need help

[alboy]

hello all
i have just taken up photography, what i have is a nikon d50 and im trying to take pics of the moon, the lens im using is a nikon af nikkor 70-300mm, the problem is when i take the shotof the moon all i get is the moon is just a bright blob. what settings do i need to change to get a nice detail picture..............
very many thanks..........

[JSPhoto]

Although probably not the best settings for this kind of shot it did work. THis was shot with a Canon 1D MKII N shutter 1/250, ISO 800, f9.1 with Canon 28-300mm USM IS lens at 300mm last night as I headed to a basketball game.

JS

[alboy]

hi
thanks for the help but still getting problems, im getting blur now

[JSPhoto]

Are freehand shooting or tripod? My shot was freehand but I have IS (image stabilization) on the lens which helps.
Try using a tripod or monopod, if you still get blur then try using a remote switch. If it is still blurring then try (if your camera allows it) mirror lockup. Using mirror lockup will keep the mirror from causing a vibration when taking the shot and causing the blurr.
Hope that helps!

JS

[mjs1973]

Welcome to the Forum Alboy. How are you meetering off of the moon and what settings are you using? The part of the moon you can see is being illuminated by direct sunlight and is very bright, while the rest of the sky is black. This is going to fool your meter into thinking that you're taking a picture of a very dark subject, and is going to compensate by giving you more exposure and blowing out the bright spot on the moon.

To overcome this you will have to use some exposure compensation. I don't know anything about the D50 so I can't give you any specifics on how to adjust the camera itself. When I shoot the moon, I set the camera in manual mode, and set the aperture to somewhere in the f/9-f16 range. Then I set the shutterspeed to underexpose the image by anywhere from 1-2 stops. I leave the ISO at 100 because I don't like the noise levels on my camera at higher than 200. I always uese a tripod and cable release too, but this is not always needed as you can get good results as JS has pointed out by hand holding, as long as you have a fast enough shutterspeed.

Hope this makes sence. Good luck.

[alboy]

hello
thanks for your advice ill try it tonight, ill let you know ,
about metering i aint got a clue as this is the first time with a digital slr which i have only had for over a week so any advicde off ypu all is welcome,,,,,,,,

[mjs1973]

First of all, you have to understand how the meter works. I hope this isn't too basic or sound insulting in any way. I just want to give you a little info as to what the meter is telling you. The meter is designed to give you an exposure that renders your mid tones to a middle gray color. Ok, that is a very simplified explanation and I'm sure someone else can give you more details on this. If you want to see what I mean, set your camera to auto mode, and take a picture of a white wall, and then see what color the picture comes out. Do the same with a black surface and you should get the same middle gray color.

Ok, I just took a look at the specs on the D50. This camera will let you meter 3 ways: 1. 3D Color Matrix, 2. Center-weighted, and 3. Spot.

So wha'ts the differance between these you might ask. Well, this is what Nikon says about 3D color Matrix metering: "The D50 incorporates a 420-pixel RGB sensor for accurate exposure control in all types of lighting situations. By comparing the scene to a built-in database of various lighting patterns, the camera's light meter can accurately produce your best pictures ever." Basically what this means is that the camera is looking at the entire scene, and figureing out what the best exposure would be for that photo. In many cases, this works great. Not so great when you have lots of contrast between light and dark areas tho. Situations like this tend to give you blown out highlights or blocked up shadows.

Center-weighted metering does basically the same thing, only it places more emphasis on the middle of the image.

Spot metering makes the reading based off of a very small portion of the frame. Usually the middle focusing point, but I think some cameras will let you select which focusing point you want to use.

In the situation with the moon, I would use the spot metering mode. This will give you the most acurate reading by eliminating most of the black sky. I don't know how you are able to switch between these modes with your particular camera, but the manual will tell you what to do. I would still bracket your shots even with the spot metering. This means to take a few shots at different exposures, with more exposure, and less exposure to be sure to get what you want.

I see your camera also has mirror lockup, so I would use that as well (with a tripod and cable release.) If you don't have a cable release, the self timer will work. One of the great things about digital is that you can experiment with dif. settings and view your results instantly, and make your changes right on the spot.

As I said, my explanations on exposure are very simplified, so you might want to check out the other posts in the help forum to get a better grasp on it.

Hope this helps.

[alboy]

i cant thank you enough i'll try this later. thank you so much
i seam to be getting right, it looks more clear but i dont get the moon to fill the lens, its far out when its in focus i do have the lens set to 300 but when i bring it closer to fill the lens it goes blury, is there something else i need to do.
im sorry if im a pain asking all the time...
very many thanks.............

[JSPhoto]

Hey if you don't ask you won't learn, same with practice and playing with settings. Play enough and you'll figure out all kinds of tricks!

JS

[mjs1973]

JS is right, if you don't ask...

You will not be able to fill your frame with a 300mm lens! If you want to fill the frame, you will have to get yourself a telescope to mount to your camera. You will have to crop your image to get it to look like you're filling the frame. Take the pic with the moon in focus, and crop out the dark part of the sky in your editing software.

Even at a focal length equal to 1600mm, I still have to crop the photo.