"Dr DNA" wrote in message
...
Whilst waiting for the Grand Prix to start last night, I was messing around
trying to take moon pictures with my canon a40 digital camera.
I basically just pointed the camera at the eyepice and clicked.
Can any one recommend what focus settings I should use, F settings, exposure
etc ?
I found the pics hugely bright until I dropped the exposure to around
1/100th of a second. My main problem was trying to get an autofocus camera
in focus - I can focus it on some other object beforehand and lock the
focus, should I be focussing on a distant object (the moon) or a very close
object (the focla point of the scope).

It was a fullish moon last night, so not much hard detail for your camera's AF
system to focus on. I'd try the "Inf" setting as that's where I expect the
image will be, assuming that you focus with relaxed eyes etc.
Exposure wise, remember that the moon is lit by the sun, and has a reflectance
(albedo) of 0.12 - about 1/8, and brightness wise is not dissimilar to a blue
sky. Can you use the histogram on your camera to help set best exposure?
Here's a link to one I took earlier (with exposure info, give or take a stop)

http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/...n/halfmoon.htm

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ms1938/