Newbie's (blackstar) Moon Shot questions and helps

[blackstar]

Thanks, Bikerbrent & Dawg for your diagnosis. I thought f/6.3 is the smallest aperture the 70-300mm lens can get and I was wrong it (camera body) does close aperture to f/16 and smaller. But iso can surely be lowered to 100 and speed 1/125 or 1/150, even 1/200. See what can be done better next time. My learning pace is like snail crawling

 

[Danno_RIP]

I usually start out at 500 SS, 8 FS, and 100 ISO. I also tend to use spot metering. That usually gets me very close and I simply adjust the settings from there to get the light meter and view to balance out.

 

[blackstar]

Hi Dan, Thank you for the tip and for sharing the wonderful moon shot you took. I see you use 55-300mm lens and FL=300 which is the same as mine, but D7200 is a full-frame? Knowing from my 300mm FL lens and D3500 CF the moon image shot will be small, I wonder your moon image is or is not enlarged from the original photo? If so (is enlarged keeping all details intact), would you mind share your way of doing it (enlarge and crop in Darktable?)

As for metering, I have set it "Matrix" for every shooting case. Your tip makes me wonder I could have missed this useful tool for the moon shot. My understanding: first set spot metering and use P mode to check out 3 exposure parameters, then go from there to M mode to adjust exposure for viewing balance. Is this right? If yes, question: in P mode, auto iso and AF are on, but in M mode, auto iso is off and AF changed to MF. Is this normal and unavoidably bothersome when switching from P to M mode? Or could it be you only use M mode all the way to make moon shot? Please help to clear my "cloudy moon" head Thanks

 

[Bikerbrent_RIP]

A D7200 is NOT a full-frame. It is a DX camera. This means the 55-300mm lens works as a 82-450mm lens.

 

[mikew_RIP]

I do wonder if you are making it over-complicated, an easy thing to do when chasing results, you could try, manual exp with spot metering, af, hand held, 250th sec,auto iso,

 

[Andy W]

You'll have a good opportunity to try again this weekend.

February's full moon marks the first supermoon of 2020. The Super Snow Moon is set to light up the night sky this weekend, visible to skywatchers provided the weather remains clear.

The Snow Moon, so named by Native American tribes for February's wintery weather, will reach its peak at 2:33 a.m. ET on Sunday, February 9, according to NASA. It will appear full for about three days surrounding its peak, from Friday evening to Monday morning.
The Snow Moon is the most widely-used nickname for February's full moon, but it has also been known as the Storm Moon, Hunger Moon, Magha Purnima, Magha Puja, the Mahamuni Pagoda Festival Moon, and the Chinese Lantern Festival Moon, NASA said.

 

[Needa]

A D7200 is NOT a full-frame. It is a DX camera. This means the 55-300mm lens works as a 82-450mm lens.

Is the 55-300 also made in an FX, I was under the impression it was a DX lens. So many lens and variations to keep track of.

 

[Danno_RIP]

Is the 55-300 also made in an FX, I was under the impression it was a DX lens. So many lens and variations to keep track of.

I believe the 55-300 is a DX lens also Needa. It has been a day or two since I took that shot and it was a borrowed lens, but I am pretty sure it was DX.

 

[Danno_RIP]

Hi Dan, Thank you for the tip and for sharing the wonderful moon shot you took. I see you use 55-300mm lens and FL=300 which is the same as mine, but D7200 is a full-frame? Knowing from my 300mm FL lens and D3500 CF the moon image shot will be small, I wonder your moon image is or is not enlarged from the original photo? If so (is enlarged keeping all details intact), would you mind share your way of doing it (enlarge and crop in Darktable?)

As for metering, I have set it "Matrix" for every shooting case. Your tip makes me wonder I could have missed this useful tool for the moon shot. My understanding: first set spot metering and use P mode to check out 3 exposure parameters, then go from there to M mode to adjust exposure for viewing balance. Is this right? If yes, question: in P mode, auto iso and AF are on, but in M mode, auto iso is off and AF changed to MF. Is this normal and unavoidably bothersome when switching from P to M mode? Or could it be you only use M mode all the way to make moon shot? Please help to clear my "cloudy moon" head Thanks

I do it all in manual with the the metering set at spot metering and using AF focus. The D7200 is a DX body as Brent mentioned.

You can hand hold or place on a tripod. I do both depending on how I am feeling. I start out at ISO 100 usually and a shutter of 500 and f8. If the moon is too dark I will first slow open the f-stop and slow the shutter a bit. You can watch it in the view finder, and the moon itself is bright enough to focus. It will appear underexposed, but you will be able to pick out detail in the view finder.

If I am taking the shot hand held I will hold the shutter down for a second or two in order to get a number of shots in case I move at all. If I am on the tripod I will still take 2 or 3 shots.

I than import into Light Room. In there I often simply adjust the exposure and contrast first and than give the shadows, highlights and haze a look. Much of the time I do convert to B&W.

It is a bit of trial and error, but it is a fun learning tool. You can play with the f stop and really see how that affects light and depth of field, as well as shutter speed. It is a chance to learn your camera a bit buy adjusting the manual settings to target a set exposure. You do not want to blow out the highlights by overexposing the moon. Underexposing it is OK because the majority of the sky you want to leave black anyway and the detail in the moon should be fine even with the image seemingly underexposed.

I have taken a lot of different moonshots, and not all of them have the same settings, but they all kind of started from the same point. I know I did not want too shallow a depth of field and I did not want to blow out the highlights when I took the shot. I wish you well on this endeavor. Don't get to wrapped up in the details, just make one adjustment at a time until you get the clarity you are looking for. It should look very close to this image in the view finder. It may be a bit more underexposed, but that is ok.

 

[Marilynne]

@blackstar - would like the name of this thread changed? If so, what you like to call it?

 

[blackstar]

@mike, Thanks. @Andy, Great info about full moon coming! Thanks @Marilynne, Maybe "Newbie's Moon Shot questions and helps", though I still have other newbie's questions on other topics (I am starting a new discussion on D3500 battery). @Dan, Thanks for sharing your experience and helpful tips. I keep thinking and working on using camera and shooting photos in a strictly scientific manner (my profession: theoretical scientific research) with little practical, flexible, and "relaxing" sense... but I do know to change a bit now Wish me luck.

 

[Danno_RIP]

@blackstar, the approach I was explaining is easy but it is utilizing the focus triangle yourself rather than relying on the camera to do it for you. For me it is more fun because you decide what is most important to get the photo you want. Moon shots are a good photo to practice on because you can learn the impact of each leg. Here is a YouTube video that may help.

https://youtu.be/3eVjUrY9a9c

 

[Marilynne]

... Thanks @Marilynne, Maybe "Newbie's Moon Shot questions and helps", though I still have other newbie's questions on other topics (I am starting a new discussion on D3500 battery). ...

Changed.

 

[blackstar]

Thanks to Andy's full moon reminder, I tried dozen of moon shots tonight (nearly full moon though). Only a couple looked fine and acceptable. I post two of them which are jpg unprocessed or enlarged, cropped (only scaled for attachment):

 

[blackstar]

No comments? Let me ask some questions for help:
1. I use a tripod (new) but find it's so difficult (like impossible) to put and fix the moon on the center of the screen (as in the photos). How?
2. I use AF, but when shutter half-pressed, the moon image looked never focused (a disk of light), and yet the image review shows clear and sharp. Why?
3. I keep raw files and plan to do some post-editing later to see how it goes. Any suggestions as to what kind of image quality can be improved?

Thank you

 

[blackstar]

Processed nearly full moon photo (after the iso200 one):