buying guide. I trust cnet because I have verified what they have said about a few other things and they all were good, so now I don't second guess them.
For a few hundred dollars you can pick up a great camera that you don't need a masters degree to operate and it will take great pictures of even the moon.

Answer 4

The one thing not mentioned here is camera shake. To get the sharpest clearest photo of the moon, a tripod, and either a camera that has shake reduction, or at least locks the mirror up and waits a second or two before recording the image is usually necessary. A full moon on a clear night emits a lot of light, but you still have a shutter speed that's slow enough to record a little blurr with a long lens. And the longer the lens, the worse it will be. good luck

Answer 5

A compact digital camera with a 24x zoom or more than that can do almost a good and wide pic of the Moon.But digital SLR is better for a perfect shot but you should buy a 400mm or 800mm lens to get the closer shot of the moon.But a Good tripod is a must to avoid shake while shoote a moon in the slow shutter speed. (Hope you will never try to take it with a flash)

Answer 6

have not tried it in my opinion, yet I imagine not. undemanding cameras have transferring factors that are lubricated with oil or grease. that could want to freeze or melt contained in the severe temperature decision on the Moon. Airless Moon might want to degrade the electronics. some factors might want to overheat without air to sit back them. Batteries might want to vent gases which will pollute the optics or the electical connections, or might want to explode in warmth, or freeze and in no way artwork in any respect. Moon landing video cameras were fairly made to finish properly on the exterior. yet this did not dodge between the first ones from crisping even as an astronaut pointed it on the solar.

Answer 7

any slr, the trick is in the mac and photoshop for mac...unless you want to do the thing with the astronommical telescope and set up like that, it may have a bit of a price tag on it, too...though perhaps they let faculty and volunteers use the equipment sometimes, for free.

Answer 8

something that has a 'bulb' or 'b' option for the shutter, which allows you to keep it open long enough to capture the light

Answer 9

mostly astronomical telescope is used take pictures.