500 (1000) mm f/8 settings

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mwg8689

New member
I just bought a cheap manual telephoto lense (Vivitar) and was curious if anyone has some good baseline settings for it under certain light conditions.

I've found low light ambient shots are very tricky.

And would also like to shoot a full moon on a clear night (havent had one of those yet)

All settings, even basic ones, would be appreciated.

Bill
 
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MartinCornwall

Senior Member
Not sure about the lens but the full moon is not the best time to photograph the moon. Yes you can get some really nice full moon shots, but the sun is straight on to the moon and there are no shadows from the craters and ridges which are present when the moon is not full.
 
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mwg8689

New member
MartinCornwall said:
Not sure about the lens but the full moon is not the best time to photograph the moon. Yes you can get some really nice full moon shots, but the sun is straight on to the moon and there are no shadows from the craters and ridges which are present when the moon is not full.
Click to expand...

ah, never thought of the angle of the sun. forget the lens than. any advice on camera settings?
 
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WayneF

Senior Member
The moon is actually Not a "low light ambient" situation. It may be night, but the moon is illumined by the full sun, and the exposure is not too far from any daylight exposure. In fact, a slow shutter speed risks blurring it due to the motion of earth rotation. Manual focus and exposure, cannot use the camera light meter, due to the influence of all the black sky. A little more than typical daylight exposure, since the moon is actually a dark surface. And the quarter moon (half of it) is side lighted, and needs more exposure than a full moon.
Maybe ISO 400, f/8, 1/30 second (quarter moon). Experiment a bit, but do not overexpose it, when all you get is a bright burnt-out blob.

Focus is easier using Live View, and then zooming greatly to magnify the view for manual focus.

There are many articles about it.

A simpler general non-techie search is photograph the moon - Google Search

A more specific search:
See photograph the moon exposure - Google Search
 
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Elliot87

Senior Member
Welcome to the forum.
Let us know how you get on with that lens and post your pics ;) I've heard that lens or similar can be massivly challenging but capable of good results. I'm sure once you've dialled in the right settings you'll get some great moon shots.
 
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aroy

Senior Member
There is a thread on "Moon Shots", just check the exposure there.

Start with f8, /125 (0r f11, 1/50 if the lens is really slow) and then adjust the exposure. The camera meter will normally not useful in such conditions.
 
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Elliot87

Senior Member
mwg8689 said:
I just bought a cheap manual telephoto lense (Vivitar) and was curious if anyone has some good baseline settings for it under certain light conditions.

I've found low light ambient shots are very tricky.

And would also like to shoot a full moon on a clear night (havent had one of those yet)

All settings, even basic ones, would be appreciated.

Bill
Click to expand...

How did you get on?
 
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