Best aperture for photographing the moon?

12 years 2 months ago #196799 by Raymond II
From your experience what is the best aperture for shooting the moon? I've been finding f/9 or f/11 is looking pretty good. I'd like to know those with larger focal length lenses does that remain the same?


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12 years 2 months ago #196805 by Scotty
f/11.

When the last candle has been blown out
and the last glass of champagne has been drunk
All that you are left with are the memories and the images-David Cooke.

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12 years 2 months ago #196811 by Darrell
Yeah the moon is pretty bright, F11 range works good.......

You will not be judged as a photographer by the pictures you take, but by the pictures you show.
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12 years 2 months ago #196864 by effron
The next time you are out shooting the moon, take different shots at different apertures, then compare them on computer. Not all lenses have the same sweet spot.

Why so serious?
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12 years 2 months ago #196895 by MajorMagee
If you're after the peak resolution capability then it's a combination of both the lens and the sensor. The lens will have an aperture range where it has the best optical properties (no distortion, or aberrations), and the sensor will have an upper limit where diffraction effects will start to become visible. I have one combination of lens and camera body that I use for moon images where these converge at f8.


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12 years 2 months ago #196940 by effron
A short article along the theme of this thread......
www.lightstalking.com/sweet-spot

Why so serious?
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12 years 2 months ago #196953 by Henry Peach
The moon is at infinity as far as any camera lens is concerned so DOF isn't an issue whatever aperture you use. If you notice one is sharper than another then use that one.
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12 years 2 months ago #197186 by Jim Photo
There are some good tips in this thread, from my personal experience with my 70-200mm f/11 has worked the best for me.


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12 years 2 months ago #197266 by duglas50
Using a Tamron 70-300mm at 300mm, F11 works best for a shot of the full moon.


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12 years 2 months ago #197277 by Bob Eaton
Shooting the full moon is hard, due to the fact its soooooo bright!!!!!! Try new moon to first quarter, then 3rd quarter to new moon. Bracketing your exposures will help!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!! :P

Nothing is Beatleproof!!!!!!!!!
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12 years 2 months ago #197295 by Jon Mac
I agree with f11 and also with a waxing or waning moon. The shadows really highlight the craters and give better detail.

I was doing a video test at f11 with a T3i and 70-210mm plus a 2X extender (so a final ratio of f22) and it seemed to work pretty well.

One cool thing about shooting video is that you can export as a frame sequence and then "stack" the best frames together to make a better image. This way you can eliminate the blurry frames that are caused by the atmosphere.


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12 years 2 months ago - 12 years 2 months ago #197335 by Stealthy Ninja
I've shot the mood at 5.6 for testing purposes. Just adjust shutter speed, it's not that hard to adjust to its brightness. ;)

f/8 for a crop camera due to diffraction kicking in after that. F/11 for FF.
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12 years 2 months ago #197391 by H3
well my 50 f1.8 i like f 11
my tamron 17-50 f2.8 i like f 9 - 11 depending on were i am at and whats around me i might go 5.6 if im taking more then one shot to get stars as well or even lower if i want to get alot of stars kinda hard when the moon is in the frame tho

h3photography.smugmug.com
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12 years 2 months ago #197392 by Stealthy Ninja

H3 wrote: well my 50 f1.8 i like f 11
my tamron 17-50 f2.8 i like f 9 - 11 depending on were i am at and whats around me i might go 5.6 if im taking more then one shot to get stars as well or even lower if i want to get alot of stars kinda hard when the moon is in the frame tho


Not gonna get much of a shot of the moon with a 50mm lens. :blink:
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12 years 2 months ago #197405 by H3
it will be about this big . lol i missed the second part i just got back from 29 palms super tired was having some fun with all the stars

h3photography.smugmug.com
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