Shooting the moon with a Film SLR?

Chile Chef

What would be a good setting that I can use to shoot with a film SLR on a tripod at the moon with a canon 70-200 4.0 USM lens?

Art Scott

Chile Chef wrote:

What would be a good setting that I can use to shoot with a film SLR on a tripod at the moon with a canon 70-200 4.0 USM lens?

Do you access to a digital camera that the lens will work on?? Shoot with it and then match your film cam t o it and bracket 2 or 3 stops up and down......now with the digital don't go shooting at really high iso's.....shoot around 100- a max of 400 and since t-poded I recommend 100 iso.......mabe you can bracket it by 10-12 stops (+/- 5 or 6) and then HDR the sucker for something really surreal........

Good Luck

Chile Chef

Art Scott wrote:

Do you access to a digital camera that the lens will work on?? Shoot with it and then match your film cam t o it and bracket 2 or 3 stops up and down......now with the digital don't go shooting at really high iso's.....shoot around 100- a max of 400 and since t-poded I recommend 100 iso.......mabe you can bracket it by 10-12 stops (+/- 5 or 6) and then HDR the sucker for something really surreal........

Good Luck

Good Idea, I was thinking about using an equatorial tripod with a telescope attached to it. and it has motors that it can align with the moon when it's setup right. I may do one when the semester is about over for one of my final images. Can you even do a Film SLR in HDR?

Art Scott

Chile Chef wrote:

Can you even do a Film SLR in HDR?

There is a process of stacking the frames together to get more contrast....very similar............and long exposures in the darkroom........I did litho stacks with color slides and negs for special effects and just 2 frames meant an exposure upto a minute or so at times.........it will take some experimentation..........

Good Luck. and post the results......please.

kdog

An equatorial mount won't buy you anything in shooting the moon since it's so bright and your exposure is so short. I don't think HDR will buy you anything either (I've tried it), but knock yourself out. You can shoot your 70-200 wide open at F4, and use 1/160s, ISO100. Use a TC 1.4 or TC2.0 if you have access to one. You'll lose a stop with the 1.4 or two stops with the 2.0, so adjust your exposure accordingly.

-joel

Chile Chef

Thanks guys, And KDog, Couldn't I just under expose the meter on my Film SLR?

kdog

Chile Chef wrote:

Thanks guys, And KDog, Couldn't I just under expose the meter on my Film SLR?

Yes, if I understand your question correctly. But how much would you underexpose by? What you really want is a spot-meter. I can get my Canon DSLRs to spot meter the moon perfectly, if I'm careful. You have to have a good idea of how big your "spot" is, and make sure it's contained completely within the moon with absolutely no sky.

-joel

pathfinder

The moon is a sunlit object, and hence, the sunny 16 rule should get you very close to start, unless the moon is very near the horizon, or there is lots of clouds and moisture in the air.

Here is a moon exposure calculator

More reading


I have a few moon shots with exposure data here


Do not try to use the exposure meter on your camera - it will be wrong, due to the large amount of blackness surrounding the moon, and thus over-expose the moon itself.

Sunny 16 + or - 2 stops should get you very close. Use a good tripod, and keep you shutter speeds under a few seconds, or the moon will move in your frame, unless you are using an equatorial mount. Shutter speed can range up to 20 seconds for a 24mm lens, but a 300mm lens, you will want it to be no longer than 1/200th or so.

kdog

pathfinder wrote:

Do not try to use the exposure meter on your camera - it will be wrong, due to the large amount of blackness surrounding the moon, and thus over-expose the moon itself.

Sorry, but I have had very good luck using spot-metering as described by my post above. It works fine if you're careful.

-joel

pathfinder

Joel, I was not trying to step on your toes. I do not know the specific camera you use. Some DSLRs, and most Point and Shoots, do not offer real spot metering

It is true that a camera with real spot metering may work, but many folks ( and I am one of them ) do not routinely use spot metering, but Evaluative, or Center Weighted, and as I am sure you know, these will not work very well at all. And the fact that they don't offer correct exposure can be confusing, and puzzling to folks not used to shooting the moon.

Spot meters will work much better with longer lenses, of course, as you describe. But that means a lens of at least 300mm or more I would think. The moon looks pretty small in a viewfinder, until I get to 800mm or so.

kdog

No worries, Jim. I'm just offering a counterpoint based on my experience.

I've used both a Canon 20D and 40D that way, and always with a 400mm lens, with or without extenders. Neither of them has a true spot-meter as you know, so I use the smallest metering circle. It does work with that combination. It may not work with all combinations, which is why I originally said that you have to have a good idea of how big the metering circle in your camera is and to make sure it fits in the moon. I do appreciate the fact that if you don't know how to, or don't have a small enough metering circle, then it'll never work. So I think we're in agreement there.

I don't actually do that any more however. I shoot manual and use the settings I mentioned in my first reply to this thread. ISO100, F8, 1/80s or 1/100s. Those are the settings I use most often now and they seem to work pretty well.

-joel

Chile Chef

Thank you very much everyone for chipping in.

pathfinder

kdog wrote:

No worries, Jim. I'm just offering a counterpoint based on my experience.

I've used both a Canon 20D and 40D that way, and always with a 400mm lens, with or without extenders. Neither of them has a true spot-meter as you know, so I use the smallest metering circle. It does work with that combination. It may not work with all combinations, which is why I originally said that you have to have a good idea of how big the metering circle in your camera is and to make sure it fits in the moon. I do appreciate the fact that if you don't know how to, or don't have a small enough metering circle, then it'll never work. So I think we're in agreement there.

I don't actually do that any more however. I shoot manual and use the settings I mentioned in my first reply to this thread. ISO100, F8, 1/80s or 1/100s. Those are the settings I use most often now and they seem to work pretty well.

-joel

Cool moon shot!


ISO 100, 1/100th f8 is two stops faster than 1/100th f16 suggested by Sunny 16.

But sunny 16 is really intended for normal tones seen in the middle a typical histogram, while the moon is really brighter than a mid gray, so might need an extra 1 -1.5 stops exposure, which gets very close to what you are suggesting you currently use. I suspect you get to shoot through very dry air out there in Arizona as well.

I know from experience that Evaluative Metering will strongly over expose the moon due to the very dark sky all around it.

I agree with you that Manual mode is best.