Hey guys I am new here and new to dslr photography I am not sure if this is the right place to post this but i am wondering how I take photos of the moon and how to get those awesome photos i have seen on here with it. My camera is an EOS 1100D and I have a EFS 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS ii (i have no idea what that means as i said i am new to dslr photography). All my photos have appeared blurry and terrible .
Hi Jayden. Welcome to IIS! Yep, you are in the right place.
It will really help if you can stabilize your camera (ie on a tripod or propped on something solid and safe from falling).
Setting the countdown timer help as you will not be pressing the shutter = less movement.
Depending on the time of day/night the settings will change to suit the brightness of the moon. Set the dial to M and do some test shots till you get the desired image. Set the focus to manual and keep it there and manually focus the moon.
Here is an example of a Moon image at dawn.
Date: 02/09/2012 06:29
Dimensions: 800 x 1200 pixels
File Name: Moon touchdown.jpg
File Size: 188.45K
Camera: Canon EOS 500D
Exposure: 0.3 sec (1/3)
Aperture: f/19
Focal Length: 250 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: -
Flash Used: No
I am sure if i adjusted the setting a bit i could have got a better image but it's a start as i am still learning too
Hope some of this info helps. Keep at it, don't give in. It's a rewarding hobby this one
As steve mentioned, you'll need a tripod.
with the lens at 250mm, you should be able to get a fairly decent sized moon.
you'll need to experiment a bit, but I prefer to set my focus to manual (MF) and fine adjust using live view.
you could set it to auto and let it adjust exposure so it doesn't get over exposed, else change it to manual, try different shutter speeds below 1s till it looks balanced.
there are loads of settings you could play with, I'd suggest getting a basic idea of them from the manual and then experimenting.
most close ups of the moon here are taken through telescopes.
edit: one other trick is to set your shot to a 2 sec delay. that way the movement caused by your hand dies down and improves focus.
Do post your pic however bad it is and someone should be able to give you some tips as that'll give a good idea of what can be improved.
Hi Jayden
The advice for shooting the moon others have given appears fine. One thing I can help is what the specs of your lense mean.
The IS means Image Stabiliser. The lenses attempts to counteract small instability in hand held shots. There is a switch on your lense to turn this feature on and off. If shooting on a tripod, turn it off, it is only of help when hand holding.
The 55-250mm refers to the zoom range of your lense, 55mm gives a wide field, 250mm gives a narrow field or is "zoomed in".
The term f4-5.6 refers to the aperture of the lense. The first number says that at 55mm the widest aperture is f4 and the second number means that at 250mm the widest is f5.6. Obviously in M or AV mode you can set a narrower aperture it just tells you the widest possible.
On non zoom lenses and more expensive zooms you will fee a single number eg f2.8. This means that that widest aperture is always available.
the ii simply means it is the second version of this lense.
Oh and the EFS refers to the type of mounting. In Canons there are 2 types of mounting. EF means Electronic focusing and this is the universal Canon mount. You can use EF lenses on all Canon EOS DSLR cameras. EFS lenses are a cheaper mount type that can only be use on non full frame cameras such as yours. On 1D and 5D, the EFS mount will not work.
With shooting the moon when I had the same lense and my old 400d ( the predecessor to your camera) I found the following work OK. Mount on tripod, set mode to AV, use an aperture a couple or so stops below 5.6, say 7.1 or 8, use a remote release or timer release, focus using autofocus on or near the terminator of the moon and let the camera do the rest.
with your camera being an APS-C sensor, you have to take into account cropping. The focal length is designated for a full-frame camera, so your lens will be an effective 88–400 mm on your camera. The advice posted so far has been pretty good. Can't think of much else to add other than consider not fully extending your tripod depending on its stability and playing with your ISO settings if you want a shorter exposure. On my sony nex 5n I took a shot last night of the moon. I have a 200mm F2.8 lens (so 4X as fast as yours, but not as high magnification) at ISO 100 for 1/1000 seconds at F4. I took one at F2.8, but I felt that the slightly longer exposure at F4 looked better somehow. For you, this would equate to something around 1/250 seconds at F8 on your lens.
If your mirror makes a noticable vibration when it "clicks", this can also affect your image due to movement. One option here is to take a longer exposure and hold a piece of card in front of the lens when you take the image, then hold the card back in front before the image ends.. if that makes sense. So for instance, you could take a 5s image at ISO 100, at the smallest aperture you have (F32), hold the card in front of the lens and set your camera to take the photo. After you hear the mirror "click", you can remove the card without bumping the lens, count to say 4s, then put the card back in front.
with your camera being an APS-C sensor, you have to take into account cropping. The focal length is designated for a full-frame camera, so your lens will be an effective 88–400 mm on your camera.
cheers.
Pretty sure that as EFS lenses are designed only for APS-C sensors the focal length quoted is what you get with that sized sensor and there is no crop factor multiple.
For example at 55mm on either the 18-55 EFS or the 55-250 EFS that would be the same as me setting my EF 24-105L to 55mm on my full frame 5DmkII.
My understanding is that focal length is focal length irrespective of what the lens is being mounted on, so to say that it is 200mm it is 200mm. The crop factor is to calculate the effect of having a smaller sensor, which in the case of APS-C is 1.5-1.6X. The mount (EF Vs EFS) is just the connector for the lens to the camera body, which is independent of the focal length. It just means that you can connect an EFS and EF lens on the EFS body (backward compatible), but you can't connect an EFS lens on an EF body because it is designed to take into consideration the smaller sensor.
For the OP - crop factor is a fudge number to describe the effective zoom by having a smaller sensor. If you have a look at the dpreview link, the easiest way to explain it is that if you had a 50mm EF lens on your camera, you would see just the smaller image. This is because you the rest of the image pretty much shines on the plastic that houses your sensor. Because of this, you see an effective zooming in which would be equivalent to a 1.5X magnification, so your 50 mm lens now becomes a ~75mm @35mm equivalent lens. However, if you use your EFS lens, you get the exact same thing, only you don't have excess image shining on the plastic that houses your sensor because of the construction of that lens. Because of this, it's cheaper to manufacture these lenses than the EF equivalent. If you were somehow able to mount an EFS lens onto an EF body, you would see a small circular image with a black border. Hope that makes sense.
Last edited by chaffingbuttock; 26-11-2012 at 05:09 PM.
My understanding is that focal length is focal length irrespective of what the lens is being mounted on, so to say that it is 200mm it is 200mm. The crop factor is to calculate the effect of having a smaller sensor, which in the case of APS-C is 1.5-1.6X. The mount (EF Vs EFS) is just the connector for the lens to the camera body, which is independent of the focal length. It just means that you can connect an EFS and EF lens on the EFS body (backward compatible), but you can't connect an EFS lens on an EF body because it is designed to take into consideration the smaller sensor. If you could, I assume you'd just get an image with a really large black border.
Yeah cool, I learned something new!
I used to have a 500D and I could swear my EF 50mm f1.8 was considerably longer than the long end of the EFS 18-55mm but it wouldn't be the first time my memory didn't match reality.
Also I have an EFS 4.5mm Sigma fisheye at work that I can still fit on my 5DmkII as it doesn't protrude too far into the body and it just gives a lot of black around the image.
If you look at an EFS lense, it protrudes further into the camera. On a full frame camera, the sensor is larger so the mirror also has to be larger (logically) so the mirror, or atleast the bottom part of it extends further away from the sensor. As a result it would contact the EFS lense if you attempt to mount it.
Matthew is right, focal length is independent of sensor size. A 50mm lense should give you the same FOV regardles of whether it is an EFS or EF lense.
With the Sigma lenses, I am fairly certain they make them all EF compatible so they work with all EOS DSLR cameras.
Hi Jayden
The advice for shooting the moon others have given appears fine. One thing I can help is what the specs of your lense mean.
The IS means Image Stabiliser. The lenses attempts to counteract small instability in hand held shots. There is a switch on your lense to turn this feature on and off. If shooting on a tripod, turn it off, it is only of help when hand holding.
The 55-250mm refers to the zoom range of your lense, 55mm gives a wide field, 250mm gives a narrow field or is "zoomed in".
The term f4-5.6 refers to the aperture of the lense. The first number says that at 55mm the widest aperture is f4 and the second number means that at 250mm the widest is f5.6. Obviously in M or AV mode you can set a narrower aperture it just tells you the widest possible.
On non zoom lenses and more expensive zooms you will fee a single number eg f2.8. This means that that widest aperture is always available.
the ii simply means it is the second version of this lense.
Oh and the EFS refers to the type of mounting. In Canons there are 2 types of mounting. EF means Electronic focusing and this is the universal Canon mount. You can use EF lenses on all Canon EOS DSLR cameras. EFS lenses are a cheaper mount type that can only be use on non full frame cameras such as yours. On 1D and 5D, the EFS mount will not work.
With shooting the moon when I had the same lense and my old 400d ( the predecessor to your camera) I found the following work OK. Mount on tripod, set mode to AV, use an aperture a couple or so stops below 5.6, say 7.1 or 8, use a remote release or timer release, focus using autofocus on or near the terminator of the moon and let the camera do the rest.
Malcolm
wow thanks so much! I am very new to dslr photography! Thank you for summing everything up!
No worries Jayden
There is a lot to learn. The thing I tell people with new DSLRs is don't be afraid to experiment. Go and try a shot, then change settings and see what the differences are.
The beauty of digital is taking shots costs nothing, so experiment and have fun.
Jayden - you can also do what I do when on holiday and don't want to carry my tripod - try to balance your camera on something solid like a handy tree stump or clean-looking rubbish bin etc with something to prop it upwards if the moon is low enough. If you take your image at the fastest setting (i.e. ISO 3200 or something, widest aperture i.e F5.6 and a reasonably fast shutter speed.. i'm thinking 1/1000 or something?) plus use timer delay for your photo, you might be able to get somethign decent. Of course don't step too far from your camera in case it topples!
There are many reasons why your photo of the moon could be blurry - out of focus, lens quality (or lack thereof), overexposed, motion blur, hazy night, etc...
If you could post a photo along with the shot settings (shutter speed, f number, ISO, etc) and how you took it, we could probably figure out what the culprit is for you
When it comes to a tripod, don't be temped by something cheap and light. When it comes to tripods you need weight and stability. Without particularly wanting to push them, I have use Manfrotto tripods for a long time and found them very good. They are not cheap however (around $300) but you willl never go wrong with one. Most of the tripods like this have a range of different heads (the bit you connect the camera to). Have a look at them and see what seems to work for you. One thing to remember is that tripods tend to be designed to point with the camera horizontal, whereas for astronomy you need to point into the air, even straight up. Some head designs don't do that all that well.
Try the tripod befoe you buy it. Put your camera on it, set the lens to the biggest zoom nuimber and look through it. Tap the tripod leg, if the image in the viewfinder shakes, then the tripod is too light. Never buy a light tripod its a waste of money.
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