Tips: Best camera settings for observing the Moon

During a Moon observation, the Singularity app lets you manually adjust exposure time and gain, as well as fine-tune focus and color saturation. This helps you get the best results depending on the Moon phase, and it becomes especially useful during lunar eclipses.

If you plan to process your Moon images manually using RAW files, correct capture settings are even more important. For example, you’ll want to avoid overexposure. Here are a few simple tips to quickly dial in the right camera settings.

To learn more about the new Moon observation features, see our dedicated article on the blog.

The features described in this article require at least the following Singularity app versions: iOS 1.37.14 / Android 1.37.24.

1

Enable FITS saving (if you plan to process RAW images)

Before you start observing, enable automatic saving in FITS format:

Open the Instrument widget

Go to Image format

Enable FITS saving

2

Switch to Manual mode and set saturation

As soon as the observation starts:

Tap Auto to switch to Manual settings

Select Saturation, then adjust the slider until the Moon’s color looks natural to you

Keep in mind there may be a short delay before the change is applied. Wait until the dashed indicator disappears, confirming the adjustment is complete.

3

Set Gain to 0

Select Gain and set it to 0

The image will look underexposed at this stage, that’s normal. Gain offers finer control than exposure, so you’ll set exposure first, then refine with gain.

4

Set exposure without clipping highlights

Zoom in on one of the brightest areas of the Moon

Select Exposure

Use the fine adjustment arrows on each side of the slider to increase exposure

Stop just before you see areas turning into featureless pure white, that’s a sign of overexposure (highlight clipping).

5

Fine-tune brightness with gain

At this point, the image may still look slightly under-exposed. Now:

Select Gain

Use the fine adjustment arrows to increase gain gradually

Again, stop just before any uniform white patches appear. Your exposure is now correctly balanced.

6

Check focus near the terminator

To verify focus, zoom in near the terminator (the boundary between light and shadow), where contrast is highest. Look for a small, sharp feature, like a crater’s central peak.

Select Focus

7

Fine-tune focus in small steps

Using the fine adjustment arrows:

Try –1 first

If the image isn’t sharper, return to 0

Then try +1 or +2

It’s unlikely you’ll see improvement beyond…