Unless you’re lucky enough to have chosen a camera with a tilting /hinged screen taking photos from ground level can be very uncomfortable or awkward. The titling screen feature on certain digital cameras allows you to view and compose from a height by looking down on the screen that is angled upwards.
This makes the camera easy to use when shooting flowers and fungi or other similar subjects from ground level.
Many of us don’t have such luxury feature, but there is an option available if your camera has a viewfinder with a slide in eye cup frame. The right angle finder slips over the viewfinder in place of the eye cup and provides an optical path set at 90 degrees. so you look down into the viewfinder. It still means you have to bend down to see, but at least it’s from a more convenient angle.
Many right angle finders also have built in diopter correction so they’re prefect for those of us with glasses. And some even have a built in magnifier going from standard 1x view to a cropped 2x or even 2.5x view. This is great focusing aid as you can be sure your subject is in perfect focus.
Finders are usually sold by the camera manufacturer, but there are also several available from accessory manufacturers. They’re not quite as popular as they used to be but there’s plenty around on eBay and we have several on PhotographyAttic – Right Angle Finders and Viewfinder attachments. You need to choose one that fits your camera’s viewfinder as each brand can be slightly different. Check before buying.
1 The main reason to use a lens hood is it reduces flare when shooting with the sun in front of the camera. Sun rays catch the lens and bounce around the inner elements causing streaks, loss of contrast and blobs on the photo. The hood provides a barrier and as a result your photos will display more contrast.
2 Another less obvious use is to shields the lens’ front element from rain and snow.
3 There’s less chance of damaging the lens as the hood will protect the front of lens from knocks. Rubber ones are the best for this as they absorb the bump.
4 A lens hood is ideal for shooting through glass as it means you can put the lens right up to the glass and blocks out reflections from behind.
5 The hood can also provide a suitable rest / support when shooting through glass without scratching the front of the lens
6 And for the egos among us…adding a hood increases length of the lens to make it look a bit more impressive…but as we like to say – it’s not the size that counts!
The best camera to use to photograph the moon is a Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera. With this type of camera you usually have the most manual control, allowing you to fine tune focus and exposure to ensure a sharp and bright photo.
The moon photographed with an SLR and telephoto lens
An SLR usually has an interchangeable lens so you can attach a long lens (telephoto) to magnify the moon to make it much bigger in the photo. A standard zoom of 18-55mm that is normally provided with an SLR is not really long enough. You can use a lens like this but you will have to crop the picture dramatically to make it any decent size on your photo. The more you crop the less detail you will have in the moon.
The best thing to do if you want serious pictures is to buy or borrow a longer lens. A 300mm or above is good – Ideally a 1000mm or longer. You can do this using a 500mm with a 2x converter. The teleconverter sits between the camera and lens and doubles (or trebles with a 3x) the lens’ focal length / magnification. With modern digital SLRs the sensor is smaller than film and gives an effective magnification of 1.5x/1.6x too, so the 1000mm becomes 1500mm /1600mm. This is perfect for frame filling photos.
You will also need a tripod or other support for the camera to avoid camera shake if you are using a long lens, and a cable release / remote control to trigger the shutter. If you don’t have a remote release set the camera to the self timer mode and use that. The reason to use a delay or release mechanism is to prevent any hand contact with the camera that could cause vibration and the possibility of camera shake. This will be more apparent when using extreme magnification lenses.
Position you camera on the tripod or mount and set the lens to its longest setting.
Switch the camera to manual focus and adjust focus around the infinity setting so the moon appears sharp. If your camera has live view, switch to that and use the magnifier to help you focus.
You cannot use the camera’s auto exposure mode (P) because it will be fooled by the black surround of the moon which is really bright. A shot taken on auto will result in a bright blob of a moon with no detail. You need to switch to manual (M) or use exposure compensation.
Although it’s night time you don’t need long exposures the moon is as bright as daylight. Set the ISO to 100, and the aperture to f/11 and the shutter speed to 1/500sec and take a test shot. Have a look on the LCD preview screen and see how the photo looks. If it’s too bright either increase the shutter speed to 1/1000sec and/or the aperture to f/16. If it’s too dark, reduce the shutter speed to 1/250sec and/or the aperture to f/8. Then take another photo. Repeat this until you have a perfect exposure.
Stepping rings are really useful additions to your filter collection. They are slim rings that have a male thread on one side and a female thread of a different size on the other. They are designed to allow a filter with one diameter be used on a lens with a different diameter.
Stepping rings come in a wide range of sizes
You may, for example, want to use a 55mm thread diameter filter on a lens that has a 52mm thread. A stepping ring is what you need.
Stepping rings are sold in two directions – up and down. The direction is always indicated from the lens. So a step up ring allows a bigger diameter filter to be used on the lens, while a step down ring allows a smaller diameter filter to be used on the lens.
Stepping up is rarely a problem, but stepping down can cause vignetting because the filter may starts to mask the optical path, especially if the stepping increment is steep or if the lens is a wide angle. It’s always safer to step up.
The advantage of using stepping rings is that you are often able to use just one size filter on a range of lenses. especially if you plan carefully.
Say, for example, you have the following three lenses:
A wide angle with a 58mm thread, standard zoom with a 52mm thread and a telephoto lens with a 62mm thread. You could buy a set of 58mm filters to fit straight on the wide angle along with a 52-58mm stepping ring for the standard zoom and a 62-58mm stepping ring for the telephoto.
PhotographyAttic has a range of rings covering threads from 30.5mm right up to 77mm: Lens Stepping Rings for sale
Harrison Cameras in Sheffield is an example of a great place to trade in your old camera.
You can take to a high street dealer who will give you a trade in valuation. The pawnbroker type shops, offer to buy all kinds of things from Golf clubs to Guitars so they do not have camera specialists in store. As a result it’s a bit of a gamble whether they will over or undervalue your gear. As a rule this kind of shop will offer you the least. Reputable camera dealers, such as Harrisons in Sheffield, will offer more. They usually know what the item is and have a better chance of selling at a higher resale value. But in both cases what you get will usually be about 25-40% of what the selling price is unless you trade in to get a better deal. So if a camera sells for £100 you’re likely to get between £25 and £40. The shop will then put it on show for sale for £80 to £100 and give a 3 to 12 month guarantee.
Advantage to you is you get it off your hands without any hassle, but you may get a minimal amount for it.
Sell to local
Another option is to sell through local classified ad service either online or local paper advert. Use the eBay selling price to get an idea how much to ask.
Advantage you get a good price, disadvantage is you will have to let someone come to your house/workplace to view and you may get messed around.
eBay is the most successful online auction site
Sell by Auction
Auction sites like eBay take this aspect out of the equation. You can charge for postage and can send the item to the buyer so there’s no direct contact. The auction route is a bit of a gamble. Sometimes you’ll get far more than you expected other times it will go for less than you hoped.
You may have a camera or accessory you want to sell and don’t know how much it’s worth.
If you’ve inherited the equipment and don’t know what you have in front of you, use Google to search. Look for any identifying features on the item. If it’s a camera it will have a make and a model number. These are usually enough to help you track down the item.
When searching Google switch to search by images. This is the quickest way to pinpoint your gear. When you find a photo that looks like your item open and view the web page. look for descriptive words that tie in with what you have. Sometimes there are different versions of the same product. The Vivitar 283 flash, for example, has been made in three different countries. Leica, for example, had many variations of the same camera differentiated by the serial number.
When you find the exact description of your item switch to eBay. Search items for sale using the description you’ve researched. Then click on Show Only > Completed Listings to get an idea what your item has sold for recently.
Now you’re ready to sell see our article of selling tips
Unless you’re lucky enough to have chosen a camera with a tilting /hinged screen taking photos from ground level can be very uncomfortable or awkward. The titling screen feature on certain digital cameras allows you to view and compose from a height by looking down on the screen that is angled upwards.
The moon photographed with an SLR and telephoto lens
