Moon

Here's a couple I took with my new S3 IS. Gotta love 12x optical I can't wait to get a TC for it and really get up close and personal

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k104/sundedo/S3IS/Moon2.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k104/sundedo/S3IS/Moon3.jpg

Funny, that other people are 'taking notice too'. I wish I had the camera the other night. The only clouds in the sky, were a "thin band"...that oddly enough were right in line with the moon...creating a "craddle effect under it". First time I ever had seen something like that...shoulda snapped a picture...it was perfect.

Yea, I started carting my camera around with me as much as an I can. You never know when you'll have that "Kodak" moment

DonCT said:

Here's a couple I took with my new S3 IS. Gotta love 12x optical I can't wait to get a TC for it and really get up close and personal

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k104/sundedo/S3IS/Moon2.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k104/sundedo/S3IS/Moon3.jpg

Click to expand...

You really took those with a regular camera?

Did you use manual settings, a scene mode or just auto? Did you use image stabilization, or was the camera on a tripod?

Really nice - look like National Geographic or something.

They were done with a Canon S3 IS. It's only a 6mp cam, but the 12x optical makes up for it. Here's the EXIF on the second:

# Camera model: Canon PowerShot S3 IS
# Date/Time: 2007:06:06 02:14:23
# Flash used: No
# Focal length: 72.0mm (35mm equivalent: 6386mm)
# Digital Zoom: 4.000x
# CCD width: 0.41mm
# Exposure time: 0.033 s (1/30)
# Aperture: f/5.6
# Whitebalance: Manual
# Metering Mode: matrix

Anything slower than a 1/60 exposure I use a tripod, otherwise I get blurryness. The camera has built in image-stabilization which helps. You can get the same type of result from the standard 3x, but you would have to crop it down to bring out the moon and there would still be a fair bit of noise.

If anyone is looking to try and capture some moon shots, try these settings on your camera (doesn't matter the model):

Shutter: Between 1/30 to 1/60. Depends on how bright the moon is.
White balance: Most times auto works, but if you have a Tungsten it will come out more natural.
ISO: The higher the ISO, the more noise. So pick the lowest you can. All my shots are ISO 80.
Focus: If you can use manual focus, set it to infinity. It varies camera to camera on how to do it. But most will allow you to set it.

And if you have a tripod, use it. If you don't, you can still find a way to prop it up and use the timer. That way when you push the shutter button, the camera can settle down from the movement and you'll get some sharp shots.

I'm still relatively new to the "Serious" digicam world (which is why I got the S3 IS), but there's tons of resources out there for taking any type of picture you want.