DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) Cameras are a super advancement on cameras of old or not even too long ago. The photography World has moved on and in a very big way too. It all started with the digital compact and has moved on to bigger and much better things, even our mobile phone cameras these days tend to be able to produce some amazing images. But specialist subjects still require a certain amount of specialist knowledge and equipment if we are determined to create an impressive picture...

Take the moon for instance, ordinarily you would think it fairly straight forward to photograph, and in a way it pretty much is, but for a planet that is a quarter of a million miles away and three and a half thousand kilometres in diameter giving it some respect and wanting to get some good images is the only way to go.

Let us say that you have or are thinking of getting a DSLR camera of some description, with that camera you should get a standard lens, which unfortunately will not provide impressive results when photographing the moon or any other part of the Solar System, so an upgraded lens is a must for the quality images.

A 28-200mm will give you good close range and quite a good mid-range, this type of lens is ideal for everyday use as well as some distance shots that are not mega miles away. Ideally you would want a 70-300mm or even bigger where possible, but with a lens like this it is only really ideally suited to the longer distance shots and not very good with anything very close up.

One way of getting a benefit out of the standard lens that comes with the camera is to use a 2x converter this does exactly what it says on the tin. So for instance if the standard camera lens was a 18-70mm it will increase the distance pictures to 140mm and is also pretty good for close ups too, even insects in some cases.

The converters are a pretty good option if budget is an issue as lenses can in some cases work out quite expensive, but certainly a must at some point. One of the downsides with a converter is that you will have to lose the auto-focus facility on your camera and focus manually.

Stability is a must when it comes to photographing objects that are in the distance or quite far away, for this a tripod is essential although in some cases you may be able to get away with using a mono-pod, but using a tripod and taking the pictures on timer or even using a remote control will yield excellent results.

Finally, if it is a bright moon you will probably be better off using a low ISO, something like 100ISO should do up to 400ISO, but for best results take a few on each ISO setting and check your results in the cameras LCD screen on rear, you will soon tell if it is too bright.