Moon shots

[hazmatde]

Any suggestions on getting some decent shots of the full moon? I'm using a Canon Rebel XT with a Sigma 70 - 300 mm F/4-5.6 APO DG. I also have a Tamron SP AF 28 - 75 mm F/2.8 XR Di and a Sigma 18 - 50 mm F/2.8. What do I need to do in order to avoid the white blob and get some decent detail?

[Elisha]

small aperture like 7.1 or 8 and fastish shutter speed like 1/160 ~1/250

check out this thread: http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26557

[Polskahick]

happy I stumbled upon this,,, I have a rebel xti with the sigma 70-300mm APO as well, and have been working on perfecting my moon shots. I have found, when used with a clear sky directly infront of the moon, that at 300mm, f/13, iso 100, and 1/160 sec plus or minus a stop or two on the shutter works well. f/13 is important because the sigma is a bit on the soft side at 300mm wide open shutter, and f/13 cleans that up well. I wouldn't recommend going below 1/100 at 300mm, i find you notice smudge by the rotation of the moon and earth below that. Take the pictures in the raw file format, so you can adjust the exposure and other things to get the best picture. This is pretty important because chances are your metering will be a bit off, even on centre weighted average metering. Also you'll want to do some sharpening and highlight adjustment. Make sure you also use the centre point single autofocus to lock onto it, using the manual focus is worse because it can go beyond infinity, plus the autofocus works well anyways. I don't have webspace hooked up right now, but if you want to see them send me an email Polskahick@hotmail.com.

Also make sure it is in the dead centre of the picture, because the sharpness of the lens is greatest there, and the chormatic aberrations are at their least, which is very important because the moon is a bright object against a dark background, so abberations are more likely.

Good luck