How do you take a picture of the moon?

[BigMike]

Tried it tonight with my A40. All I get is a round glowing white ball, kind of looks like the sun. No matter where I set the shutter speed or zoom, it looks the same. The moon tonight is full, and bright white. I can make out details with my eyes, but the camera can't see it. Maybe it just can't focus on it unless it is bigger or less bright. I am completely new at this, so any suggestions are welcome.

[BigMike]

Well, I found out one thing I was doing wrong. I was setting the shutter to remain open to long. I finally tried 1/600 and was amazed at the picture. I could actually make out details of the moon's surface. Seems the moon reflects a lot of light, and slow shutter speeds just give you a glowing ball. I only have a x3 zoom on this canon A40, but still it was a respectable shot. Boy, sooooo much to learn.

[Dale]

I'll have to try that with my Olympus. I've been experimenting with night time shots and haven't had much luck. (I'll read up on it as a last resort...) Last week I was in Milwaukee taking shots of the lighted buildings at night. I used a lamp post in most of them to steady my camera and a few turned out, but most were blurry.

Dale

[d77avid]

Pictures of an unobscured moon follow the " sunny 16" rule or what ever the digital equivalent would be on your digicam,since the moon is an object in full sunlight.Therefore ,you dont need a long exposure.

David

[ajitkataria]

Let the Camera's built-in meter decide the Exposure, i.e. shoot on the auto mode, or if shooting manually then take a spot reading from the moon surface and manually feed in the settings
ajeet

[Klaus DK]

Choose spotmetering or if your in need of that centerweight! Get a zoomlens and shoot! Spot metering is important as it will speed up you shutter and get a more sharp foto for you. The universe is moving...

[NHL]

Pictures of an unobscured moon follow the " sunny 16" rule or what ever the digital equivalent would be on your digicam,since the moon is an object in full sunlight.Therefore ,you dont need a long exposure.

Just like BigMike here, I've got good results with moon shots @ 1/500 f6.7, unless you want clouds shot in it as well, in which you have to open up the aperture a little.