Photography experts advice

[fastfire]

I 'm wanting to take a picture of the moon tonight using a Cannon Power Shot S5 IS on a tripod.
What settings will be the best for a zoomed photo?

[Outpost75]

Moon is reflected daylight. To get a sharp moon focus at infinity and take daylight exposure with camera supported ona tripod, using daylight exposure formula for the focal length and ASA.

[fouronesix]

Bracket every way you can and of course use the tripod. Not only bracket shutter and aperture but also bracket focus and zoom. Take lots of shots. Pick the best AFTER shooting.

[fastfire]

Not only bracket shutter and aperture but also bracket focus and zoom (QUOTE)

I do not know what bracket shutter and aperture but also bracket focus and zoom is?
I'm way far from a photography expert.

[fecmech]

1. I think Outpost hit the nail on the head. Another way would be a tight cropping of the moon and shoot in Auto. I have no idea why the other poster said to bracket or change focus. The moon is definitely infinity.

[Pb2au]

Tripod. Weight the tripod if possible.
manual mode. 3.5-ish, or whatever it shifts to a full zoom. Shutter speed, say 1/500 to start.
ISO 200 to start.
the lens will try and hunt focus, so zoom in to frame up the moon and give the autofocus a chance.
pop an image and see what it looks like. The full moon reflects a ton of light, so the odds are at the above settings it will be blown out. Just bump up the shutter speed and try again.
If it is bright enough, go up to F7- ish to give you a little more depth of field to capture the details.
To catch the most surface details, shoot the moon about a day or so after a full moon.you can pick up more contrast on the surface.

[RogerDat]

Bracket I think means go faster and slower shutter speed, lower then higher f-stop. Go too high, then too low and work your way to the just right point by checking results as you go. Even though it is dark you are in effect pointing your camera directly at a light so the F7 sounds about right to me.

You have to use a fast shutter speed because the earth is turning so from the perspective of the camera the moon is moving and will have a tendency to blur at slower shutter speeds.


Don't forget cropping can provide a lot of zoom effect.

[fouronesix]

1. I think Outpost hit the nail on the head. Another way would be a tight cropping of the moon and shoot in Auto. I have no idea why the other poster said to bracket or change focus. The moon is definitely infinity.

All experienced photographers bracket settings. Even auto focus (as do all the other auto sensors in most cameras) act funny with such contrast in lighting and the "infinity" stop, mark or sensor on some (if not most) cameras is not exactly "infinity" and will invariably show some out-of-focus. It also depends on how good your glass is and how well it's matched to the camera. The best chance for the sharpest image is the use of a tripod, the smallest aperture and the longest exposure. But it's all a balancing act as the moon is "moving", relatively speaking. But oh well, lots of experts here I guess.

[fastfire]

110497This is wayyyyy over my head, I went took a bunch of picturers 2 were in focus but do not have the zoom that I need.

[RogerDat]

Actually best advice you can get is from Google. Put your camera model and taking pictures of the moon in and you will probably get settings specific for your camera from those that have been there, done that using the same equipment. Sort of like this place people share what works with specific equipment, loads or firearms. Photographers tend to do the same thing, a search will probably let you find those posts on photography sites and forums.

Oh and good luck! It is always a thrill to try some new challenge in photography and have it come together in a nice shot. Nice thing about digital if it does not work you just do over, same as a bad cast boolit.

[RogerDat]

This is wayyyyy over my head, I went took a bunch of picturers 2 were in focus but do not have the zoom that I need.

Well duh! It's the moon it's way up over all our heads :-)
Try cropping but crop just the moon with the crop dimension set at same width and height as original photo. The moon will fill the picture. If it is too fuzzy try leaving more black around the moon until it is as large as you can make it without it looking fuzzy. You might be surprised by the results you can get. If when looking at the view screen on your camera you can zoom in that will give you an idea of what might be possible.

Zoom of 200mm or better is desirable. Check the data for your photo and see what the mm equivalent was recorded with the pictures.
If you don't have a remote trigger try using the 2 second delay, that way your not touching the camera and there will be less vibration blur. Also from reading some of these posts they suggest using optical plus digital zoom, other suggest going with optical only.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Canon+powershot+s5+photographing+the +moon

Oh and bracketing might have also meant using a setting on the camera where the camera takes the picture at 3 different exposures, one high, low and in between then combines them into one for you. Might be called HDR or bracketing in your camera manual. The high exposure catches details in the darker patches and the low catches details in the brighter patches so this can make a more detailed and sharper picture.

[Trey45]

Canon 5D2, Canon 70-200 f/2.8 EFL, Tripod, remote shutter, full manual controls and manual focus. ISO320, f/6.1, 1/200sec. Turn IS off when using a tripod.
Enlarged to 100% and cropped.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t1.0-9/10408092_729990683725073_7850503224703604120_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t1.0-9/10509539_729990680391740_5023462195792806723_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t1.0-9/10360448_729990677058407_7346218411715384290_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t1.0-9/10478932_729990687058406_1879134826897382915_n.jpg

[texassako]

Great photos! I never tried night photos when I had a decent photography setup.

[jrayborn]

Wow! Very nice. Beautiful pics Trey45.

[RogerDat]

Very nice pictures. Bit of difference between the 5D and the S5 in terms of hardware but the technique would be the same.
I did a quick check and the S5 at max zoom is a 432mm equivalent.

Some tips and samples from a Flickr group for this camera.
https://www.flickr.com/groups/canonpowershots5is/discuss/72157606343154372/

[bangerjim]

There is "pit-cher takin".............and then there is photography!

Good pix!


banger

[Pb2au]

I shot this one last year during a meteor shower.
Those are very nice images Trey, thank you for sharing.
The trick to remember with taking images of the moon is that you have plenty of light.
Remember, the best camera is the one you have with you.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

little to late to help out the OP, so I'll show off instead :mrgreen:
Shot a few years ago
Olympus E510, Tamron 300mm f/2.8
with stacked 1.4x teleconverters ( one Olympus and one Tamron)
Effective focal length, 1150mm
http://www.hillbilly-photo.com/Photography/Scenery/i-6BXNnVB/0/XL/moon-XL.jpg

[jrayborn]

Oh wow!

[Trey45]

I used a similar set up for this one. Pentax Q7 using a K-Q adapter with a 300mm lens, gave it something like a 1650mm equivalent. Shot manual controls and manual focus, tripod remote shutter. Pretty sure this is f/8, ISO 400, 1/200sec. 100% enlargment and cropped. https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/t1.0-9/550351_655184127872396_848816523_n.jpg

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Excellent!

[groundsclown]

Nice moon shots.