If you’ve ever tried to take photos of the moon with your camera, you know that the exposure settings are critical for a clear image. The light meter on your camera may be fooled by the moon, which is so bright it seems unreal. However, with the right settings, you’ll get more detail in your photos than you would normally expect. Start by lowering the ISO to 100 or so. Choose a small aperture setting to get the sharpest results from your lens. For best results, shoot at 1/125 or slower, depending on your location.
The best settings for a moon photo are ISO 100 and f/11. This will give you the most clarity from the moon, but you may need to use a fast shutter speed to prevent blurring. A tripod is also necessary. To avoid the moon from obscuring the subject, try using the live view mode or a manual focus lens to get a better image. Then, make sure that you disable autofocus and manually focus.
Using a zoom lens is a great way to capture moonlight. While it’s not as easy as taking a picture with a telephoto lens, zoom lenses are ideal for moonlight photography. Tamron and Sigma both have 150-600mm zoom lenses, while Nikon’s 200-500mm f/5.6E VR lens is an excellent choice. Another thing to keep in mind when choosing a zoom lens is the type of camera. If you’re using a compact camera, opt for a smaller sensor camera over a full-frame camera. Smaller sensors have fewer pixels, but plenty of resolution, and allow for more magnification.
