ok im gonna go grab some shots of the lunar eclipse tonight... what should i set my camera at to get some nice pics??? im a camera noob point and click... ya know... im thinking like -1.5 (think its called iso) i dont know.. but i have custom menus and then preset.. the night time setting blows... and it takes for ever to take a pic... you have to hold it still for like 10 seconds... hahaha ya right.... so any help in the next hmmm 10 minutes will help alot... thanks... best time is at 620 to veiw it if anyone else wants to grab some pics....

ok its exposer compensation... i have the iso set at 400... but i figured settin Exposer comp at like -1 or -1.5 anythoughts?

Use a tripod

Too bad it'* tonight....it'* cloudy here

Exposure compensation is used to increase or decrease the exposure by X amount of stops after the "proper" exposure is taken. It will not help you get a proper photo of the eclipse. A long(er) exposure is required, and the camera will need some support, like a tripod.

What Sol said.

Personally though, for the moon I might dial in some negative exposure compensation. The dark surroundings will confuse the camera into thinking that the scene is much darker than you want... you'll find that without this, the sky will sort of be mushy gray and the moon will be completely white. Negative compensation just might help you get that detail of the moon.

Keep ISO as low as you can for highest quality images with the least amount of noise.

well it was a no go... cloudy then clear then cloudy... well needless to say it was pretty much cloudy the whole time... but hey i though iso speed the higher the better... mine goes from like 80 to 400.... i though 400 was better.... ok .. ya the tripod deal would be nice... but i dont have one.... so.... but there will be a partail eclipse on the 18 i think is the date... hopefully that one will be clear... but thanks agian for all your help!!

ill search ebay too in the next day of so for a cheap tripod... are they realy worth it?? never owned one so idk... thanks agian...

Increases at ISO allow you to take pictures with lower light, yes.

But this comes at the expense of image quality.

Below is a 100% sized crop of my Canon PowerShot A75 at the default ISO 50:




And here'* ISO 400:



That is known as "noise", or "grain" if you still shoot film. Digital SLR cameras should be able to shoot comfortably up to ISO 800, and at 1600 and 3200 they begin to show some noise, but much much less at 3200 than my A75 at 400.

Each time the ISO number doubles, you need half the amount of light to capture the same image: or "one stop" in the exposure scale. For future reference, if you can use a tripod and a low ISO setting, do that.

Generally, as a rule of thumb, you should be using a tripod (or find a stable surface) when shutter speeds get below 1/60 of a second. Does your camera tell you the shutter speed and aperture it uses when you go to focus the image?



asterisk: Sometimes, grainier images are desired for added effect - primarily when shooting with black and white.