Night shots of the moon?

Question

I have an Olympus E-500 DSLR 8mp. How would I go about taking a clean clear impage of the moon at night? I've tried different things, but I get a glowing blur where the moon is.

I have a tripod and I can get some nice night shots, just not the moon

Answer 1

I would imagine a 300mm or so lenses would be just enough for the moon.

However - the glowing blur would means that you overexpose your picture. Try shooting at a faster shutter speed (or smaller aperture) and see what happen.

Last time I do this... I was using ISO 100/200 (can't really remember) and doing 1/200 or so on shutter speed. The moon is pretty bright anyway so you don't need to trust the camera's meter unless you're doing spot metering.

Answer 2

Sturdy tripod, first of all. Low ISO. The moon is just another sunlit object. You can use a faster shutter speed than you might think. Bracket shutter speeds and experiment.

Answer 3

The moon is a daylit scene, but your camera will see all that dark around it and want to compensate. Don't let it. Go manual, around f11. Start from there, and don't go too slow on the shutter speed. Set your ISO at the lowest setting it will go, and your shutter speed should be close to the reciprocal of that number. Good luck!

Answer 4

First, a tripod. Second, a VERY VERY powerful zoom lens....then you just have to experiment w/ different settings....I have a very nice camera, and a really good lens, and I still can't get the best shot with it that I am happy with...so in order to get fab shots of the moon, you really need to invest in an excellent lens.

Answer 5

Try reducing the amount of exposure time.

Remember, from the camera's point of view, the moon is a "moving" object. It you use a very long exposure, it will blur because the moon has "moved".

Joe