# Shooting the Moon...how to focus?



## Leadfingers (Jun 30, 2015)

I'll be on vacation this week, and with a full moon looming, I'd love to get some good shots.

However, my T3i has a hard time focusing on the moon. I assume it's because of the high contrast. Are there any tips to get that right?



T3i
24-105L
(or, whatever I can rent before going...any suggestions?)


----------



## dcm (Jun 30, 2015)

Live view, 10x, manual


----------



## jrista (Jun 30, 2015)

Get the longest lens you can possibly get your hands on. A 600mm would be the bare minimum IMO...go longer if you can! The 24-105 will just render the moon barely more than a dot in the field.


----------



## Leadfingers (Jun 30, 2015)

Yes, of course. Im not even sure why I put the 24-105 in there, lol

The place where Im going has a Sigma 170-500 to rent for pretty cheap (~$50 for 3 days). I may try that.


----------



## nc0b (Jun 30, 2015)

I don't have any problem focusing with a 400mm f/5.6 and any of my 4 bodies. Longer would be better, but that's what I have. Shoot it on manual of course. Remember the exposure will be the same as shooting someone standing in the sun. Both are illuminated by the same source 93 million miles away.


----------



## meywd (Jun 30, 2015)

dcm said:


> Live view, 10x, manual



+1 and you need a solid tripod, mirror lockup is preferred, and maybe use the f11 rule


----------



## meywd (Jun 30, 2015)

I meant to reduce shake, not focus related


----------



## Leadfingers (Jun 30, 2015)

Thanks all!

I'm having trouble getting Mirror Lock-up to work with my DSLR Controller app. I may have to disregard the app for this. 

Anyone gotten it to work?


----------



## sulla (Jul 4, 2015)

I only have a 400 lens here. Moon still is kind of small, however, many details, craters, the mares etc... are visible.

I put my lens to AF and the shutter button to "AE-Lock" only, i.e. the lens won't focus when I release the shutter.
I switch to live-view, 10x magnification, and put the rectangle to the edge of the moon.
Then I focus by pressing the "AF-on" button. If I press it very gently the tripod moves very little only, the image stays stable enough for the contrast-AF to work well.

I found this to work better than manual-AF. Shake is greater when I touch and turn the lens than when I press the button gently.


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 4, 2015)

Autofocus is not very reliable on the moon. If you use a high magnification lens, the moon is slowly moving across the frame, that's a issue when photographing a eclipse over a fair amount of time.

You can focus manually using 10X and set a shutter delay. Use live view to lock the mirror up and to focus manually. Getting the right exposure always seems difficult for me, auto exposure is unreliable.

You get better results after the air has cooled and has less turbulence, late at night or early in the morning while still dark can be best. The time depends on your location.


----------

