Found a way to get sharp moon shots with a cheap telephoto lens

I was always getting blurry photos of the moon, even with a tripod, because my cheap 300mm lens just couldn't lock focus right. After trying manual focus for a while, I discovered that using the camera's live view and zooming in 10x on the moon's edge made it crystal clear. Then I set a 2-second timer to avoid any shake from pressing the shutter. Now I get decent detail without spending hundreds on a new lens. Has anyone else found a weird trick like that for their own gear?

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jade471d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, that live view zoom trick is a lifesaver. I did the same thing with my old 70-300mm. What really dialed it in for me was turning off the image stabilization on the tripod too. I kept getting this weird micro blur and once I flipped the switch off, the moon shots got way sharper. Also try tapping the moon in live view to set the focus point right on the edge instead of the bright middle. It handles the contrast way better that way, at least in my experience.