Steve'sDigicams

misbehave · Sep 6, 2006, 10:53 PM

I look at the sky about and hour ago saw a nice round moom just handing slightly over roof tops level. I couldn't let myself to miss this chance and I went to the balcony took my first moon pics.

This the best one I could get.

misbehave · Sep 6, 2006, 10:57 PM

and a 2nd one

d-sr · Sep 7, 2006, 1:41 AM

Yep' Your hooked now. That's a nice shot, espectally for a first try.There are a few of us that just can't help takingthat picture every month. People say "it's always been there" or "it always looks the same" but it doesn't. If they ever tried taking that shot they would realize just how hard it is to get it right. I'm sure we will be seeing your monthly moon shot from now on. The only reason mine isn't posted is that I have not taken it yet. Maybe tomorrow night.

Don

bayourebel · Sep 7, 2006, 8:32 AM

Very nice for your first try. Can't wait to see the next try.

RedStickMan · Sep 7, 2006, 9:23 AM

Nice first try, to be sure. Full moon shots are definitely the most challenging.

It may be this nasty monitor I'm using at work, but it looks a bit overexposed. Next time you might want to try using a higher aperture and/or faster shutter speed. I've also found that using manual exposure mode give me the best results.

Funny thing is, I thought about taking some moon pics last night. By the time I decided to give it a go, the clouds had started rolling in. :sad:

I once had a neighbor who had a poster of a hugefull moon over the Seattle skyline. I thought it was pretty cool. Now that I know a little about photography, I realize that it had to be a composite.

JohnK · Sep 7, 2006, 9:36 AM

You'll be hooked now! The full moon is very tempting, but a few days away from full you'll get more interesting shots. When it's full you don't see the shadows from the craters and mountains, in a few days you'll see a lot more details - then you'll REALLY be hooked. I took a shot last night and the night before, just that 1 day before the full moon was enough for a lot more detail to show up.

If the sky clears tonight (I'm near Seattle too) you should get some more good shots.

John

misbehave · Sep 7, 2006, 3:44 PM

Thanks for the tips! I think I will be looking at the evening sky in the coming week for sure. :G

JohnK wrote:

Quote:

You'll be hooked now! The full moon is very tempting, but a few days away from full you'll get more interesting shots. When it's full you don't see the shadows from the craters and mountains, in a few days you'll see a lot more details - then you'll REALLY be hooked. I took a shot last night and the night before, just that 1 day before the full moon was enough for a lot more detail to show up.

If the sky clears tonight (I'm near Seattle too) you should get some more good shots.

John

JohnK · Sep 7, 2006, 4:00 PM

I'm glad to share what little I've picked up. One more tip that might help. With my FZ30 F5 and 1/250 - 1/400th shutter seems to get me the sharpest moon shots with the best detail.

Tonight or tomorrow is looking good, the sky has cleared up nicely today - if you don't have to much light from the city (I'm in the sticks) you should have a good shot.

Here's one I took the night before the full moon with a TCON 17 on the FZ30.

motib · Sep 7, 2006, 8:42 PM

Hi - I am also a FZ30 newby, and after looking @ this posting, went out on my balcony to take a pix of the moon. I am using a Pani LT55 @ 12X telephoto, but find that on manual I only get a bright globe that never comes into focus. This was cropped and 'auto fixed'. What can I do to get a better result?

JohnK · Sep 7, 2006, 9:25 PM

Your moon looks awfully small for full zoom and a 1.7x teleconverter, it should be much larger - did you resize it as well as 'auto fix'? Maybe you weren't at full zoom?

The picture looks fairly noisy, did you use ISO 80, or something higher? At first it seems counter intuititive to use the lower ISO in the dark, but the moon is very bright, high ISO is not needed at all.

I would set to ISO 80
Manual, F5, 1/400 shutter (might be a little dark, but that's Ok to start with)
Auto focus, either spot or center seems to work the same for me.
No "EZ", NO Digital zoom

You don't need a tripod, but they come out much sharper (at least mine do) using a tripod than hand held even with that shutter speed.

If none of that works I would take off the LT55 and try again to eliminate it as a possible source of the problem. Even without the teleconverter you should easily see many of the craters at 12x.

John

Sep 6, 2006, 10:53 PM	#1
misbehave Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 75	I look at the sky about and hour ago saw a nice round moom just handing slightly over roof tops level. I couldn't let myself to miss this chance and I went to the balcony took my first moon pics. This the best one I could get. Attached Images

Sep 6, 2006, 10:57 PM	#2
misbehave Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 75	and a 2nd one Attached Images

Sep 7, 2006, 4:00 PM	#8
JohnK Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 49	I'm glad to share what little I've picked up. One more tip that might help. With my FZ30 F5 and 1/250 - 1/400th shutter seems to get me the sharpest moon shots with the best detail. Tonight or tomorrow is looking good, the sky has cleared up nicely today - if you don't have to much light from the city (I'm in the sticks) you should have a good shot. Here's one I took the night before the full moon with a TCON 17 on the FZ30. Attached Images

Sep 7, 2006, 8:42 PM	#9
motib Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 28	Hi - I am also a FZ30 newby, and after looking @ this posting, went out on my balcony to take a pix of the moon. I am using a Pani LT55 @ 12X telephoto, but find that on manual I only get a bright globe that never comes into focus. This was cropped and 'auto fixed'. What can I do to get a better result? Attached Images

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Sep 7, 2006, 1:41 AM	#3
d-sr Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Abilene. TX Posts: 1,486	Yep' Your hooked now. That's a nice shot, espectally for a first try.There are a few of us that just can't help takingthat picture every month. People say "it's always been there" or "it always looks the same" but it doesn't. If they ever tried taking that shot they would realize just how hard it is to get it right. I'm sure we will be seeing your monthly moon shot from now on. The only reason mine isn't posted is that I have not taken it yet. Maybe tomorrow night. Don

Sep 7, 2006, 8:32 AM	#4
bayourebel Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,561	Very nice for your first try. Can't wait to see the next try.

Sep 7, 2006, 9:23 AM	#5
RedStickMan Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 447	Nice first try, to be sure. Full moon shots are definitely the most challenging. It may be this nasty monitor I'm using at work, but it looks a bit overexposed. Next time you might want to try using a higher aperture and/or faster shutter speed. I've also found that using manual exposure mode give me the best results. Funny thing is, I thought about taking some moon pics last night. By the time I decided to give it a go, the clouds had started rolling in. :sad: I once had a neighbor who had a poster of a hugefull moon over the Seattle skyline. I thought it was pretty cool. Now that I know a little about photography, I realize that it had to be a composite.

Sep 7, 2006, 9:36 AM	#6
JohnK Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 49	You'll be hooked now! The full moon is very tempting, but a few days away from full you'll get more interesting shots. When it's full you don't see the shadows from the craters and mountains, in a few days you'll see a lot more details - then you'll REALLY be hooked. I took a shot last night and the night before, just that 1 day before the full moon was enough for a lot more detail to show up. If the sky clears tonight (I'm near Seattle too) you should get some more good shots. John

Sep 7, 2006, 9:25 PM	#10
JohnK Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 49	Your moon looks awfully small for full zoom and a 1.7x teleconverter, it should be much larger - did you resize it as well as 'auto fix'? Maybe you weren't at full zoom? The picture looks fairly noisy, did you use ISO 80, or something higher? At first it seems counter intuititive to use the lower ISO in the dark, but the moon is very bright, high ISO is not needed at all. I would set to ISO 80 Manual, F5, 1/400 shutter (might be a little dark, but that's Ok to start with) Auto focus, either spot or center seems to work the same for me. No "EZ", NO Digital zoom You don't need a tripod, but they come out much sharper (at least mine do) using a tripod than hand held even with that shutter speed. If none of that works I would take off the LT55 and try again to eliminate it as a possible source of the problem. Even without the teleconverter you should easily see many of the craters at 12x. John