I have seen some pretty good night videos out there. I have tried a couple times to get footage at night with no luck. Last night looking at Harvest Moon rise and could not get focused. Just a blurry white-ish spot. I live waayyy out in the country, so there is virtually no artificail light. Can someone share a proper setup to get decent night shots? Is it even possible to "shoot the moon" with this camera?

I would say: no
The lens is to wide to get some decent moon shots.
You need something more tele (like 200mm or more ) to shoot the moon.

If you expect to see the Sea of Tranquility on the moon, then forget it completely.
Even a half decent photo of the moon with the Mavic's camera is impossible.

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-10-6 06:37
I would say: no
The lens is to wide to get some decent moon shots.
You need something more tele (like 200mm or more ) to shoot the moon.

In my humble opinion, you would need at least a 600mm lens to shoot a fairly interesting photo of the moon.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-10-6 07:29
In my humble opinion, you would need at least a 600mm lens to shoot a fairly interesting photo of the moon.

I was pretty much thinking the same thing, but was hoping i would find some magic out there. I am very much a rookie when it comes to the camera. Thanks for the info.

I will take the challenge! I will give it a try and will share my experience. Just like you guys, Im not expecting great results but Im sure I can get something lol

MARSAN Posted at 2017-10-6 07:29
In my humble opinion, you would need at least a 600mm lens to shoot a fairly interesting photo of the moon.

This is a shot of the moon using my Nikon B700 with a 60X Optical Zoom at full zoom, hand held. This would look like a 1/2" dot using the mavic.

Pretty much what everyone said - for a good Moon shot, you'd need at least 200mm, f11 and 1/200 shutter.
To see what you'd get with Mavic's optics, just try taking a Moon shot with your phone camera.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-10-6 07:29
In my humble opinion, you would need at least a 600mm lens to shoot a fairly interesting photo of the moon.

Sure thing.  Although I did make some nice shots at 200mm (300mm equivalent I must say)
But I had to crop them indeed.

QuadKid Posted at 2017-10-6 08:21
This is a shot of the moon using my Nikon B700 with a 60X Digital Zoom at full zoom, hand held. This would look like a 1/2" dot using the mavic.

[view_image]

Nice one.
Thanks for sharing!

QuadKid Posted at 2017-10-6 08:21
This is a shot of the moon using my Nikon B700 with a 60X Digital Zoom at full zoom, hand held. This would look like a 1/2" dot using the mavic.

[view_image]

I believe that the Nikon B700 has a 60x optical zoom - equivalent focal length 24–1440 mm.

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-10-6 09:26
Sure thing.  Although I did make some nice shots at 200mm (300mm equivalent I must say)
But I had to crop them indeed.

Which camera and which 200 mm lens did you use?

Even my 400mm lens isn't enough for a very good shot.  One thing to try as far as the blur goes...  it may not be focus.  You may just be over exposing, especially if you're using auto-exposure.  Remember, the moon is lit by the same sun that lights the earth.  Exposing properly for the moon surface is the same as exposing for a sunny day here on earth.  Don't use auto-exposure.  Auto-expo will see all that black around the moon and try to expose more to get more light.  That will over expose the moon portion of the image and it will be nothing but a white blob of light.  Pull the exposure time way back and watch it sharpen up.  That won't help the fact that it is a wide angle lens, but it will allow you to get it exposed the way it should be.  Just remember, expose for a bright sunny day here on earth - manually.

HyLenz Posted at 2017-10-6 08:10
I was pretty much thinking the same thing, but was hoping i would find some magic out there. I am very much a rookie when it comes to the camera. Thanks for the info.

The only magic in photography when it comes to shooting the full moon is using the right equipment.
The Mavic's camera doesn't even come close to that requirement.
This guy here offers some pretty useful advice:
https://www.theguardian.com/scie ... photograph-the-moon

You might try shooting in manual mode and lower your ISO to 100-400 and set your shutter speed to >125.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-10-6 10:09
Which camera and which 200 mm lens did you use?

Nikon D90 with 18-200mm (so equivalent 27-300)
I will dive into my backup drive to try and find it.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-10-6 10:09
Which camera and which 200 mm lens did you use?

This shot was taken with my D90 + 18-200 at 200mm
I agree, by far not as impressive as with 600mm but better than what I can do with my iPhone (or MP etc.)

MARSAN Posted at 2017-10-6 10:07
I believe that the Nikon B700 has a 60x optical zoom - equivalent focal length 24–1440 mm.

Yes it is an optical zoom my mistake, this was shot in Auto mode no special settings and has not been edited at all.

mmcnel01 Posted at 2017-10-6 10:49
You might try shooting in manual mode and lower your ISO to 100-400 and set your shutter speed to >125.

Thanks, appreciate the tips, I don't take many night photos, this was a spur of the moment shot, just grabbed the camera and took it in Auto mode around 10pm one night.

I added the Mavic to my mobile camera collection to do landscape shots where elevation of the camera adds to the perspective. My other main camera is a canon SX60 bridge camera. Fantastic for zoom and macro. A great travellers camera. For those wanting to submit stuff to National Geographic, quality lenses and DSLR cameras are best. A friend carries such a camera, but by te time he is readyto photograph a bird, it has often flown, whereas we have a good pic. There are several bridge cameras similar to S60. I'm a fan of these.

Shot this a few nights ago got a piece of the Moon in this

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-10-6 17:25
Shot this a few nights ago got a piece of the Moon in this

That is exactly what I got with my iPhone.

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-10-6 11:10
Nikon D90 with 18-200mm (so equivalent 27-300)
I will dive into my backup drive to try and find it.

I also own this 18-200mm lens and the D300s, but I was not satisfied by the quality of the moon shots, and I tried every trick in the book...

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-10-6 11:18
This shot was taken with my D90 + 18-200 at 200mm
I agree, by far not as impressive as with 600mm but better than what I can do with my iPhone (or MP etc.)
[view_image]

That's not a moon shot!

QuadKid Posted at 2017-10-6 13:51
Yes it is an optical zoom my mistake, this was shot in Auto mode no special settings and has not been edited at all.

I am sure that if you'd use a tripod and tweak the settings in manual mode, you should be able to get a pretty good moon shot with that camera.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-10-7 10:00
That's not a moon shot!

It was a try

MARSAN Posted at 2017-10-7 09:59
I also own this 18-200mm lens and the D300s, but I was not satisfied by the quality of the moon shots, and I tried every trick in the book...

Actually I sold it after upgrading to FF. Not for moon shots btw.
Nowadays I only have primes and my longest lens is 85

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-10-7 15:06
It was a try

But the moon is hardly visible.

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-10-7 15:08
Actually I sold it after upgrading to FF. Not for moon shots btw.
Nowadays I only have primes and my longest lens is 85

Trying to get a reasonable moon shoot with 85mm is going to be a challenge, especially with FF.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-10-9 11:56
But the moon is hardly visible.

It was the best I could do with 200mm crop.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-10-9 12:00
Trying to get a reasonable moon shoot with 85mm is going to be a challenge, especially with FF.

That is true. I have not attempted yet and don't think I will.

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-10-9 12:29
That is true. I have not attempted yet and don't think I will.

This should not be necessary, as there are many fantastic moon shots available on the Internet.

Hahahahahahaha. Indeed.
But then again, we could as well stop taking footage completely