P#6: Using a Long Telephoto to Photograph the Full Moon

How to photograph lunar detail in the full moon

Jim Zuckerman: The picture of the full moon, 10890. On this one I did an experiment. Last year I bought a long telephoto, a 500mm f4. By the way, one of the things that will make the moon really impressive if you are just shooting the moon is to use a real long telephoto. A 200mm is okay, but the moon is still going to be pretty small in the frame. (click the image for a larger version)

(10890)

So here I had this 500mm. I mounted it on a tripod, and took some shots. Then I just did an experiment where I put a 2x teleconverter on it, plus a 1.4 teleconverter. So I had the equivalent of 1400mm in that lens. I just wanted to see if it would be sharp, and it was pretty good.

It wasn't as sharp as just the fine lens, but it was certainly acceptable. You can certainly see the craters on the moon.

Audri Lanford: Definitely.

Jim Zuckerman: Yeah, so that's why it's so large in the frame. If I were to use that as a component and I wanted to make it look real, obviously I wouldn't have done that.

Audri Lanford: Right. But this is clearly very different than a white disk. :)

Jim Zuckerman: Oh yes.

Audri Lanford: This is gorgeous.

Jim Zuckerman: Thank you. The moon as a white disk is pointless. You might as well shoot a photoflood in the studio and say that you shot the moon. You have to have that lunar detail.

To conclude

Use a long telephoto lens to capture detail in a photo of the full moon.