Choosing the best moon photography lens.
How to choose the perfect lens to capture a stunning image of the moon.
If you’ve ever tried to photograph the moon using your smartphone or DSLR kit lens, you may have realized the biggest of full moons seems to shrink into a tiny speck of light in your images. Textbook images of a huge, glowing moon littered with craters require special lenses that can get up close and personal with this stunning space rock.
How to choose the best moon photography lens.
A standard or wide-angle lens can’t capture more than a tiny speck in the night sky. Even traditional telephoto lenses still fall short of filling the frame with an object that sits 238,900 miles away. Here is how to pick the perfect lens to capture a moon image worthy of a gallery wall:
- Go long: Your 200mm kit lens isn’t going to cut it. If you want a stunning lunar photo, choose a lens at least 300mm or longer.
- Look for stabilization: When you’re shooting at longer focal lengths, every shake is noticeable. Opt for a lens with some sort of internal stabilization to eliminate motion blur.
- Invest in high-quality glass: Sharp details don’t come from megapixels — they come from crystal-clear optical glass. Invest in the highest-quality lens glass your budget allows for razor-sharp images.
Moon photography lens features to look for.
Discover more great photography tips for photographers of all skill levels. Explore what more you can do with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom to organize and edit your moon photography until it looks like it was shot from an astronomy observatory.